James Quinn, OSU Institute of Technology instructor of Psychology and Statistics, was recently recognized for his time spent outside of the classroom serving people with disabilities on the National Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certifications Board (CRCC), the world’s largest rehabilitation counseling organization.
Quinn, who has been with OSUIT for three years now, says his roles within the CRCC over the past five years have helped impact persons with disabilities for optimal living.
“I have worked with people with disabilities for over 20 years, six of those years as a rehabilitation counselor,” said Quinn. “I have a special place in my heart for people with disabilities and wanted to serve on the board that certifies the counselors that work with people with disabilities and to help individuals with disabilities receive the best possible services.”
During the biannual board meeting in Chicago, Illinois, Quinn was awarded a plaque to recognize his five years of service on the CRCC board. His service time includes the past two years as an executive director and three years before that as an at-large director and treasurer.
The CRCC is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with disabilities and sets the standard for competent delivery of quality rehabilitation counseling services through its nationally accredited and internationally recognized Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) certification program and serves all rehabilitation counseling professionals through the CRCC community.
During his time, Quinn has been responsible for implementing the e-university, a platform where certified counselors can receive training via online instruction and earn credit to add certificates to their portfolio as a professional counselor.
This type of recognition and achievement transfers to Quinn’s classroom, where he can pass his knowledge along to students and increase overall knowledge.
“They will be more aware of what people with disabilities have to go through just to get ready for the day,” said Quinn. “It will also help them understand empathy for those who are less fortunate than most."
Quinn explained how challenging it has also been to work as a group made up of people from all over the United States and helps use that experience to inform his students. He has passed on skills such as articulating, debating and making tough decisions within a group setting with various people to the classroom.
“All of the knowledge I have taken away from my experience I share with my students,” said Quinn. “The debate skills I use are shared with my psychology classes, my experience working directly with investment firms and firms that handle 401(k) portfolios increased my knowledge of business statistics and that is passed along to the students taking my statistics class.”
Quinn believes that “any professional activities that an individual engages in will enhance one's life,” and his experience and work support that.
Outside of his connection to the board, Quinn also has a master's in Rehabilitation Counseling, and he is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC). He also worked with Special Olympics as a coach and as an organizer where he used his coaching background and bachelor's in Health and Human Performance, to help the athletes perform to the best of their ability.