Oaklee Rogers spent the July 4 weekend making herself at home in the Treasure Valley — again.
Rogers, who moved into associate dean duties for Boise State’s College of Health Sciences the week of July 21, grew up in Boise, graduated from Capital High School and completed clinical rotations with St. Luke’s and Idaho Elks Rehab. And she’s glad to be back; she has spent the past 13 years in Arizona, doing meaningful work there — but it still wasn’t home.
She’d been associate dean for the College of Health and Human Services at Northern Arizona University, at the Phoenix campus, for the past three years, serving as the primary administrator for the university’s second-largest campus, at the Phoenix Bioscience Core. She is a trained occupational therapist with a doctorate in occupational therapy.
In recent years, she has collaborated on practice-based research leading to grant funding and national- and international-level scholarship, developed a fieldwork program and co-created an occupational therapy program at Northern Arizona University.
Her research interests include developing occupational therapy interventions to support the recovery of individuals with substance use disorders and designing and implementing interprofessional education opportunities to enhance students’ learning. She has co-authored peer-reviewed publications, secured $3.5 million in grant funding and presented at numerous state, national, and international conferences.
She has designed and taught courses in education, leadership, mental health and scholarship, and led initiatives that foster students’ mental health and well-being and create opportunities to build community and belonging.
Passionate about community
Belonging is what joining up at Boise State is all about for Rogers, whose sister, brothers and parents were here to celebrate having her back. She and her family have moved in close to the family that stayed put while she was in Arizona.
“Idaho is home for me,” she said. “It was, OK, it’s time. It’s time to come home.
“My parents are over the moon that the grandkids are closer.”
And belonging, by extension, is a part of the culture that she’s built elsewhere and knows is critical now, in a time of clinician gaps and burnout.
“We’re training future healthcare providers, and there’s such a shortage throughout the state, especially in rural and underserved communities,” she said. “Building connections, community, those are the kind of things I really take pride in. How can we make that community stronger, so that students can succeed? They are our future healthcare providers.”
Early days for Rogers entailed getting to know colleagues and the university and taking the load off COHS’ leaders who have been covering multiple executive positions. Jumping in is her style, but she wants to do that with others.
“I’m a very collaborative leader,” she said. “I feel it’s very important to have others at the table. I’m also one who wants to get in and do the work as well, and I’ll hold myself accountable. That follow-through is important as a leader.”
Ready to be solution-oriented
Her position was new at North Arizona when she moved into the role, and she worked to link the campus with the main campus, designing an inaugural homecoming event for those students, faculty and staff members at the Phoenix location and shaping a student appreciation week with wellness activities, signage and distinctive swag. She also launched much-needed mental health support on campus.
She deeply understands the challenges that higher education — and students, and faculty members, and clinicians — face.
“We really need to share the value of higher education,” she said. “Education can give individuals the knowledge and skills that can positively impact them and their families for the rest of their lives.”
Solutions for her have to do with sharing the value and meaning of healthcare professions early in children’s lives, and making sure those closer to jobs and careers understand that there are many ways to enter healthcare fields.
“There are different paths to get into health care,” she said. “It’s finding pathways.
“Helping people find their path is important. Maybe they need a microcredential, or a certification, or an online course. You have to meet people where they’re at.”