Kathleen Oertle, Ph.D.

Field: Rehabilitation Counseling, Special Education
Areas of Focus: Disability, Disability Policy, Employment, Gender Equity, Inclusion, Rehabilitation Counseling

Expertise

• Transition
• Rehabilitation counseling
• Employment
• Inclusion
• Equity
• Disability
• Education
• Collaboration

Bio

Dr. Kathleen Oertle is an Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Counseling in the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at Utah State University. She is the Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Transition Services (The Transition Institute), the Program Director of the Transition Education and Services Certificate, and Principal Investigator, Collaborate for Change (C2), a NIDILRR Program, Field-Initiated Project.

Dr. Oertle was awarded a M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling with an emphasis on supported employment and transition services (1996), a Ph.D. in Special Education (2009), completed a Post-Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy in Career and Technical Education (2010), and she was a visiting research scientist researching Graduate Education for the Graduate College (2011 – 2013) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC, 1996) and a Licensed Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor-Utah (LVRC, 2015).

Dr. Oertle is a first-generation college graduate, and she has a deep personal drive to promote inclusion and eliminate discrimination associated with disability as she, her dad, and parental grandmother all acquired disabilities and experienced workplace issues. Dr. Oertle’s research topic is transition which focuses on the progression of youth and students with disabilities from secondary education to postsecondary employment, education, and living.