Driven to "serve the poorest of the poor," Charles Arokiasamy has applied the principles of service he gained while studying for priesthood in his native Malaysia to his work at Fresno State. His focus is on the disabled and severely disadvantaged, and his vehicle is the university’s Rehabilitation Counseling Graduate Program. Since taking the reigns of RCGP in 1995, student enrollment has more than tripled from 29 graduate students to over 100. All are actively engaged in improving the lives of the disabled.

Rehabilitation Counseling Graduate Program

RCGP’s motto is Changing the Face of Human Service. Fresno State students receive hands-on training and work opportunities that prepare them to aid physical, mental and psychological challenges their clients need to address if they are to function in society. Before accepting the responsibilities inherent in such complex and taxing work, they are rigorously trained to identify a range of disabilities, develop practical employment plans for the disadvantaged, and assess those plans as they unfold in the workplace.

Once they are fully trained on campus, students work in clinics at Fresno State, alongside staff from the Department of Counseling, Special Education and Rehabilitation, which Arokiasamy chairs.

"We want to help people with disabilities enter into the mainstream of life," Arokiasamy says. "The objective is to find out what barriers these clients have to employment and what we can do to help break down those barriers and give them the resources to meet their personal goals."

Beyond matching these clients with jobs, the clinics help prepare clients for the mainstream workforce by tackling everyday tasks that most people take for granted, such as seeing the dentist or gaining access to free medication.

Funding

Whereas Arokiasamy is an idealist when it comes to public service, he is a pragmatist when talk turns to financing such ambitious programs. He understands that there are definite limits to what state dollars, dedication and creativity can do, so he aggressively pursues funding from many sources.

In 2000, RCGP was awarded $2.5 million in multi-year training grants from the U.S. Department of Education. That grant alone provided scholarships for almost half of his graduate students. Other sizeable grants from external sources have helped to turn Fresno State’s program into a model for student recruitment, practical training and community outreach.

According to Arokiasamy, "These grants and contracts support real-world experience for our students while also giving our clients, who are among the most needy, one-on-one attention to help empower their lives."