Following a search held this spring, Charles Shadle, PPOTD, OTR/L, has been appointed director of Brenau University’s School of Occupational Therapy, effective June 9. Kathleen Foley, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA, who had served as the director of the School of Occupational Therapy since 2018, decided to return to a full-time teaching role.
Jim Eck, Ph.D., provost and vice president of Academic Affairs, expressed his appreciation for Foley’s leadership.
“During Dr. Foley’s tenure, the school received the initial accreditation of the Entry Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy program and a reaffirmation of the Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program. The university extends its sincerest gratitude to Dr. Foley, and we look forward to her return in August,” Eck said.
Shadle has worked at Brenau for 15 years, and he has been responsible for the management of the Gainesville campus MSOT program as site coordinator. He previously served the school as the fieldwork manager and an academic fieldwork coordinator, director for the Center for Productive Living, and is the founder of the Georgia Consortium for Fieldwork Education.
“I am excited for this opportunity and strongly believe that we can build on the rich heritage of high-quality occupational therapy education here at Brenau,” Shadle said upon accepting the director’s position. “We have extraordinary faculty and staff with a host of talents, ideas, and expertise. We have amazing alumni and students. All of these entities make up our School of Occupational Therapy community. Our community will thrive through collaboration, innovation, and evidence-informed decision-making.”
He has also served Brenau through work on the Faculty Leadership Team, the Liberal Education Committee, and the Athletics Committee, and he chairs the School of Occupational Therapy’s Student Progressions Committee.
“Dr. Shadle possesses a strong track record of institutional service, in particular working on shared governance and advocacy. Those skills, combined with his professional expertise, make him an ideal choice to move the School of Occupational Therapy forward into the next phases of growth and refinement,” said Heather Ross, Ph.D., PT, MPT, assistant dean of the Ivester College of Health Sciences.
Shadle earned a Post-professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy at the University of Saint Augustine and a Bachelor of Science in occupational therapy at the University of Pittsburgh. Shadle began working at Brenau as an adjunct in 2010. He joined Brenau full-time as a clinical instructor in 2012; he was promoted to assistant professor in 2014 and associate professor in 2019.
Gale Starich, Ph.D., dean of the Sidney O. Smith Jr. Graduate School and the Ivester College of Health Sciences and professor of biochemistry, said, “The Ivester College of Health Sciences Leadership Team is excited to work with Dr. Shadle as he brings his ample leadership and innovative energy to our team and the School of Occupational Therapy.”
