Annual Newsletter
Our mission is to prepare practice scholars, educational innovators, and professional leaders who use clinically meaningful research in the implementation of best practice to meet the changing demands of the Occupational Therapy profession.
"Therefore, encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing." —1 Thessalonians 5:11
Message from the Chair
Dear students, alumni, and colleagues,
Encouraging and building together is more than a theme for our annual newsletter, it is how we live and lead as an occupational therapy community. Over this past year we have supported students through challenges, mentored new graduates with confidence, and strengthened the profession through teaching, service, and scholarship. We are grateful for the countless, often unseen acts of encouragement that make excellence possible.
In these pages you'll find snapshots of that work: faculty advancing innovative pedagogy and practice; alumni leading in clinical, community, and industry settings; fieldwork educators and capstone mentors opening doors for authentic learning; and adjunct faculty widening our students' perspectives with their expertise. Each story is different, but the throughline is clear: community makes excellence possible.
A few themes stand out:
- Excellence through relationships. Our hybrid model continues to rely on intentional mentoring, online and in person, to cultivate professional identity, ethical reasoning, and leadership.
- Practice grounded in evidence. Faculty, students, and alumni are generating and translating research that is clinically meaningful and responsive to community needs.
- Service that extends our reach. From local collaborations to national initiatives, our community is addressing access, participation, and well-being where it matters most.
None of this happens without you. Alumni who support and hire our graduates, fieldwork and capstone site partners who coach in real time, and adjunct faculty who bring current practice into the classroom, all of you are essential to our mission of preparing practice scholars, educational innovators, and professional leaders.
As you read, I hope you see your contribution reflected and feel invited to stay engaged—propose a capstone, host a student, share a practice innovation, or simply send an update we can celebrate together. Your encouragement strengthens our students and our program; your collaboration builds capacity for the profession we love.
On behalf of our faculty, staff, and students, thank you for what you are already doing. Let us continue to encourage one another and build one another up in the year ahead.
With gratitude,
Marian Gillard, PhD, OTR, FAOTA
Clinical Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Occupational Therapy
Baylor University's Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences
This year marks an exciting milestone as Baylor University's Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) launched an annual advocacy pin fundraiser. The campaign is designed to strengthen the Department's scholarship fund and to celebrate the students' shared mission to elevate the profession through leadership, service, and meaningful engagement.
The "secret sauce" for Baylor DPT and OTD's impressive 100% job placement rates? A strong, innovative collaboration with the Baylor Career Center. From orientation through graduation (and beyond), these graduate students receive career coaching, resume and interview preparation, clinical placement support, and AI-driven resources, ensuring employment readiness in competitive healthcare fields.
On Halloween night, Baylor’s Homecoming at the Hurd Fall Festival buzzed with energy—but for some, the sensory overload was intense—to create an inclusive experience, Baylor Occupational Therapy partnered with the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing to offer a calming sensory room. The space welcomed more than 200 visitors, fostering accessibility and belonging for all Bears.
Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences is pleased to announce the appointment of Katie Everson, OTD, OTR, as Clinical Assistant Professor for the Department of Occupational Therapy.
In October 2025, Baylor University held a ribbon cutting to unveil its new $5 million Clinical Simulation & Skills Facility. The facility, which integrates cutting-edge technology with immersive training, will provide opportunities for OTD students, as well as graduate students from other programs, to advance their skills in a state-of-the-art lab space.
Ashley Westover was inspired to pursue occupational therapy after witnessing its transformative impact on her brother. While pursuing her Doctor of Occupational Therapy degrees at Baylor University, she worked with the Baylor Center for Disability and Flourishing for her capstone project focused on the experience of people with disabilities and the church. Now serving as both a pediatric occupational therapist and a church staff member, Westover integrates her faith and professional expertise to create more inclusive worship environments and advocate for the role of spirituality in holistic care.
The Parkinson’s Foundation recently announced the recipients of more than $1 million in community grants for Parkinson’s disease (PD) programs across the United States. As a part of these awards, Baylor University's Barbara Doucet, PhD, OTR, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, was awarded $11,000 for "Walking & Talking & Flourishing: Optimizing Well-Being in Persons with Parkinson’s."
Each year, more than 300,000 visitors pass through Cameron Park Zoo's entrance—making it the second-most visited attraction in Waco, Texas—and with so many guests passing through its gates, the zoo is striving to become more inclusive. It has enlisted the expertise of Baylor University’s Department of Occupational Therapy, expanding the reach of the occupational therapy profession into spaces not traditionally seen.
The playground is more than just a space to have fun—it’s where children get exercise, explore their imagination, and learn how to navigate emotions and social situations. However, many traditional play environments aren’t designed with different abilities in mind, preventing some children from accessing and engaging in play. That’s what Baylor University’s Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) alumna Ariel Mansholt, OTD, OTR, CPSI is working to change as an inclusive play specialist.
Just a short drive from Newport Beach sits an old barn flanked by peaceful indoor and outdoor spaces, bamboo forests, and friendly dogs—aptly named, Barn Life Recovery has resided as a holistic rehabilitation center since 2018—providing community-based treatment for individuals living with mood disorders. Among the center’s practitioners is Baylor University alumna Polly Sweitzer, OTD, OTR/L, who serves as the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) in mental health.