History of the Martin-Thacker Scholarship

The Martin-Thacker Scholarship was established by an endowment from Dr. Helen Thacker Hill and Dr. Leslie Martin in 1998. The purpose of the Endowment is to train rehabilitation counseling professionals to work in rural areas of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and serve persons with developmental disabilities. One or two scholars are appointed each year.

The award includes stipend and tuition assistance. Student’s who do their practicum at a facility called Quest Farm outside of Lexington receive an additional monetary supplement. Awards are typically made in the spring of each year for the next academic year.

Application for the Martin-Thacker Scholarship

Application for this scholarship is made after admission in the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Counseling. Students interested in pursuing this scholarship should begin by expressing this interest with the Program Coordinator or another faculty member.

Interested individuals will be asked to prepare a letter which addresses their backgrounds and the experiences they have had that have influenced their decision to enter the rehabilitation counseling profession. The Scholarship Committee wants to get a sense of the commitment the applicant has to rehabilitation in rural areas. Answering these questions helps us to assess the applicant’s character and integrity, as well as intellectual and academic strength.

Among the criteria and considerations for selection are the following:

1. be a student in good standing in the master’s level rehabilitation counseling program;
2. have a physical or mental disability;
3. be from a rural area;
4. agree to perform your practicum and/or internship at Quest Farm or similar rural rehabilitation facility;
5. undergraduate grade point average and Graduate Record Examination scores,
6. quality of the application and interview with the Scholarship committee,
7. two letters of reference, and
8. upon graduation agree to serve a minimum of two years in a rehabilitation facility/program that serves individuals with developmental disabilities in rural areas in the state of Kentucky for each year that scholarship funds were received.

For additional information please contact:

Ralph M. Crystal, Professor and Coordinator
Program in Rehabilitation Counseling
University of Kentucky
224 Taylor Education Building
Lexington, KY 40506-0001