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Opening Year, 2023-24
Good Friday afternoon, and welcome again to the 153rd opening year of Wilmington College! It was exciting this week to welcome our new freshmen, transfer, graduate, and online students. Orientation is well underway. A special note of thanks to all who played a role in facilitating move-in, pre-convocation at the Carillon, Convocation, and the signing of the Rock. I even received several action photos from Playfair Thursday night--what great fun!
A few additional updates from campus this week:
Occupational Therapy Master's Program Receives Preaccreditation Status
The entry-level occupational therapy master’s degree program has applied for accreditation and has been granted Preaccreditation Status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org.
The program must complete an on-site evaluation and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.
Congratulations to the entire Occupational Therapy team on this important update!
Prison Education Program Taskforce Submits Additional Location Approval through the Higher Learning Commission
Wilmington College this week formally submitted an Additional Location Approval request through the Higher Learning Commission. The College seeks permission of the Higher Learning Commission to offer bachelor’s degrees to incarcerated students at Dayton Correctional Institution in Dayton, Ohio. This location will be approved as a Prison Education Program (PEP) in the future, but will initially serve as an additional location receiving state funding.
The College has contracts at two additional prisons (Warren and Lebanon) that will be approved through a new HLC PEP application process (expected date of mid-September), and Dayton Correctional will become a third PEP after it receives approval as an additional location.
Wilmington College has an active, signed contract with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to offer Wilmington College degrees at Dayton Correctional Institution, and we will submit paperwork to the U.S. Department of Education to receive a Program Participation Agreement (PPA) with the PEP. We will offer programs already approved by HLC that are identical to programs on Wilmington College’s main campus.
In our first academic year, we propose to offer a bachelor’s in Business Administration only. In subsequent years, we propose to offer additional degrees. In 2025-2026, we would like to add degrees in Criminal Justice and Social Work, and in 2026-2027, we would like to add additional degrees in Agriculture, Communication Arts, Mathematics, and Psychology. We plan to offer both completion programs for Sinclair Community College’s Associate of Applied Science degrees, which are currently offered at Dayton Correctional Institution, and full four-year degree programs for incarcerated students.
The prison education program has widespread support among faculty, staff, administrators, and Board of Trustees members because it is a revival of a 45-year-long prison education program that the College valued greatly.
Students Head to Uppsala, Sweden to Participate in Peacebuilding Activity for the PRC
Wilmington College students Lily Austin and Matthew Maramasaka participated this week, August 14-16, in a panel discussion at the 11th International Conference of Museums for Peace in Uppsala, Sweden. The topic of the panel was “Peacebuilding for the Future: A New Generation of Peacebuilders."
The International Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) is a worldwide network of peace museums, peace gardens and other peace-related sites, centers and institutions that share in the same desire to build a global culture of peace. The INMP is a non-profit organization, established since 1992 and associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information in New York.
Congratulations to Lily and Matthew, and to PRC Director Tanya Maus, for engaging in this important work.
Position Updates within Title IX, the Office of Information Technology, and Student Affairs
I am happy to announce that Kara Young has agreed to serve as the institution's Title IX Coordinator, and Nate Flack, the institution's Deputy Title IX Coordinator. I extend deep gratitude to both for their willingness to take on these critical roles. Training has been provided by our legal team at Vorys, and their contact information has been added to our website.
In addition, I have asked George Dimidik to serve in a new role as Vice President of Information Technology and Operations. George will oversee the Office of Information Technology, Physical Plant operations, and campus-wide custodial services, in addition to assisting with institutional project management pertaining to several revenue-generating initiatives in early implementation. I am grateful to George for stepping into this role.
Finally, let us extend a warm welcome to Dr. Rayshawn Eastman, who has accepted the position of Associate Vice President for Student Engagement at Wilmington College. Rayshawn comes to us from Mt. Saint Joseph University where he served as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer/Title IX Coordinator. He even had the opportunity to join in a bit of the New Student Orientation activities this week. Welcome, Rayshawn, to our campus community!
In peace and gratitude,
Corey
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