COE Building Relationships with Taiwan University

From left: Dr. Mari Guillermo (Interwork), Stephany Rodriguez (Rehabilitation Counseling graduate May 2016), Dr. Hampton, and Dr. Lin

The College of Education is building relationships with a Taiwan university that could lead to future partnerships and research exchanges.

Dr. Caren Sax, professor and Chair of the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education (ARPE) and Director of the Interwork Institute at San Diego State University, Dr. Nan Zhang Hampton, ARPE professor and other SDSU officials recently met with Dr. Chen-Ping Lin from National Kaohsiung Normal University in Taiwan.


During her visit, Dr. Lin showed interest in several areas, including transition for youth with disabilities and employment for adults with disabilities. She also visited the Interwork Institute, where she had a discussion with Dr. Mari Guillermo, Project Coordinator of the CaPROMISE project at the SDSU Interwork Institute and Colleen Harmon from the San Diego Unified School District.

ARPE and the Interwork Institute promote the integration of all individuals, including those with disabilities, into all aspects of education, work, family, and community life. The Interwork Institute conducts research, training, and education using a variety of strategies including distance learning

Dr. Sax, Dr. Lin, and Dr. Hampton

technologies. CaPROMISE represents the opportunity for multiple organizations, working in partnership, to provide a coordinated set of services and supports to child Supplemental Security Income recipients ages 14-16 and their families designed to increase economic self-sufficiency.

“The meetings at SDSU went very well,” said Dr. Sax. “We (Sax and Hampton) have known Dr. Lin for several years and exchanged information on research and teaching each time we have seen her at the annual conference of the National Council on Rehabilitation Education.”

The visit also included discussions about research and teaching being conducted at SDSU and Dr. Lin’s current research on school-to-work transition for youth with disabilities.

Sax indicated there is a potential to develop:

1. Joint research on rehabilitation counselor education and culturally appropriate services for students with disabilities as they transition from school to adulthood in Taiwan and the U.S.;
2. Training programs for rehabilitation professionals in Taiwan; and
3. Short-term study abroad programs for SDSU rehabilitation counseling students.

“There is a potential for further partnerships for research and exchanges as Dr. Lin’s research interests are in line with what we have been doing at ARPE and Interwork,” Sax concluded.