Boardroom to Classroom: An Opportunity for Student Engagement and Advocacy

Brighid Rebolledo

Have you ever felt like you wanted to be more involved with AOTA but did not know where to start? As a student, I was excited to stay up to date with the happenings of our profession and so eager to get more involved in advocating for occupational therapy, but many times I was not exactly sure where to start. It seemed daunting to connect with high-profile members of state and national associations, but it turns out that there are resources to make them much more accessible. Boardroom to Classroom (B2C) “is an opportunity for students to connect with members of the AOTA Board of Directors (BoD) to discuss important, current issues within the occupational therapy profession” (AOTA, n.d.). This event takes place through a 1-hour teleconference in which students can discuss a specific topic with a BoD member. The AOTA website lists a variety of topics to choose from, including: Advocacy and Current Factors Affecting Occupational Therapy; Leadership Opportunities; Applying Evidence to Practice; and Articulating OT’s Distinct Value.

As part of my doctoral capstone experience, I assisted in teaching the second-year OTD students’ Leadership, Policy and Advocacy course with one of my professors, Dr. Lisa Burns, PhD, OTR/L. As part of this experience, my mentor, Dr. Burns, encouraged me to select and implement in-class activities. After researching avenues to apply what the students were learning, I found the Boardroom-to-Classroom event on the AOTA website. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for the students to discuss what they had been learning in the course with a BoD member. I coordinated this event to run during class time and selected the “Advocacy and Current Factors Affecting Occupational Therapy” for our topic.

Below are some tips from my own experience that were necessary to make the event a success. Note that you do not have to be an instructor—any student interested in coordinating a B2C event is encouraged to do so.

Plan ahead: Before reaching out to AOTA, be sure you know what topic you would like to discuss. This may require polling your peers. Additionally, you want to make sure you have a space to accommodate seating and teleconferencing equipment. The B2C requires 3 to 4 weeks of prior notice to schedule the event. In your request, you must provide three available times and dates, the time zone, school information, contact information, and your facility’s teleconferencing program (Skype, GoTo Meeting, Adobe Connect, etc.). I partnered with my school’s IT department in advance to ensure I provided AOTA with the correct information.

Outline the discussion: It is important to have students actively participate during the virtual meeting. To maximize the hour-long session, I recommend that the event coordinator create questions or prompts for the Board member prior to the event. This will prevent lag time or awkward pauses between topics. For my B2C event, I asked the students to share their specific interests within the topic of Advocacy and Current Factors Affecting Occupational Therapy. This allowed our conversation with the Board member to run smoothly. Although I had a general outline before the B2C event, there were many follow-up questions and unplanned discussions that added to the richness of the experience.

Follow up: Following the event, it is important to thank the BoD member for their time and contribution. Taking the time to tell someone how much you valued their actions is not only professional, but courteous. In addition to thanking the Board member, there may be other follow-up opportunities. For example, there were student questions that required research after the event. After the research was complete, it was important to share the answers and to follow up with the Board member on next steps. Additionally, my mentor and I hosted a debrief discussion to understand what the students thought about the event and how to increase similar opportunities for future events or other students.

The benefits of a B2C event will vary depending on the topic and context in which it takes place. I believe that anyone participating will benefit from having a face-to-face meeting with a Board member to discuss relevant topics. Additionally, getting the perspective of an AOTA Board member may increase understanding of the rationale behind large-scale initiatives, mandates, or even discussions taking place in the profession. I found that students benefited from the event because it allowed them the opportunity to apply course content during a practical interaction with an expert in the field.

This event could be done as an in-class activity, as part of a student occupational therapy association (SOTA) meeting, or as an OT Month event for students. I encourage students who are considering setting up a B2C event to check in with their faculty or program director for support and/or planning logistics. You can get more B2C information on AOTA’s website.

The B2C is a wonderful opportunity to supplement your didactic coursework and build foundational experiences that will benefit you once you are a practitioner. The second-year OT students at Mary Baldwin University had many positive comments about this event and stated it was valuable to their education.

Reference

American Occupational Therapy Association. (n.d.). Boardroom to classroom. Retrieved from http://www.aota.org/AboutAOTA/Get-Involved/ASD/Boardroom-to-Classroom.aspx.

Brighid Rebolledo, OTD, OTR/L, is a graduate of Mary Baldwin University in Fishersville, VA. She is currently completing a neurology fellowship at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, FL. While in OT school she was President of Mary Baldwin University’s student occupational therapy association (SOTA) chapter, where she was involved in community outreach, student advocacy, and creating traditions for future cohorts.