American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) www.aota.org
The American Occupational Therapy Association is the nationally recognized professional association for over 60,000 occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants in the United States and U.S. Territories. The mission of AOTA is to support a professional community of members and to develop and preserve the viability and relevance of the profession. The organization serves the interests of the members, represents the profession to the public, and promotes access to occupational therapy. Currently the EWU OT department purchases student memberships for all EWU OT students for their 1st and 2nd year in the program and we highly recommend that students maintain membership to gain access to diverse member-only benefits such as reduced costs for AOTA texts and student rates at the AOTA National Conference held in April each year.
Assembly of Student Delegates (ASD) www.aota.org
The membership of the Assembly of Student Delegates (ASD) is made up of the student members of AOTA. Annually, the ASD Delegate from each educational program in the United States represents the school at the ASD Pre-Conference Delegate Meetings at the Annual Conference of AOTA.
National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) www.nbcot.org
The mission of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy is to serve the public interest. NBCOT provides a world-class standard for certification of occupational therapy practitioners. This organization also develops, administers and continually reviews a certification process based on current and valid standards that provide reliable indicators of competence for the practice of occupational therapy. NBCOT administers the national certification examination.
Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA)
A Student Occupational Therapy Association officially began at Eastern Washington University during the 2000-2001 academic year. All Occupational Therapy students are members of SOTA which provides opportunities for students to promote the profession and to engage in professional development activities during the academic year. As a formal organization, SOTA members must abide by the Eastern Washington University Clubs and Organizations Handbook. SOTA’s website on EagleSync can be found at https://orgsync.com/99731/chapter. Students wishing to become involved in SOTA may contact any current SOTA officer or the faculty sponsor.
Washington Occupational Therapy Association (WOTA) www.wota.org
The Washington Occupational Therapy Association supports the professional community of occupational therapy practitioners throughout the state of Washington. The organization facilitates enhanced service delivery and promotes improved access to occupational therapy services. WOTACON, the annual WOTA conference, is held each October.