National Council For Therapeutic Recreation

Certification

845.639.1439
nctrc@nctrc.org
www.nctrc.org

Welcome to NCTRC e-News!

Season's Greetings from the NCTRC Board, Committees, and Staff! 

NCTRC Board of Directors Meeting in Mississippi

The NCTRC Board of Directors recently conducted its fall meeting on October 21-22, 2011 in Biloxi, Mississippi. The NCTRC Board meets twice a year (April and November) to conduct business and review current issues and strategic initiatives. The Board had a very productive meeting resulting in the approval of several new initiatives and several modifications to the NCTRC Standards. Please visit www.nctrc.org to review all current and pending certification standards. During the meeting, the Board of Directors voted on a new policy regarding the use of email blasts as another option of notifying CTRSs of important and pertinent issues regarding certification and the TR field.

NCTRC Presents at Conference

The NCTRC Board has used the fall meeting as an opportunity to connect with TR/RT students and local CTRSs at regional conferences. This year the Board was able to attend and present at the “Coastal Horizons: Networking with NCTRC ” conference sponsored by the Therapeutic Recreation Programs at the University of South Alabama, University of Southern Mississippi, Southern University at Baton Rouge and ATRA. The one-day workshop included a variety of topics all presented by the NCTRC Board of Directors.

Dawson elected “Chair-Elect” of the NCTRC Board of Directors  

Shay Dawson, MA, CTRS, has been elected to the position of Chairperson-Elect of the NCTRC Board of Directors at the Board's fall meeting. Shay, who has served in the capacity of Vice Chair and a member of the Executive Committee during the past year, will assume the position of Chairperson of the NCTRC Board of Directors in April 2012. Shay currently resides in Bloomington, IN. He earned his BS in Leisure Services with an emphasis in Therapeutic Recreation and his Master of Arts in Exercise, Leisure and Sport with an emphasis in Therapeutic Recreation from Kent State University. He is currently the Director of Therapeutic Recreation at Bradford Woods, Indiana University's Outdoor Center.

NCTRC Welcomes Two New Board Members

As a result of the recently conducted Board election, NCTRC is proud to announce the addition of two new members to its Board of Directors. Sharon Nichols, CTRS/L and Susan Popek-Boeve, CTRS will officially join the NCTRC Board in April 2012 and will each serve a three-year term from 2012-2015. A brief profile of each new member appears below.

Sharon Nichols, CTRS/L, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Sharon completed her BS degree in Education with a concentration in Therapeutic Recreation from Northeastern University. She currently works as an Area Therapeutic Recreation Specialist for the Northeast Genesis Health Care Corporation and serves as a regional consultant to 85 assisted living and skilled nursing centers throughout New England. Sharon's responsibilities include program development, staff development and training, culture change initiatives, specialty program development for short stay patients and dementia care. She is also responsible for promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, researching initiatives, quality improvement and performance improvement and serves as an advocate for therapeutic recreation services throughout the corporation.

Susan Popek-Boeve, CTRS, Canton, Michigan.  Susan earned her BA degree in Therapeutic Recreation from Central Michigan University. She currently works at the Detroit Medical Center Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM) as a Senior Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, supervisor for SportsAbility and an aquatic specialist. Susan conducts peer mentoring evaluations, develops policies and procedures, and holds meetings/in-service trainings for CTRS staff and for DMC TR staff. She has also developed the outpatient TR program for RIM. At the outpatient site Susan provides therapeutic recreation services for clients with neurological traumatic injuries – primarily spinal cord and brain injuries and has developed and maintained a horticulture therapy garden. She is the university liaison for TR interns and RIM TR and supervises a minimum of four interns and two TR volunteers annually. Susan developed and supervises the SportsAbility adaptive sports program. This program provides adaptive sports opportunities free of charge to the participants. Additionally, she is an aquatic specialist. Her responsibilities include training therapists at inpatient and outpatient sites and maintaining pool safety at the various sites.

If you or someone you know is interested in being considered for the NCTRC Board or a committee nomination, please contact the NCTRC Elections Committee via Bob Riley at (845) 639-1439 or briley@nctrc.org.

Recertification and Annual Maintenance Deadlines Approaching

NCTRC would like to remind you that if your five year recertification cycle ended on November 1, 2011, you will need to submit your recertification application postmarked by December 31, 2011. NCTRC does not accept recertification applications postmarked after this date. Annual maintenance applications are also due no later than December 31, 2011. To submit your application online, log in to MY NCTRC LOGIN or visit www.nctrc.org for more information.

May 2012 Recertification Exam Option

If you are coming to the end of your five year recertification cycle in June 2012, then you can take the NCTRC exam to meet the requirements for recertification. The May 2012 exam is the only exam available that meets the May cycle Recertification requirements. The registration deadline for the May 2012 exam for recertification is March 1, 2012. Visit the NCTRC website www.nctrc.org to access the exam registration form. From the home page, click on “exam” or use your log in information to access the form. There are two options for submission. You can complete the registration form online and submit it with a credit card payment, or print out the registration form, complete it and mail directly to NCTRC with a check, money order or credit card number. The dates for the May 2012 exam are May 7-11, 2012.

NCTRC to Conduct ATRA Webinars

In an effort to continuously market the CTRS credential, NCTRC is scheduled to present the following ATRA Webinars:

February 22, 2012 – 7-8pm EST Certification 101

March 15, 2012 – 1-2pm EST Specialty Certification

March 29, 2012 – 1-2pm EST Recertification Standards

For further information about the webinars, please visit the ATRA website at: http://www.atra-online.com

Did you know ...

• The number of exam candidates has been steadily rising the past 3 years.
• Recertification and annual renewals have been 85% or higher during the past 3 years.
• The number of Canadian CTRSs has doubled during the past 3 years.
• You can join other CTRSs online for free via the ATRAnet.

Please contact NCTRC at 845-639-1439 or nctrc@nctrc.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you for your continued support of NCTRC and the CTRS credential.