The mission of the Rehabilitation Administration and Services program is to prepare competent rehabilitation administrators and service providers in the areas of vocational evaluation, adjustment services, private practice, and job development and placement. Classes and field experience prepare students to work with populations with disabilities and hold positions such as administrators, directors, program coordinators, supervisors, vocational evaluators, and adjustment specialists.
The program aims to help practitioners fulfill their community and professional responsibilities, improve their skills in research, and remain current in their professional knowledge and skills. Students are also taught how to share about rehabilitation programs with various publics.
The faculty also serve as consultants and lead workshops, programs, and training sessions. These services, designed to update practitioners on rehabilitation issues and special populations, are available to the entire rehabilitation community. Participation of the faculty in the Institute and agency affairs at the state, regional, and national levels also helps disseminate knowledge to practitioners.
In addition, the faculty furthers the knowledge and skills of rehabilitation professionals through research projects and programs. Such research is coordinated with the needs of the field. To this end, the faculty studies developments within rehabilitation and related fields.
Input from graduates, alumni, practitioners, employers and others helps the faculty assess the program and develop training. This feedback is another aid in achieving the program's mission.
The degree granted by the Rehabilitation Administration and Services program is the Master's of Science degree. The M.S. degree is felt to be most appropriate for individuals who are or plan to become practitioners or administrators within direct service programs. The M.S. degree emphasizes professional applied training and research in terms of being able to appropriately utilize and evaluate rehabilitation research.
Those wishing to emphasize primarily rehabilitation research may elect to write a thesis. The thesis emphasizes the collection and analysis of empirical data. While the research paper is approved only by a research adviser, the thesis must be defended before a thesis committee. Completion of the thesis requires prior approval of the student's adviser.
Rehabilitation Administration and Services graduates serve in many positions in the rehabilitation public, private non-profit, and for-profit sectors. These are generally of one of the following types:
Rehabilitation administrators ensure that services are efficiently and effectively delivered to clients with disabilities. They oversee programs and manage the concerns of varied population, including clients, referral sources, board members, and staff. They may also hold mid-level management positions, or staff positions like program evaluator, human resources specialist, or grants specialist. Program graduates hold top administrative jobs with organizations like the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, St. Francis Rehabilitation Hospital, and the Knox County Association for Retarded Citizens.
Work adjustment specialists use work-related activities to assist individuals in understanding the meaning, values and demands of work. They help clients to modify and develop the attitudes, characteristics, and capacities needed for success on jobs. Program graduates hold jobs as work adjustment specialists with Helping Hand Inc., Jackson Community Workshop, and other facilities.
Vocational evaluators use tests, counseling, social summaries, occupational information, work activities, both real and simulated, and other tools for occupational assessment and exploration. Evaluators help clients form vocational goals and recommend possible jobs for them. Program graduates hold jobs as evaluators with the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind and the Evaluation and Developmental Center a component of the Rehabilitation Institute in Carbondale, Illinois.
Job development and placement specialists help place clients with disabilities in competitive employment and on-the-job training. Specialists analyze a client's capabilities and talk to clients and service providers in order to develop recommendations for placement. Program graduates work as specialists with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Illinois Department of Rehabilitation Services.
Transition specialists help students with disabilities move from home and special education programs to community living and work. Specialists work with other human service professionals, especially those from special education and vocational education. Specialists train and assess clients, coordinate services, and develop service plans and follow-up programs.
Salary ranges vary widely depending on the location, sector, and type of job, and the number of years of experience with which the candidate entered the program.
Students can be either fully or conditionally admitted to the program. In addition, unclassified graduate students can take RA&S classes even though they are ineligible for admission to the program. Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores are not required for admission, although they are required for certain Graduate School fellowships. TOEFL scores of at least 550 are required for all students from non-English speaking countries. All students admitted to the program must also have been admitted to SIUC's Graduate School. Applicants must provide the RA&S Program with at least three letters of recommendation and a personal statement of interest.
Full admission may be granted to a student with an undergraduate grade point average of at least 2.7 on a 4-point scale. Conditional admission may be granted to a student with an average between 2.4 and 2.7 Conditional admission is subject to approval of the RA&S faculty.
A student who does not meet the program's admission criteria may attend classes as an unclassified graduate student. Such students are not considered official RA&S students until fully admitted. However, they may be assigned an RA&S advisor by writing the RA&S coordinator.
Unclassified students must reapply for full admission after completing 12 semester hours of rehabilitation classes with a grade point average of at least 3.0 on a 4-point scale. At the discretion of the faculty, they may then be admitted, even if their undergraduate grade point average is less than 2.4. They must also meet the general requirements of admission to the Graduate School and submission of letters of recommendation and a statement of interest to the program. Once fully admitted, formerly unclassified graduate students may have their advisors ask the faculty to accept their rehabilitation courses toward a degree.
Applicants must send the RA&S coordinator the following paperwork: 1) completed applications from the Institute and the Graduate School, 2) three letters of recommendation, 3) a statement of interest in rehabilitation, 4) official transcripts from the colleges and universities attended by the applicant and 5) a non-refundable check for $35 made out to SIU.
The coordinator and the admissions committee reviews each application and votes on whether to admit an applicant. Applicants who meet the admission criteria and receive unanimous committee support are admitted. Newly admitted students are assigned faculty advisors.
When an applicant fails to meet the criteria or receive full committee support, his or her application is reviewed by the entire RA&S faculty. The faculty may ask for an interview with the applicant before voting on admission. Applicants who are rejected may ask the coordinator to arrange a meeting with the faculty or to allow them to present more information.
The coordinator answers questions about the status of applications and discusses application-related problems with applicants. Applicants are notified when they are admitted or rejected.
Students who fail to complete their applications by the end of their first full semester may be unable to register for classes or get financial assistance.
Students receive their degrees in Rehabilitation Administration and Services. Students may elect to pursue a concentration in rehabilitation administration. However, those with fewer than three years of rehabilitation or related work experience are generally encouraged to take the vocational evaluation and placement sequence.
All students must complete a minimum of 45 semester hours of graduate course work which includes a full-time internship and a research project or thesis. During the first semester of full-time study or a comparable period for part-time students, the student must have a plan of study approved by an adviser and the degree program coordinator. This plan of study normally includes rehabilitation core, professional coursework, and elective coursework, although specific plans may differ for students with varying backgrounds and career goals. The requirements are as follows:
The student must complete a series of courses approved by her or his faculty adviser and the degree program coordinator. This series of courses will normally consist of the 21-hour Rehabilitation Administration concentration plus three hours of electives, or the 18-hour Vocational Evaluation and Placement sequence and six hours of electives. Electives are chosen on the basis of their relevance to the career goals. Persons graduating with the vocational evaluation and placement sequence and appropriate field experience (practicum and internship) are immediately eligible to sit for the CCVES examination. Persons graduating with the vocational evaluation and placement sequence, and a double major in Rehabilitation Counseling (including appropriate supervised field experience) are immediately eligible to sit for the CRC examination.
(minimum of three hours)
(minimum of six hours) Any course in the Rehabilitation Administration concentration
Although students are usually required to complete at least three semester credit hours of practicum as well as full-time internship, prior and concurrent work experience may be substituted for these requirements if recommended by the student's adviser and approved by the Rehabilitation Administration and Services faculty. The options available to the student wishing to substitute work experience for either practicum or internship requirements are as follows:
Option One. A student may request a waiver of the internship requirement and, if approved, substitute three semester credit hours of practicum and additional course work to bring the student's program up to the required 45 hour minimum.
Option Two. Students with extensive previous work experience in the field of rehabilitation may request waivers of both the practicum and internship requirements. If the waiver is approved, they will enroll in 6 semester hours of REHB 494, Work Experience in Rehabilitation, and additional graduate course work up to the required 45 hour minimum.
Waiver requests related to options one and two above must be submitted by the student through the faculty adviser to the coordinator of the Rehabilitation Administration and Services program, and must be approved by a vote of the Rehabilitation Administration and Services faculty. They are submitted after the student has been admitted to the program, usually during the second full semester of coursework. Waiver requests must include written documentation of the reasons for the request and provide sufficient supporting evidence. Suggested guidelines for the appropriateness of each of the options are: 1) option one for the student with three or more years of satisfactory rehabilitation-related work experience and 2) option two for the student with three or more years of satisfactory work experience directly related to the student's chosen professional course sequence. The student with minimal or no rehabilitation-related work experience will be expected to complete the required three hours of practicum and a full-time internship.
The student seeking the M.S. degree is required to complete a scholarly research paper in a rehabilitation-related area and an oral comprehensive examination. Those opting for the thesis must defend the completed thesis before a committee of three faculty members and complete an oral comprehensive examination. Oral comprehensives are arranged by advisers.
There are several sources of financial assistance available through Southern Illinois University (refer to the current Graduate School catalog). Students are strongly encouraged to investigate financial aid alternatives through the Office of Student Work and Financial Assistance and the Office of Veterans' Benefits as well as through the RA&S program.
There are a limited number of opportunities available for financial assistance through the Rehabilitation Institute, mostly in the form of graduate assistantships and stipends. To be eligible for an assistantship the student must be accepted into the program and carry a full-time student status as defined by the Rehabilitation Institute. The student must complete a financial assistance application form and submit it to the coordinator. A resume/vita as well as a personal interview with the student may be requested by the coordinator.
Financial assistance is awarded on a semester-by-semester basis. Assistance during one semester does not guarantee any further assistance. The factors that are considered in awarding assistance are:
There are three types of financial assistance: graduate assistantships, traineeships, and graduate fellowships.
Graduate Assistantships. There are 1/4 time or 1/2 time assistantships which include waiver of tuition (but not of fees) and a salary. The student is required to work 10 hours per week for the 1/4 time assistantship and 20 hours per week for the 1/2 time assistantship. There are a small number of these assistantships available and they are assigned competitively by the faculty in the program for which the student will be working.
The work involved will be assigned and supervised by the work/training supervisor. Students on graduate assistantships during a regular semester must register for at least 12 hours in fall and spring semesters, and 6 in summer. The student will be instructed by his or her work/training supervisor if a Work/ Training Log must be completed each week, have it approved by the work/training supervisor, and submit it to the RA&S secretary. If a Log is required by the supervisor and the student fails to comply, loss of the assistantship may result.
RSA Stipends/Traineeships. Federal stipends/traineeships are occasionally available through funded grant programs at the Institute. They are available only to US citizens who are fully admitted to the program. The stipend/traineeships may cover the cost of tuition and fees, in addition to providing a monthly stipend. These stipend/ traineeships are awarded for one term at a time and are limited to students who plan to pursue employment in the rehabilitation field after graduation. According to RSA Regulations, a student receiving a stipend must promise to work in the public sector rehabilitation program, or private not for profit sector, for two years for each one year of stipends. Those not doing so will be required to repay the stipends and tuition/fees with interest.
The student must apply for assistance each semester. Students may not receive more than four semesters of support (the summer is counted as a full term).
Students receiving stipend/traineeships are required to perform 10 hours of assigned rehabilitation-related experience/training per week. Students who carry less than 15 hours should register for 1 credit of REHB 591. Students on stipend should register for no more than 16 hours nor less than 12 in a normal semester. The student may be requested to complete a weekly Work/Training Log of work performed and have the Log approved by the work/training supervisor, and submit it to the RA&S secretary. Failure to comply with this procedure upon request may result in loss of the financial award.
Graduate Fellowships. The Graduate School at SIU awards graduate fellowships and graduate dean fellowships, which usually begin in the Fall semester. Information and application forms should be requested directly from the Graduate School. The completed application must be returned to the RA&S department by February 1 of the preceding spring semester. The student must be accepted by RA&S before the application will be processed and forwarded to the Graduate School.
The following priorities are used to select the students who will receive assistantships and stipend/traineeships:
Graduate fellowships are awarded through the SIUC Graduate School, using different priorities.
You can apply with materials available on this web site, or make a request to the following mailing address:
Coordinator
Rehabilitation Institute
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901-4609
PHONE: (618) 453-8274
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