New name for rehabilitation studies department

A department in East Carolina University’s College of Allied Health Sciences is being renamed.

ECU recently received approval from the general administration of the University of North Carolina system to change the name of the Department of Rehabilitation Studies to the Department of Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies.

“The reference to addictions counseling in the new title better reflects our department’s focus,” said Dr. Lloyd Goodwin, professor and interim department chair.

Of three master’s degree programs offered, the majority of the department’s graduate students are enrolled in substance abuse and clinical counseling. The department also offers graduate degree programs in rehabilitation counseling and vocational evaluation.

Prospective students seeking an addictions counseling degree should be able to find the department more easily, which could lead to more admissions. The emphasis on addictions counseling also should help the department to be more competitive on grant applications, officials said.

The department began in 1967 with a degree in rehabilitation counseling. ECU added the vocational evaluation program in 1980, the substance abuse and clinical counseling program in 1989, and the bachelor’s in rehabilitation services in 1994. A doctoral program in rehabilitation counseling and administration began in 2005.

Earlier this spring, the rehabilitation counseling program was ranked the 13th best graduate program in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s annual listing of graduate schools.