President’s Message | June, 2008

Welcome to the National Council on Rehabilitation Education webpage! We are thrilled that you have expressed interest in our organization. The National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE) is the only professional organization devoted exclusively to the improvement of rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities through quality education and rehabilitation research.

NCRE provides an avenue for educators and researchers to deliberate critical issues, develop innovative approaches, collaborate on legislative and policy issues, and test new theories and strategies. We support the entire continuum of education from continuing education to doctoral education, bridging theory to practice. Our listserv provides a timely forum for contemporary issues and opportunity for all to be heard. Ultimately, our goal is that people with disabilities will benefit from our work.

The field of rehabilitation has too long been fragmented by different professional associations and views. NCRE must take a leadership role in defining the role of rehabilitation professionals and promoting the profession. We took a step in the direction, when we brought together leaders from more than a dozen rehabilitation organizations at our Spring conference, facilitated by Dr. Etienne Wenger, author of Communities of Practice. Some common themes that emerged from this focus group were 1) the need to facilitate knowledge translation, 2) the need for recognition of the profession, 3) the threat to the loss of our identity, and 4) the need to build on our shared principles and philosophies. We hope to continue this dialogue at future meetings as well as through support provided by the National Clearinghouse on Rehabilitation Training Materials. Stay tuned for more!

The value of membership is large, while the cost remains small. NCRE relies on every person being committed to engaging in the support of its professional organization. We hope that you will join NCRE as an individual member (use the certified category if you are on the faculty of an educational institution that maintains institutional membership and the associate individual membership category if you are teaching/working in a program that is not a member or if you are a rehabilitation practitioner). Remember, only these categories of individual members can vote. We need your strength, knowledge, and commitment in order to advance the field of rehabilitation. Be sure to cast your ballot in the upcoming election.

Thank you for visiting our homepage. We hope that you will join us in our efforts to improve the lives of people with disabilities through education and research.

Sincerely,
Linda Holloway, Ph.D., CRC
2007 -2008 President