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IARP Rehabilitation & Disability Case Management Section Board Election Slate 2017-2018

  

IARP Rehabilitation & Disability Case Management Section Board

Eligible voters: Individual Professional members of the association who are members of the Rehabilitation & Disability Case Management Section.

 

Position and Candidate(s)

Chair-Elect  

Susan L. Shugars

 

Member-at-Large

Robert Cogburn

Carrie Johnson

 

Representative to IARP Board

Alan Getreu

Edward P. Steffan

 

 

Chair-Elect                

Sara L. Shugars

Describe your qualifications for the position
With over a decade of comprehensive experience in the field of rehabilitation, I am proud to have as many years as member and over 5 years as Committee Member.  Involvement in the RDCM section has been instrumental in guiding my career advancement across many specialties including Medical/Vocational Case Management, Forensics, Life Care Planning, Special Needs/Geriatric Consulting, Work Place Safety and Ergonomics.  I would like the RDCM section rise to the top by ensuring that our members are provided with the resources and education they need to make well-informed and ethically sound career and professional decisions.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected?

I have been fortunate to have worked with many talented and creative mentors within IARP and would like to see the RDCM section as one that provides a welcoming, cultivating and educational environment for student, young professional and new members.  In 2013, I had a vision of how to better support young and new members.  With assistance, I rallied together a small focus group for students and young professionals at the International IARP conference in Puerto Rico.  The turnout was small, but the voices were loud and passionate; they wanted to be heard and recognized as valued and contributing members of IARP.  Today, the Young Professionals have a growing membership, active discussion board, yearly conference activities and a YoPro committee devoted to listening to the needs of young members and translating them to section boards and IARP as a whole.  My goal as is to determine how we as RDCM board members can better serve our section by collecting data, creating new/improved methods of communication, and also offer innovative and fresh ideas to increase member contributions on the RDCM section discussion board.  Gathering this valuable information is only the beginning and will require goals, clear action plans, and implementation strategies. 

What is your vision for IARP during your term?

Over the past few IARP has undergone an exciting evolution.  There have been progressive changes throughout our entire organization.   This positive momentum and forward thinking to continue.  I hope to see IARP reach a greater sense of community; where Members feel synergy, valued as individuals, and able to make meaningful contributions to the organization as a whole.  Bolster the impression that the impact of our ongoing open dialogues and collaboration of ideas will be greater than the sum of our individual efforts.  IARP needs to continue to have clear and goals, strategic plans to implement and track these goals, an openness to innovation, tolerance for internal differences and accountability.  I intend to work with the boards and members to further advance IARP as the preeminent professional association for rehabilitation professionals.  To accomplish this greater sense of community, IARP leaders will need to continue to anticipate trends and future needs of our members and be the first in the field to relate them and educate our members.

 

Member-at-Large


Robert Cogburn

Describe your qualifications for the position

I have over 20 years as a Vocational Rehabilitation Professional Included is two terms as State Chapter President, one term on the Workers’ Compensation Committee (now defunct), and one term as an RDCM Board Member.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected?

Distinguish Disability Case Management as a precious asset to a changing and complex population. I particularly want to impact the level of participation within IARP so that members are inspired to be board members and distinguishing leaders.

What is your vision for IARP during your term?

That IARP grows with a growing population within our country and beyond. I see IARP membership as becoming the central catalyst in having people transition into successful lifestyles befitting of their choice.

 

Carrie Johnson

Describe your qualifications for the position

I have served in this role on the RDCM Board as an interim appointee for over one year. I have been a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor since 2014.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected?

I would like to assist the RDCM Section to create and provide quality services and offerings to its members, particularly students and young professionals.

What is your vision for IARP during your term?

As a relatively new member of IARP and the profession, I would like to see IARP continue to provide support and services to students and young professionals, as they continue their journey to become experienced and established Vocational Rehabilitation professionals.

 

Representative to the IARP Board

Alan Getreu

Describe your qualifications for the position

I have been in the vocational rehabilitation field since 1993. Since that time, I have been employed in many different settings. I have worked for profit/non-profit companies, consulted for several Bureau of Rehabilitation and Reemployment Services offices on special projects, as well as worked on difficult and specialized cases (sex offenders), not only in the State of Florida, but other offices of the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation throughout the United States, and in private practice. I have been involved, during this period of time, in developing and implementing programs. I am a member of a multiple of professional affiliations, one being IARP, in which I have been a member since July 19, 1993. I have been nominated elected for the, at the time, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (subsequently merged with Rehabilitation and Disability Case Management), for the Standards and Compliance Review Board (SCRB), in which I served one year of a two-year term in that capacity and was then elected by my fellow committee members to act in the capacity of a chairperson of that committee for an additional year. I subsequently was also appointed for two additional years to act as the chairperson of this committee, in which my term will be ending in June 2017. I also have been nominated and just recently completed my two-year term for the Florida chapter of IARP, where I was also the chairperson of the Ethics Committee and recently was nominated to serve in that same capacity for another two years. I was also appointed by the Governor of Florida, at the time Charlie Crist, to be a member of the Florida Rehabilitation Council, in which I also served as Chairman of the Evaluation Committee and was on the Executive Committee for a two-year term. One of my committee functions was compliance issues. Compliance issues were not only for the Florida Rehabilitation Council but for the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation and Florida State University.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected?

To bring more attention to IARP, to strengthen its awareness and function to the public and our own membership so we will be seen as an authority for our profession. I hope to bring more awareness to our active members, particularly in the State of Florida, of ethics and standards; I am in the process of working on this, in the State of Florida, working with the different Florida Chapters of IARP, when they have their workshops/conferences, of bringing attention to the topic of standards and ethics.

What is your vision for IARP during your term?

That with the accomplishment of question will increase our members so we are known other powerhouse professional organizations (NASW and APA), which, in turn, will bring greater awareness, attention, and respect, to our professional affiliation, IARP.

 

Edward P. Steffan

Describe your qualifications for the position.

I believe I am qualified to continue to serve as your Rehabilitation Disability Case Management Section Representative to the International Board given my experience serving as the Disability Management Section Chair from 2003 to 2005. While serving our organization, I facilitated our first section Webinars and started the discussions that our section needed a board of directors to model the example set by the forensic section to increase our effectiveness. I was also honored to be the Rehabilitation Disability Management Section Chair from 2014 to 2016 and for serving as the Past Chair through May of 2017. As such, I am chairing the elections committee for our sections’ May 2017 elections. As your Chair of the then recently created RDCM section, I assisted the excellent board members we had to develop and institute our first official policies and procedures, as well as completing our strategic plan which was approved by the international board. I have served the Illinois Chapter twice as president. I have served on the IARP Finance Committee and worked briefly on the National Conference Planning Committee as well as the Nomination committee.

I was instrumental in the reactivation of the Illinois chapter of IARP. I have served the Illinois Chapter twice as president, and am currently actively serving as a Board Member at Large. I have written and implemented Disability Management programs starting in 1983 for the State of Illinois, and , such as General Electric, Core*Mark International, and Cassens Transport.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term if elected?

I elected, I hope to be an excellent communicator of our sections needs to the International board as well as facilitating open and excellent communication from the international board to our section. I hope to enhance the communication between the RDCM and IARP boards to provide greater communication with our members, facilitate enhance Webinars and educational opportunities to our members and to ensure increase programming directed to our section at our St. Louis conference in October.

What is your vision for IARP during your term?

I would envision a controlled growth for IARP in which we promote our profession through outreach and development of relationships with allied professionals and industry. The development of our training programs and knowledge base will improve our effectiveness which should expand our job opportunities and ability to positively affect the people we have trained to serve.

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