Empower your clients to lead independent lives.
The School of Nursing and Health Sciences (SNHS) at Alliant International University is a new school in an established university with a reputation for providing academic excellence for over 100 years. Alliant is an accredited, professional-practice university with a long history of preparing students like you for licensed positions.
SNHS is launching its next healthcare graduate degree program with a dynamic and comprehensive master of occupational therapy program (MOT) scheduled to start in 2025. The MOT program will adhere to the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) philosophy of education to prepare students for successful careers as occupational therapists. Students will be trained to become culturally conscious practitioners through an occupation centered model that equips them to better serve their clients and communities. Graduates will have the knowledge and skills to be competent, innovative health professionals who meet the occupational needs of diverse individuals and communities through service, leadership, and transformative health care.
About the Program Director
Dr. Adele Breen-Franklin comes from Philadelphia with over 19 years experience in the field of occupational therapy. Prior to becoming an occupational therapist, Dr. Breen-Franklin was an attorney licensed in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and State of New Jersey, where she focused on immigration law. After receiving her master and clinical doctorate in occupational therapy, she has worked primarily as a school-based therapist. For the past 16 years, Dr. Breen-Franklin has been employed in academia as a faculty member and for the past five years as a program director of an entry level doctoral program, where she gained extensive experience in curriculum development and the accreditation process. Dr. Breen-Franklin’s scholarship has focused on occupation and the scholarship of teaching and learning, and she has presented at local/state, national and international conferences. In addition, she has published extensively in national and international journals and has conducted research with occupational therapists both the United States and Europe. Dr. Breen-Franklin is on the editorial board and reviewer for the Journal Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, is member of the Research Supports Subcommittee for the Society of the Study of Occupation: USA, and has volunteered as a reviewer for the American Occupational Therapy Association’s national conferences and Education Summit, and the World Federation of Occupational Therapy 18th Congress.
About the Dean
Dr. Sherrie Palmieri, DNP, MBA, RN, CNE, NPD-BC, CPHQ, has recently joined Alliant as the founding dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences (SNHS). Previously, she served as the national dean of faculty and professional advancement for Chamberlain University, serving over 3,000 faculty and academic colleagues.
Dr. Palmieri also served as the executive director and dean of nursing and health professions at Southern New Hampshire University. To support her passion for nursing education and advance the nursing workforce, Dr. Palmieri maintains the following certifications: Certified Nurse Educator, Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality, and Nursing Professional Development Board Certified.
Dr. Palmieri’s scholarship includes evidence-based teaching excellence, nursing recognition, and professional development programs to provide workforce solutions across academic and practice settings. Her clinical expertise is in gerontology.
Palmieri worked with the American Nurses Association (ANA), serving as the co-author and subject matter expert to develop the ANA Gerontological Nurse Certification Review Course. She is dedicated to advancing nursing and serves as Chair for the ANA Professional Policy Committee, serves as the vice-president for Arizona Nurses Association, serves as a board member for the Arizona Organization of Nurse Leaders, and serves on the Arizona Board of Nursing Scope and Practice Committee. Dr. Palmieri also serves as a program evaluator for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
The entry-level occupational therapy master’s degree program has applied for accreditation and has been granted Preaccreditation Status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org
The program must complete an on-site evaluation and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.