Research

College of Education Rehabilitation Counseling Program Ranked 2nd Internationally in Study

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 2, 2013) — A study in a top journal ranks the Rehabilitation Counseling Program at the University of Kentucky College of Education second in research productivity. Published in Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, the study authors noted research productivity as an important measure of high-quality graduate programs.

“Because the methodology was such that national and international researchers and programs were represented, this study confirms the University of Kentucky Rehabilitation Counseling Program's position as a top national and international research program,” said Malachy Bishop, professor of rehabilitation counseling and coordinator of the doctoral program in Rehabilitation Counseling Education, Research, and Policy.

According to Ralph Crystal, the Wallace Charles Hill Professor of Rehabilitation Education and coordinator of the Rehabilitation Counseling Program, UK’s program was established in 1962 and is among the oldest rehabilitation counseling graduate programs in the nation. The program offers both master's (with online-only and campus-based options) and doctoral degrees. A graduate certificate in rehabilitation counseling is also available. The programs are accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) and approved by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

For the study, researchers evaluated articles in seven major rehabilitation journals from 2000-2009 and rank ordered the top 20 institutions based on research publication productivity.

“A key theme in the study was the importance of doctoral programs in rehabilitation counseling, and the authors specifically mentioned the University of Kentucky’s relatively new doctoral program in the study’s introduction,” Bishop said. “They also emphasized the importance of research to the rehabilitation counseling profession, and underscored the importance of doctoral programs in rehabilitation counseling in promoting and conducting quality rehabilitation research.”

A medium positive correlation was found between research productivity and US News and World Report academic rankings, indicating that programs with a higher level of research productivity have a higher ranking in the US News rankings. UK’s program in Rehabilitation Counseling is ranked 17th in US News’ most recent report, issued in 2011.

The study, "Scholarly Productivity in Rehabilitation Counseling: A Review of Journal Contributors From 2000 to 2009," was authored by Roy K. Chen, Mya Vaughn, Stephen A. Zanskas and Hung-Jen Kuo.  It is available online at http://rcb.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/08/19/0034355213498776.

To learn more about the Rehabilitation Counseling program at the UK College of Education, visit http://education.uky.edu/EDSRC/content/rchome.