Nov. 14, 2011

Occupational therapy graduate students and faculty from five universities met at Shawnee State University on Friday, Nov. 11 and Saturday, Nov. 12 for a Celebration of Scholarship Conference.

The conference was modeled after the Deans' Research Day, but rather than promote faculty scholarship, the intent of the Celebration of Scholarship is to promote the next generation of researchers – students enrolled in occupational therapy programs.

The conference was first hosted at Shawnee State University in 2007 with 48 attendees representing five different universities. This year 85 participated in the conference representing the University of Toledo, Eastern Kentucky University, University of Findlay, Indiana University and SSU.

On Friday evening a research poster session, dinner and a keynote address was presented by Doris Pierce, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, the endowed chair in occupational therapy at Eastern Kentucky University.

Pierce has contributed more than 25 articles to occupational therapy literature. She is author of two books and has contributed 11 chapters to other books. Pierce has presented her work nationally and internationally in more than 60 workshops. She was one of the first Ph. D.'s in occupational therapy to graduate from the University of Southern California. Her keynote address was "Occupational Science for Occupational Therapy."

On Saturday, students and faculty presented research in concurrent sessions and a panel of students from different universities discussed how evidence-based practice is incorporated into their curriculum. Attendees earned a certificate of attendance to use for continuing education credit.

The conference was sponsored in part by the William J. and Patricia J. Richards Lecture Series through the Shawnee State University Development Foundation.