Graduate Student Competencies
All HERL graduate students who are awarded pre-doctoral or PhD graduate student assistantships are expected to meet key competencies. The competencies are designed to equip students with clinical, technical, innovation, and leadership skills to ensure their academic and professional success.
Clinical Skills
- Identifies client's strengths and limitations
- Identifies environmental constraints and supports that might impact individual functioning
- Designs strategies, tools, and environmental modifications (including technology-based ones) to maximize the client's daily functioning and quality of life
- Uses individual-centered assessment and planning approaches to meet client's needs
Communication Skills
- Written and oral communications are clear and accurate
- Interactions with people (students, employees, research subjects, etc.) promote the achievement of program/ departmental goals
- Handles sensitive situations appropriately
- Willing to work in a collaborative manner
- Listens, understands, and responds in a constructive and professional manner
- Shares pertinent information in a timely manner
- Consistently uses person-first language
Innovation Skills
- Identifies unment needs and formulates problems to be addressed by an innovative solution
- Open to alternative and novel ways of dealing with problems
- Demonstrates an ability to participate in the design of a system, component, or process to meet desired objectives, despite possible constraints
- Develops innovative methods and tools to achieve project goals
Leadership Skills
- Demonstrates integrity and self-awareness; values teamwork and risk taking
- Committed to self-development and continuous improvement
- Takes initiative in achieving program goals
- Serves as a positive role model
- Encourages others to contribute to their program by achieving program goals
Knowledge of Research Methodology
- Demonstrates ability to design and conduct experiments, and analyze and interpret data through quantitative and qualitative methods
- Demonstrates knowledge of procedures related to IRB protocol development and human subject testing
- Strives to disseminate research findings through conference presentations and journal publications
- Demonstrates independence in managing projects
Technical Skills
- Demonstrates ability to apply technical knowledge according to the education and experience level
- Uses participatory action design methods to create technological solutions to meet client's needs
- Understands and assesses possibilities and limitations of technology to solve clinical problems
- Possesses essential technology skills to go from a conceptual idea to implementation of a technical solution including but not limited to rapid sketching, 3D modeling, prototyping, and programming
