Tag: rehabilitation research and training center

students sitting at desks with notebooks open at the LU-OKC campus

Changing Lives for 25 Years: LU’s Rehabilitation Counseling Program Celebrates 25th Anniversary

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(This story was originally published in ‘E Roar Digital Magazine | Vol. 2 Issue 6)

by Ellie Melero

It was a normal fall day in Oklahoma City, and Terrance Grayson was feeling restless. He had called in sick to work that morning, but he wasn’t physically ill. He was just sick of his job.

Grayson had been working for the same financial lending company since graduating college, and he was good at his job. He had risen quickly to a managerial position and was making good money, but he hated the work. He wanted to do something different with his life. He wanted a career that felt fulfilling and where he could help others. He just wasn’t sure what that career was.

That day, he told himself that because he hadn’t gone to work, he needed to find something productive to do. He decided to go for a walk. While strolling down the street, he saw a sign for Langston University and made an impulse decision to walk inside. At the front desk, Grayson asked what graduate programs they had available, and that’s when he learned about LU’s brand new master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling.

“I just walked up to Langston (University) and asked them if they had any programs,” Grayson said. “I literally walked in off the street and met with Dr. Moore, and I talked with him about it and filled out an application and just started down that path.”

headshot of Dr. Corey Moore in a suit and tie
Dr. Corey Moore is the Founding Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies.

That was in 2000. Grayson was part of the inaugural class for the Rehabilitation Counseling master’s program. Now, he has been working for Rose State College in Midwest City, Oklahoma, for almost two decades, and he loves his job.

The Rehabilitation Counseling master’s program came together as the result of a partnership between LU and the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services. The two institutions collaborated on a grant proposal for the U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration and were awarded $500,000 to hire faculty, fund student scholarships and fund student conference travel.

Dr. Corey Moore was hired in October 2000 to create the program, and he became the Founding Director. Dr. Moore came from the University of Arkansas–Fayetteville’ Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Persons who are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing, where he served as a research assistant professor. His experience and expertise have shaped the LU program for the past 25 years.

“I saw the mission of the graduate program in rehabilitation counseling as to train rehabilitation and mental health professionals to meet the needs of people with disabilities,” Dr. Moore said. “Teaching, research and service.”

For months, Dr. Moore worked to recruit faculty and students while putting together a curriculum worthy of accreditation. In Spring 2001, the program officially launched at the LU-Oklahoma City campus with its first cohort of 18 students.

Alongside Grayson, Sharon Caldwell was a member of that inaugural class.

Caldwell was a graduating senior in LU’s Health, Physical Education and Recreation program when she first heard about vocational rehabilitation counseling. She had originally come to LU with the goal of becoming a physical therapist, but as she approached graduation, she was no longer sure that’s what she wanted. At her professor’s recommendation, she decided to attend an information session about the new Rehabilitation Counseling program.

“Initially, when I went to Langston, I felt like my passion was physical therapy because I knew I wanted to help people in some type of way,” Caldwell said. “When I heard about the rehab counseling program, those individuals work with individuals with disabilities to help them… to make them become more independent. The fact that the vocational rehab counselor was helping individuals achieve something, I think that kind of sparked my attention.”

Sharon Caldwell poses in front of a U.S. Navy recruitment poster
Sharon Caldwell was a member of the first cohort for the Rehabilitation Counseling master’s program.

Grayson and Caldwell were excited about the program and the opportunities it offered them. With his scholarship, Grayson was able to quit the job he hated and focus on school full time. As she progressed through her classes, Caldwell discovered a clearer path to her future.

Their cohort became close friends during school. They joked they were “the guinea pig class” because the program was still trying to determine the best ways to do things, but the students knew they were still getting a quality education. They liked working with one another, they liked their professors and, even while working for hours on research papers, they were having fun learning.

“I’d say, educationally, it was the best experience I’ve ever had,” Grayson said. “They opened all these doors to me and provided me with all the support, and without that, I’m not sure I would’ve been able to do it… The environment was just so nurturing that it was everything I needed at the time.”

All 18 members of the first cohort graduated from the program on time and found work in the counseling industry. Grayson worked for the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services for almost three years before he began working at Rose State. He has held various positions there, and he is now the Director of Academic Outreach.

Caldwell completed an internship/practicum with one of her professors at PROS and Associates during school, and she accepted a full-time position there after graduation. She worked as a rehabilitation counselor for three institutions before accepting a position as a counselor with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in 2012. Since then, she has worked in the Veterans Readiness & Employment Program in Oklahoma City, and she is now the Employment Coordinator.

The first few cohorts that went through the Rehabilitation Counseling program were so successful, the university decided to expand the program in 2004 and offer the master’s degree at the LU-Tulsa campus, too. In 2008, LU-Tulsa added a bachelor’s in Rehabilitation Services, and the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences officially created the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies with Dr. Moore as the Founding Chair.

The Rehabilitation Counseling program earned its accreditation through the Council for Accreditation of Counselors and Related Educational Programs. In 2013 the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies established LU’s first Rehabilitation and Research Training Center (RRTC) that conducts research on capacity building for minorities. A second RRTC has since been established that conducts research on advancing employment opportunities for people with disabilities with the greatest support needs.

Sharon Caldwell sits at a desk and stares at a computer screen
Caldwell encourages current LU Rehabilitation Counseling students to apply to work for the VA.

The RRTCs are nationally recognized and funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research. Through the RRTC, the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies established a post-doctoral program for recent doctoral graduates to train in advanced research methodology and statistics. The RRTC has hosted seven doctoral fellows over the past eight years, all of whom have gone on to work at other universities, federal agencies or community-based rehabilitation service programs.

All of this grew from the master’s degree.

While they celebrate this milestone anniversary for the Rehabilitation Studies graduate program, Dr. Moore and the faculty in the Department of Rehabilitation and Disabilities Studies continue to look for ways to improve and grow the program. They are focused on workforce needs. They try to listen to their community and be responsive to the demands of employers. They have created an informed and research-based curriculum that prepares graduates for the demands of a career as a vocational rehabilitation counselor.

“It’s been 25 years of joy and of just a remarkable journey,” Dr. Moore said. “I’m excited about that, happy about that, thankful for it. We look forward to continuing to push the program forward in the future, and I think great things are beyond the horizon.”

A sign for the E (Kika) de la Garza Institute for Goat Research

Langston University named 2025 Carnegie Research College and University

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Langston University has been designated a Research College and University by the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education Institutions, one of only 216 institutions nationwide to hold this classification.

“This recognition highlights the hard work and dedication of our researchers, faculty and staff who strive to strengthen the academy,” said Dr. Alonzo Peterson, the Vice President for Academic Affairs. “We have very smart people at Langston University. I am always inspired when I visit the labs or sit down with my colleagues.”

Faculty, staff and students at Langston University conduct research in a variety of areas across multiple disciplines. The university is known internationally for its E. (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research, but it also has research programs for horticulture and agronomy, aquaculture and aquaponics, biotechnology, and agribusiness and rural economic development, to name a few. Notably, the university’s Rehabilitation Research and Training Center was renewed for a third 5-year cycle of funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research in late 2023.

Since 1973, the Carnegie Classification has been the leading framework for recognizing and describing institutional diversity in higher education across the United States. Administered by the American Council on Education (ACE), the Carnegie Classifications are updated every three years and give institutions designations based on their sizes, types of degrees conferred and many other such characteristics.

The amount and types of research conducted at institutions have long been of interest to ACE and the Carnegie Foundation, and the Carnegie Classification traditionally reserved the coveted Research 1 (R1) and Research 2 (R2) designations for doctoral institutions with high research spending. For 2025, the Carnegie Classification has updated its metrics to provide clearer distinctions between R1 and R2 institutions while also adding a third research designation for non-doctoral institutions: Research College and University.

“On average, institutions in this category spend at least $2.5 million annually on research and development,” said President Ruth Ray Jackson. “Langston University’s research expenditures totaled $10,505,000 in fiscal year 2023. This recognition underscores Langston University’s commitment to expanding research excellence and advancing our institutional impact.”

The threshold for an R2 designation is $5 million in research spending annually, which Langston University exceeds, and at least 20 research doctorates awarded annually. Langston University offers one doctoral program, the Doctor of Physical Therapy, which is a professional rather than research doctorate.

There are more than 4,300 higher education institutions in the United States, and of these, 542 institutions received some level of research designation. Seven of these institutions are in Oklahoma and 40 are Historically Black Colleges or Universities. All 19 of the 1890 land-grant institutions, including Langston University, have received a research designation.

Dr. Corey Moore headshot

Langston University Awarded U.S. Department of Education-Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services Grant Totaling $1.25 Million to Prepare Personnel to Serve School-Age Children with Mental Disabilities

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OKLAHOMA CITY––Langston University, Oklahoma’s only historically Black college or university, has been awarded a $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Servies (OSERS) to establish a new specialized course of study to prepare personnel to serve school-age children with mental disabilities.

The grant, which will total $1.25 million over five years, will be used to establish the “School-to-Work: Preparing Personnel to Serve School-Age Children with Mental Disabilities (STW-SACMD)” track within the university’s existing CACREP accredited Master’s of Science Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling Program. Dr. Corey L. Moore, a professor in and the founding chair of the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, will serve as Project Director for this grant.

Moore is also the Principal Investigator at the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Research and Capacity Building for Minority Entities (LU-RRTC) and Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Advancing Employment Equity for Multiply Marginalized People with Disabilities (LU-2ERRTC).

“This initiative is important to the field of disability and employment as it affords our program the opportunity to train and prepare our students for rehabilitation positions that serve school-age children with mental disabilities from minority backgrounds to achieve a smoother transition from the secondary grade school system to the world of work,” Moore said.

The STW-SACMD project presents an exceptional approach to student development through LU’s partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, Tulsa Public Schools and other local education agencies in Oklahoma.

Significant attention will be devoted to cross-fertilizing STW-SACMD and on-going LU-RRTC and LU-2ERRTC trainings, including with webinars and community of practices, to increase students’ knowledge about the delivery of transition and mental health services to school-age children with mental disabilities from minority backgrounds. The goal is to increase the supply of fully credentialed rehabilitation and mental health professionals from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds available for employment in local educational and/or rehabilitation agencies.

The grant will pay for tuition and fees and will provide a living stipend for 36 students in the Rehabilitation Counseling Program, which was ranked #19 and highest across all HBCUs by the U.S. News & World Report in the publication’s 2023 rankings of Rehabilitation Counseling Programs in America.

“I am immensely proud of the continued success of Dr. Moore and scholars within Langston University’s Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies,” said Dr. Ruth Ray Jackson, President of Langston University. “This $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education is further evidence of the impact of their work in preparing our students for success and addressing needs across underserved communities.

“This significant investment supports our institutional priorities of offering quality academic programs, engaging in purposeful partnerships, and ensuring access to education for all.”

This OSERS priority (ALN 84.325M) focuses on personnel preparation of special education, early intervention, and related services personnel at HBCUs, Tribally controlled colleges and universities, and other minority-serving Institutions under focus area (B)- preparing personnel to serve school-age children with disabilities.

The funded STW-SACMD initiative at LU is in direct response to identified needs related to personnel development issues and demands and the improvement of services and results for school-age children with mental disabilities, especially those from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, including those who are multilingual.

Dr Corey Moore headshot

LANGSTON UNIVERSITY AWARDED $4.375 MILLION NATIONAL GRANT FOR REHABILITATION RESEARCH CENTER

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by Dr. Corey Moore, Founding Chair of the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies

LANGSTON, Okla. – Langston University has been awarded a $4.375 million grant for its Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NDILRR).

The grant, which will total $4.375 million over 5 years, extends a third cycle of funding from the NDILRR Administration for Community Living which is intended to help minority-serving institutions build research capacity and study rehabilitation disparities. Dr. Corey Moore, the founding chair of the Department of Rehabilitation and Disability Studies at Langston, will serve as principal investigator and director for the grant.

“This national RRTC positions LU as the foremost national leader on the frontier of cutting-edge disability and rehabilitation research capacity building at minority-serving institutions and minority disability and rehabilitation research,” Dr. Moore said. “This center will provide Langston University a national avenue to mentor faculty members and students and provide technical assistance to research support systems to enhance scientific abilities and opportunities and access to federal research dollars at historically Black colleges and universities, Tribal colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions.”

The award involves a consortium of researchers and mentors at the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the Kessler Foundation, and South Carolina State University. Other collaborators who will work with the LU-RRTC in carrying out activities include the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, the Delaware Nation Vocational Rehabilitation Program and the Association of University Centers of Disabilities. The goal is to build minority-serving institutions’ disability and rehabilitation research capacity through research participation that examines the experiences and outcomes of people with disabilities from traditionally underserved populations, such as African Americans/Blacks, Native Americans or Alaska Natives, Latinx, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

One of the key studies will be carried out in partnership with the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts Boston and will involve a mentorship component with a new institutional Research Capacity Building and Infrastructure Model. This model aims to build the disability and rehabilitation research skills of both faculty members and students as well as the institution’s overall capacity for research. The RRTC will match select minority-serving institutional faculty and students with peer mentors and will link institutional research support systems with key consultants to build the center’s capacity.

The RRTC will also work with providers such as the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services and the Delaware Nation Vocational Rehabilitation Program to assess the feasibility of a cultural competence in Employment Support Training Model for providers serving people with disabilities from traditionally underserved racial and ethnic populations with co-occurring opioid and/or substance use disorder.

“Langston University is proud to advance the NIDILRR’s mission of generating knowledge used to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities,” said Langston University Interim President Ruth Ray Jackson. “The RRTC advances our institutional focus on access and opportunity for all people.”

The RRTC’s grant fund coordinated, integrated and advanced programs of research, training, and information dissemination in topical areas specified by the NIDILRR. These centers conduct research to improve rehabilitation methodology and service delivery systems as well as improve health and functioning while also promoting employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency for individuals with disabilities.