October 08, 2009

The Rehabilitation Counseling Program at California State University, Fresno has been awarded three federal training grants totaling $1.75 million that will provide students scholarships to alleviate the acute shortage of rehabilitation counselors nationwide.

The Rehabilitation Counseling Program in the Kremen School of Education and Human Development is considered a national leader in hands-on, real-world, rehabilitation counseling. It is the largest program in the country and for the second year in a row has been ranked 17th by U.S. News and World Report. Excluding doctoral programs, it is third in the nation.

In the last 10 years the program has brought almost $11 million in external grants to the Valley. The latest come as two previous grants expire and the program faces record enrollments and need for scholarships in fall, said program coordinator Dr. Charles Arokiasamy.

The grants provide about 32 student scholarships in job development and placement, vocational evaluation and work adjustment and general rehabilitation counseling. The scholarships will pay for university fees and a monthly stipend of $600. About 50 percent of the program’s 109 students are supported fully or partially by these scholarships.

“This time around, students were intimately involved in working on these grants,” Arokiasamy said. “Eight of them have presented papers on this experience at a national conference. It is a huge boost to the students to see their work be so successful.”

The experience has resulted in a grant writing class being added to the curriculum of the program.

“The Rehabilitation Counseling Program at Fresno State has been billed as a national leader in hands-on, real-world, rehabilitation counseling,” Arokiasamy said. “Now students can add grant writing to their experience.”

Fresno State offers a master’s of science in rehabilitation counseling. The 60-unit program prepares students for professions in agencies or private settings assisting individuals who with physical, mental or emotional disabilities to adjust personally, occupationally and socially.