Breaking barriers : DRS employee online news and information, 01/24/2012 v.1 no.4

              OK DRS Breaking Barriers
http://www.okrehab.org/BreakingBarriers/2012-01-24/index.html[9/26/2013 11:37:38 AM]
New Hires or Reassignments as
of December 15, 2011
It's not always easy to be the new guy on the block, even if
you've been with the agency for a while. Be sure to welcome the
following to their new positions.
Bailey, Julie – Rehabilitation of the Blind Specialist IV, VS91, OKC
Hatch, Jan - Programs Manager I, VR22, Norman
Smith, Retta - Rehabilitation Technician III, VR56, Woodward
West, Michael – Budget Analyst III, FSD
Read entire RSA article Tell Us What YOU Think
RSA Commissioner Lynnae
Ruttledge Resigns
On January 4 Rehabilitation
Services Administration
Commissioner Lynnae
Ruttledge announced her
resignation, effective
January 13, 2012.
Commissioner Ruttledge
said that she was returning
home to the Pacific
Northwest to spend more
time with her family. Alexa
Posny, Assistant Secretary
for the Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitative
Services, has asked Ed Anthony, Deputy Commissioner of RSA to
serve as interim Commissioner.
DRS Director Mike O’Brien announced the resignation of Ruttledge
at the Jan. 10 Oklahoma Rehabilitation Services Commission
meeting. He said Ruttledge, who had been a true advocate for
vocational rehabilitation, has resigned because her husband is
very ill and she needs to be with him
O’Brien will attend an executive meeting of the CSAVR on Jan. 23
and 24, to discuss how we prepare for this change, and to discuss
how this change may affect federal legislation that may come up
this spring. Her resignation may create some challenges that have
to be reviewed.
In an open letter to all members of the National Rehabilitation
Association, Director of Government Affairs Patricia Leahy states,
“Commissioner Ruttledge has been and will always be an active
advocate on behalf of children and adults with disabilities no
matter where she resides.
Where is DRS?
Tell Us What YOU Think
Servant Leadership Training
Begins Feb. 1
Servant Leadership training for
all VR and VS staff will begin
Wednesday, Feb. 1. It will be
based on the director’s Servant
Leadership philosophy as
illustrated in the books “The
Secret,” by Ken Blanchard and
Mark Miller, and “The Serving
Leader,” by Ken Jennings and
John Stahl-Wert.
The focus will be on how each
individual can be a serving
leader regardless of his or her
position in the agency. Trainings
will occur regionally throughout the state to conclude by mid-
June.
The director and VR and VS Division Administrators will be
opening up every class either in person or by video message.
Servant Leadership has been discussed and modeled by DRS
managers for a couple of years. Director Michael O’Brien has
recently restated his firm commitment to this leadership
paradigm. “Servant Leadership is part of what we keep doing as
an organization. We are not letting up. Every person will be a
serving leader,” said O’Brien.
For more information about the upcoming VR and VS Servant
Leadership training series, contact Mike Hamrick, VR and VS HRD
Programs Manager at 405-635-2774 or email him at
mlhamrick@okdrs.gov.