Physical Therapist Assistant

SCC’s PTA Program is located on the Somerset Campus north, in Somerset, Kentucky, with classroom, laboratory and faculty offices located on the second floor of the Harold Rogers Student Commons building. Students enrolled in the program are expected to attend all program courses in person unless otherwise specified in course syllabi. General education courses may be completed at any KCTCS institution or may be transferred from other accredited institutions. Prospective students with transfer credits should submit a transcript to the Office of the Registrar to determine the transferability of those course credits prior to application to the program.

The Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Somerset Community College is committed to academic excellence for students seeking associate degrees in the discipline.  Program graduates will be prepared to act as contributing members of an inter-professional team and to interact with all constituents in a culturally sensitive manner that values the humanity of every person and the qualities that make them unique. They will be knowledgeable of theories and principles supportive of skills and procedures critical to the physical therapist assistant. Graduates, as they enter the workforce, will have achieved competency with general techniques consistent with contemporary professional expectations and common to practice settings available to them in the physical therapy communities served by Somerset Community College. They will be prepared to meet standards to obtain state credentials as a physical therapist assistant and to function in a technically competent, caring, responsible and safe manner under the supervision of a physical therapist.

The Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Somerset Community College is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; telephone: (703) 706-3245; email: accreditation@apta.org; website: http://www.capteonline.org. If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please call (606) 451-6840 or email corey.moore@kctcs.edu.  

The program has determined that its curriculum meets the state educational requirements for licensure or certification in all states, the District of Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands secondary to its accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education, based on the following: 

CAPTE accreditation of a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant program satisfies state educational requirements in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Thus, students graduating from CAPTE-accredited physical therapist and physical therapist assistant education programs are eligible to take the National Physical Therapy Examination and apply for licensure in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For more information regarding state qualifications and licensure requirements, refer to the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy website at www.fsbpt.org.

The SCC Program engages in continuous and systematic evaluation and improvement.  Comments, suggestions, ideas, and constructive criticism are welcomed as a part of the program’s assessment process.  SCC’s due process policies, as outlined in the KCTCS Catalog and related handbooks, provide a voice to current and prospective students, employees and other affiliated persons. However, individuals in the community who do not have a formal affiliation with SCC or SCC’s PTA Program, including clinical education sites, employers, and members of the general public, are also welcome to provide comments according to the following policy. 

• This process pertains only to comments or concerns that cannot be addressed by existing grievance / due process procedures described in the KCTCS catalog, personnel handbook, student code of conduct, or PTA Program Policy and Procedure Manual or Student Handbook.
• Comments must be provided in writing and signed by the author. Anonymous submissions will not be acknowledged; nor will written comments provided on behalf of an anonymous source.
• Comments must be submitted to the Program Director at the following address.

  PTA Program Director
  Somerset Community College
  808 Monticello Street
  Somerset, Kentucky 42501 

• Comments related directly to the performance of the Program Director should be addressed to:

  Dean of Health Sciences
  Somerset Community College
  808 Monticello Street
  Somerset, Kentucky 42501 

• The PTA Program Director shall respond to all comments within ten (10) business days of receiving the complaint in an attempt to resolve the issue. If satisfactory resolution is not or cannot be reached, appeal may be made to the Health Division Chairperson and Dean of Academic Affairs, in that order.  Again, if satisfactory resolution is not or cannot be reached, appeal may be made to the Office of the President.  The decision of the President is final and not subject to further appeal.  Neither the Dean nor the President will become involved until all attempts to resolve the issue through the Program Director have been exhausted, unless the comment is directly related to the performance of the Program Director.

• The PTA Program, including its faculty, committees and others associated with the program, will not retaliate following the complaint with regards to admission, grading, use of clinical sites or clinical placements, graduation or any other manner that may unfairly and adversely impact the complainant. This extends not only to program students, but also to graduates, clinical educators and employers, members of the general public, and others.

• Records of all correspondence will be confidentially maintained by the Program Director for five (5) years. These records are not open to the public.

CAPTE has a mechanism to consider formal complaints about physical therapy education programs (PT or PTA) that allege a program is not in compliance with one or more of CAPTE's Evaluative Criteria (for complaints about events occurring before December 31, 2015) or the Standards and Required Elements (for complaints addressing events occurring January 1, 2016 and thereafter) or has violated any of CAPTE's expectations related to academic integrity. CAPTE will consider two types of complaints: those that involve situations subject to formal institution/program due process policies and procedures and those that involve situations not subject to formal due process procedures:

• If the complainant is involved with an institution/program grievance subject to formal due process and procedure, CAPTE requires that the process be completed prior to initiating CAPTE's formal complaint process, unless the complaint includes an allegation that the institution/program process has not been handled in a timely manner as defined in the institution/program policy, in which case CAPTE will consider the complaint prior to completion of the grievance process. Evidence of completion of the institutional process or of the untimely handling of such must be included in the complaint materials.
• If the complaint is related to situations that fall outside of formal due process policies and procedures, the complaint may be filed at any time.

CAPTE will not consider complaints that fall outside its jurisdiction/authority as expressed in the Evaluative Criteria (or Standards and Elements, as appropriate) and the academic integrity statements. When appropriate, complainants will be referred to other organizations to pursue their concern(s).

CAPTE will not intervene on behalf of individuals or act as a court of appeal for faculty members or students in matters of admission, retention, appointment, promotion, or dismissal. CAPTE will take action only when it believes practices or conditions indicate the program may not be in compliance with the Evaluative Criteria for Accreditation (or the Standards and Required Elements, as appropriate) or the statements listed above.

In order for CAPTE to consider a formal complaint, several conditions must be met:

• The complaint must be specifically linked to the relevant Evaluative Criteria (or Standards and Elements, as appropriate) (PT or PTA) or to the integrity statements.
• The complainant must have exhausted all remedies available through the institution, if appropriate.
• The complaint must be submitted in writing, using the format prescribed by CAPTE, and must be signed by the complainant.
• The event(s) being complained about must have occurred at least in part within three (3) years of the date the complaint is filed.

In reviewing and acting on a complaint, CAPTE cannot and does not function as an arbiter between the complaint and the institution. Should CAPTE find that a complaint has merit and that the program is out of compliance with the Evaluative Criteria (or the Standards and Elements, as appropriate) or the integrity statement(s), CAPTE can only require the program to come into compliance with the Evaluative Criteria (or the Standards and Elements, as appropriate). CAPTE cannot force a program into any specific resolution of the situation that resulted in the complaint.

To obtain the materials necessary for submitting a complaint, contact the APTA Accreditation Department at 703/706-3245 or at accreditation@apta.org.

Complaints will ordinarily be reviewed at the next meeting regularly scheduled CAPTE meeting. In order for the process to be completed in time for considered review by CAPTE, complaints must be received no later than ninety (90) days prior to a meeting. At its discretion, CAPTE may choose to consider complaints between its regularly scheduled meetings. Ordinarily, such consideration will occur only when delay in consideration of the complaint could have a serious adverse effect on either the complainant or the institution.

The PTA Program utilizes a standard, uniform grading scale to which it strictly adheres.  Students must pass all courses with a grade of “C” or higher.  The scale is:

A: 90.00 – 100.0%
B: 83.00 – 89.99%
C: 80.00 – 82.99%
D: 74.00 – 79.99%
E: < 74%