Teaching Mission

The teaching mission of the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) program is to prepare students for immediate entry-level employment options as competent COTA's. As faculty, our commitment is to facilitate the development of entry-level occupational therapy assistants who are capable of functioning in a variety of practice settings as members of the health care team, providing quality OT services to people of all ages and diagnoses without regard to gender, race or culture. The faculty is committed to creating an educational environment and atmosphere in which the learner (student) will be motivated to learn. Mutual respect between faculty and student will allow for a stimulating exchange of ideas, the students' development of critical thinking skills and the desire to continue their learning beyond graduation.

Full-Time Faculty

Phyllis A. Clements, M.A., O.T.R., is the Program Coordinator and a full-time faculty member for the program. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Eastern Michigan University and her Master of Arts degree in Education from Central Michigan University. She has held both clinical and management positions in numerous OT practice settings. Ms. Clements has presented at both national and state conferences, as well as co-authoring an article in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy. Prior to her baccalaureate degree she was a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. Ms. Clements has been with the OTA program since 1997. She continues to maintain and enhance her clinical practice skills with current patient/client care.

Linda Netzel, M.A., O.T.R., is the Academic Fieldwork Coordinator and is a full-time faculty member for the Occupational Therapy Assistant program. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Wayne State University and her Master of Arts degree in Allied Health Education from the University of Michigan. She has held management and administrative positions as well as clinical positions over the past thirty years. Her clinical expertise has been with adult physical dysfunction and more recently with the pediatric population. Mrs. Netzel has also served as text reviewer for several academic publications. She continues to maintain and enhance her clinical practice skills with current patient/client care.

Adjunct Faculty

Adjunct faculty consists of qualified occupational therapy clinicians, both occupational therapists, registered (OTR) and certified occupational therapy assistants (COTA), who are current in clinical skills and excel in their specific areas of practice. The adjunct faculty brings a wealth of clinical and management skills to the classroom, the laboratory and clinical education environment.