When Dr. Arthur Kirk Jr. arrived on campus in January 1984 as Keuka College’s 16th president, he wasted little time in making two transformative decisions: to open the doors of the College to men, and to launch a signature academic program that would define the institution’s future.
Dr. Kirk identified Occupational Therapy as that flagship major. He invited the late Shirley Zurchauer to serve as the program’s founding chair, and in August 1985 she arrived with the first class of 31 students. Under her leadership, and with the help of initial instructor Dr. Janet Opila-Lehman, the program took root and has since flourished, preparing hundreds of graduates who have carried Keuka College’s name – and its values – into the world of healthcare for the past four decades.
Early Days
There were growing pains, recalled Professor Emeritus of Occupational Therapy Peter Talty, the program’s second chair.
“The faculty was made up of real hardworking professionals,” he said. “They knew they had to go above and beyond – we didn’t have the resources. They deserve a lot of credit for doing what we did with what we had to work with.”
Resources improved with the arrival of Dr. Vicki Smith, who would go on to become the program’s third chair.
“She was a great grant writer,” said Dr. Talty.
He recalled a piece of equipment used to evaluate the range of motion for people with disabilities. At $8,000, it was out of reach. Until Dr. Smith and her grant-writing pen arrived.
“That was the first thing she bought after securing her first grant,” Dr. Talty recalled.
Growth and Recognition
OT students have considerably more resources at their disposal now. There’s the recently completed Health Professions Simulation Labs in Harrington Hall, which include six distinct labs with additional space for instruction, and the fully equipped Clinical Skills and Community Living Skill labs on the second floor of Hegeman Hall.
“We’ve grown,” said current Division Chair and Professor of Occupational Therapy Dr. Michele Bennett ’05 M’06. “Go to any healthcare facility around our region – Syracuse, Rochester, Binghamton – walk in and say, ‘Where’d you get your degree?’ And they're going to say, ‘Keuka College.’ Or they’re going to know a friend who got their degree from Keuka College.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Heather Maldonado toasts Professor Emeritus of Occupational Therapy Dr. Peter Talty and the entire department during a 40th anniversary celebration held on Sept. 27 in the lower level of Lightner Library.
Along with that growth has come widespread recognition. Keuka College’s OT program is now one of the largest in the state – and well known far beyond.
“As far as the National Occupational Therapy Association, or even at a state level, at the New York State Occupational Therapy Association, they all know Keuka College,” said Dr. Bennett. “I’ve taught students from Colorado, Ohio, Massachusetts – and I’ve asked then, ‘Why did you come so far and how did you hear about our small institution? The students say it’s because of the OT program’s reputation.”
"That reputation is reinforced by a faculty that forges strong relationships and wide-ranging support."
“Beginning at New Student Orientation, we tell our students that we’re not just your career advisors or your academic advisors; we’ll provide personal support in whatever you need,” she said. “There’s also an element of how much we love the profession that gets instilled in the students. And then they leave here, and they love what they do.”
Student Experiences
The program is uncommon in that it accepts first-year students. At many colleges, students do not enter the OT program until their junior year or later.
That distinction attracted senior Occupational Therapy major Lilly Aldridge of Rochester, N.Y., who began her college education at a university in Florida, but learned she wouldn’t enter the program until earning her bachelor’s degree.
“I wasn’t going to touch OT for four years,” she said. “I called my mom and said, ‘Let’s visit Keuka College.’ I flew up the next day.”
As part of the College’s dual-degree program, Lilly will earn not only her bachelor’s degree but her master’s degree – all in just five years.
Lilly’s classmate Sawyer Richardson is also enrolled in the 4+1 master’s track. Like many students, she cites another Keuka College institution – the Field Period® program – as not only a factor in her decision, but a significant supplement to her education.
From the New York State School for the Blind in Batavia to a service trip to the Dominican Republic to a neurocognitive facility in Buffalo, Sawyer says her real-world immersions have deepened her understanding of the profession she plans to make a career.
“Seeing the different types of interventions that occupational therapists use allowed me to translate what I’m learning in class. Seeing it is so much more impactful.”
Faculty Engagement
A majority of the College’s Occupational Therapy faculty are alumnae and all practice outside the classroom.
“I think every single one of us has our finger, if you will, on the pulse of what’s happening in real-time OT treatment. The availability to still have clinical practice has informed our teaching in the classroom. We know it’s relevant, it’s up to date, it works.”
Practicing faculty has been a hallmark of the program from the beginning, said Dr. Talty, and it resonates with students.
“You get what I call instant credibility,” he said.
“We get real-world examples in the classroom,” added Lilly. “Not from five years ago, but recent.”
As a graduate of, and now an instructor in, the OT program, Dr. Hey said close ties between faculty and students enrich the learning experience – and will continue to position Keuka College graduates to provide a special level of care.
“The sense of kind of closeness that the students and the faculty share is one of the things that I really, really appreciated as a student,” she said. “I don't know if I knew how magical that was until I graduated. The students were close, the faculty was close, and that hasn’t changed. And I think that our program is still small enough that we are really able to meet the needs of future occupational therapists in a very different way than other programs.”
