Faculty & Staff
Faculty
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Tammy Jorgensen Smith, PhD, CRCAssociate ProfessorPhD Coordinator/LiaisonPhone: (813) 974-0973 |
Research Interests:
Development, testing and implementation of innovative transition and employment service models and programs to promote competitive employment for people with disabilities.
Dr. Smith is an Associate Professor in the Clinical Rehabilitation & Mental Health Counseling Program (CRMHC) in the Department of Child and Family Studies within the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences. Dr. Smith has dedicated her career to improving programs and systems that impact the lives of people with disabilities. Her research focuses on the development, testing, and implementation of innovative transition and employment service models and programs to promote competitive employment and self-determination for people with complex disabilities.
Currently, Dr. Smith is the Principal Investigator of the Delivering Innovative Vocational Education through Virtual Reality Services (DIVE-VRT) grant and the Co-Principal Investigator on two large federal grants - Achieving Competitive Customized Employment through Specialized Services for Veterans with Spinal Cord Injuries (ACCESS-Vets) grant and the RSA Scholarship Long-Term Training (RLTT) grant.
Dr. Smith is an affiliate faculty member of the FCIC Employment Team and contributes to the successful completion of elements of the core funding grant that supports the UCEDD. She serves as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Rehabilitation 鈥� Work Rehabilitation, and she is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Rehabilitation, the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the International Journal of Autism and Related Disabilities. Dr. Smith has published multiple peer-reviewed articles, abstracts, and book chapters and frequently presents her research at local, state, national, and international conferences. In addition to her research and service activities, Dr. Smith teaches several courses through the CRMHC master鈥檚 degree program. She also serves as the Behavioral and Community Sciences Ph.D. program liaison for the Department of Child and Family Studies.
Current Research and Training
Delivering Innovative Vocational Education through Virtual Reality Services (DIVE-VRT)
The DIVE-VRT grant will integrate virtual reality and artificial intelligence technologies into an existing, highly successful transition and employment program (LAUNCH) to train and certify youth and adults with lifelong and acquired disabilities in skilled trades.
Achieving Competitive Customized Employment through Specialized Services for Veterans with Spinal Cord Injuries (ACCESS-Vets) - federally funded, multi-site (Tampa VA, Richmond VA/VCU, USF) study.
The study is evaluating the ACCESS-Vets intervention to improve employment outcomes for Veterans with spinal cord injuries. Dr. Smith developed the ACCESS intervention through a NIMH (R34) study. The ACCESS-Vets grant allows us to test the intervention with a different population within a different service system. A mixed methods, randomized controlled trial design is being utilized for this study.
RSA Long Term Training Grant - A Solution to Personnel Shortages in the 51在线 Public Vocational Rehabilitation System
Provides scholarships to master鈥檚 level students who aspire to enter the field of vocational rehabilitation (VR). The primary aim of this training grant is to increase the number of highly qualified professionals who work in the VR field.