Since arriving at East Tennessee State University in 2019, Dr. Dawn Rowe has garnered almost $15 million in grant funding. Over her career, fellow scholars have cited her work more than 2,000 times. Across the world, she is recognized as a first-rate researcher on topics ranging from disability related professional development to evidence-based practices in secondary transition.
A key principle has guided her.
“For me, it’s all about quality of life for individuals with disabilities and those without,” said Rowe, the James H. Quillen Chair of Excellence in Teaching and Learning and a professor in the Clemmer College of Education and Human Development.
She is the winner of ETSU’s Distinguished Faculty Award in Research, the highest research-based honor presented by the university to a faculty member.
Her list of scholarly accolades is striking.
In late 2022, Rowe and her team received a $3 million grant aimed at improvements for those with disabilities. She has spent time in the Marshall Islands, developing and evaluating systems to support students with disabilities in progressing through school to graduation and playing an important role in a teacher retention project.
“Dr. Rowe has heeded the call from the U.S. Department of Education and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) for improving the quality of education for all children through the use of rigorous scientific research,” wrote Rowe’s nominator. “She is active in designing studies to test interventions for success that could lead to future evidence-based practices.”
Rowe has also worked to secure funding for Access ETSU, a program that has for several years offered supplemental support to young adults with intellectual disabilities at ETSU.
It’s a framework for providing supplemental service to individuals with intellectual disabilities on a university campus that is respected throughout the state and region.
“Ultimately, the goal for students served by Access is to be competitively employed. So, our primary research question is, ‘Does inclusive higher education services lead to competitive employment in their field of choice?’” said Rowe, the program director. “So far, our students who have graduated are finding competitive jobs. That is exciting and something to celebrate.”
Despite the award, Rowe doesn’t want all the credit.
“ETSU has been phenomenal. I came in 2019 and was so welcomed,” said Rowe. “There are so many people on this campus who support me in my work. I would not be successful without them. It’s important for me to recognize that I don’t do this work alone.”
Rowe is one of the many ETSU professors who produce premier scholarship, with faculty and staff often winning competitive grants and fellowships.
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Video Transcript
Dr. Dawn Rowe:
You know, ETSU has been phenomenal. I came in 2019, but I was welcomed. I had lots of research ideas, and nobody stopped me, right? They encouraged me. They believed in me. And one, I think that's really important. I think ETSU believes in its people. My particular area of focus is secondary transition, so supporting young adults with disabilities, transitioning from school to life after high school. That is a huge umbrella term. It includes academic instruction; it includes kind of life skills or functional skills for students to be successful. My personal preference is the functional skills, so I like teaching students how to manage their checkbooks and make decisions based on that, or teaching them self-determination and advocacy skills so that they have opportunities to be successful in postsecondary education or employment. For me, it's all about quality of life for individuals with disabilities and those without disabilities. And so making sure that I'm able to really understand what strategies to teach the skills they need to be successful, but also what supports need to be in place for them to have opportunities. It's all about opportunity for young people. And so for me, I do take the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act very seriously. There's so many people on this campus that support me in my work. I would not be successful without them. It's important for me to recognize that, you know, I don't do this work alone. I have a lot of people that support me, and without them, I would not be able to achieve the goals that I set out to achieve. So I thank each and everybody on this campus that supports me and is excited about my research and wants to be involved.