UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — It’s safe to say that Jim Herbert believes that he would not have received the 2022 Distinguished Career in Rehabilitation Award from the National Council on Rehabilitation Education (NCRE) had he not made a difference in students’ lives throughout his 36-year Penn State tenure.
As professor-in-charge of the Rehabilitation and Human Services (RHS) program for the majority of his tenure at Penn State, Herbert said he gains the most satisfaction from teaching students who, in turn, will eventually go on to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. This mission is something that the RHS program has been doing since 1954 and it was the first undergraduate rehabilitation program in the United States.
Although Herbert has received national awards in the past for his teaching, research and professional service, the NCRE Distinguished Career Award is, according to him, a “big deal” because it is one recognized by peers in the RHS field. “Obviously, I'm honored by it, but I'm also humbled as well,” Herbert said.
Although this recognition is an individual award that reflects “a body of work over a lifetime,” he said he also recognizes that it would have not been possible without the assistance of colleagues and administrators who have supported his work.
“I've worked with colleagues who have national reputations in terms of their research and things that they’re doing. And they're all a bunch of worker bees, every single one,” Herbert said. “As a result of their efforts, the program has grown which has resulted in new program initiatives, courses and interventions.”
Herbert said associate professors of education Wendy Coduti and Allison Fleming have started the WorkLink program at Penn State to help students with intellectual disabilities who come on campus and take courses that will eventually improve their employment opportunities. “Their work is part of a national “Think College” effort to promote college attendance of individuals with cognitive disabilities,” Herbert said.
“(RHS Professor) Liza Conyers is doing national research on improving employment outcomes for people with HIV AIDS and she has worked on the President's Advisory Council. Amber O'Shea (assistant professor/RHS) and Jeff Hayes (professor/counselor education) are investigating how campus counseling services play an important part in college persistence for students with mental illness. And our current Professor-in-charge of RHS, Deirdre O’Sullivan, continues her work in substance abuse and trauma-informed care which also has had an important impact in developing new courses within our undergraduate program,” Herbert added.
While his colleagues at Penn State have played a role, Herbert stated that the person who contributed the most to his career is his wife, Leigh. “This award recognizes all your hard work professionally, but you also pay a price at times when it comes to your personal life. Fortunately, if you have the support of a life partner, that makes all the difference, and in my case, I did,” he said.
His current research work includes improving clinical supervision practices among counselors in vocational rehabilitation settings, examining strategies to facilitate career development and job placement of persons with disabilities, investigating the long-term effectiveness of rehabilitation counselor training, and improving post-secondary outcomes of students with disabilities.
Herbert indicated that receiving the award at this point of his professional career enabled him to reflect on his career and ponder if he indeed made a difference. And although his research efforts are important contributions, he believes that it is his involvement with students where the difference is more apparent.
“Classroom teaching and sharing knowledge is clearly important but, in terms of making a difference in students’ lives, it is often the conversations that happen outside of the classroom where students have questions or struggles that pertain to their personal, social and career aspects where you can have even greater impact,” he said.
Herbert said he gets the most enjoyment out of working with undergraduates.
“Not too many of us have found cures for cancer and so sometimes I think we kind of overestimate the importance of our professional contributions. Often in academe the most recognized accolade is associated with your research and that's where you get all your attention,” he said.
“When I reflect on my career, I've done research and received recognition for my scholarship contributions. But my big differences are my students and, in particular, RHS undergraduates. A lot of professors prefer to work with graduate students at the master’s or doctoral level instead undergraduates. For me, I prefer undergraduates as their view of the world is still being developed, there are more opportunities to impact on their career and, from my experience, they seem a bit more willing to challenge my own thinking about why I believe the things I believe.”
Herbert indicated that his interest in the rehabilitation field spawned from having a younger brother who had Down syndrome. “That piqued my interest; I saw the impact that had on my family and I think that kind of spurred me on to get into this field,” he said.
“When you look at people with disabilities and you look at their employment rates and educational opportunities, economic and social status, in many of these categories, they're near the bottom. And if you put those aspects with the intersectionality of race and gender and socio-economic class, these factors in combination will usually result in people who often get the short end of the stick. As an RHS educator, you have an opportunity when you're training students to help them to change the lives of people with disabilities. That, to me, is the best outcome in doing this job.”
The importance of work is a theme that played a central role in Herbert’s career. Coming from a blue-collar family in Baltimore, there was a strong work ethic stressed within the family business of electrical construction, he said. While he didn’t particularly like that line of work, Herbert said while there have been many times working as a professor that at the end of the day he came home tired, there has never been a day when he did not look forward to going to work.
Herbert also noted that, at this point in his life, he has had a number of friends and family members who have passed away and often during these occasions when their lives are commemorated, it provides some time to reflect.
“When you attend these ceremonies, it is interesting when people reflect on the importance of someone, usually their contributions are not so much about what they have accomplished at work but rather how this person made a difference in someone’s life,” he said. “What they talk about is this is how this person impacted my life. That’s the story … how did you make a difference? To my way of thinking that's really the testament of a successful career. The good thing about being in this position (as a professor) is you have lots of opportunities to find that out.”
He said he found out upon his arrival at Penn State in 1986 that he was able to liken the RHS program to a construction metaphor, that there already was a solid program foundation of several layers of block. He and his colleagues have helped “add three or four courses of 12-inch cement block” to make the program taller and stronger.
“I think we continue to have as strong a program now as we have throughout our history. And that's really a testament to the people that we have here and the work that they've done,” Herbert said. “I think more than any individual recognition that I may have received by this award, it really is one that I share with others.”