UM Directory
Catherine Ipsen
RTC:Rural Director
Contact Information
- Department:
- Rural Institute On Disabilities
- Email:
- catherine.ipsen@umontana.edu
- Phone:
- (406) 243-4562
- Office Hours:
-
Office Address
Corbin 241
32 Campus Dr MS 7056
Missoula MT, 59812
Dr. Ipsen holds a Ph.D. in Multidisciplinary Studies and an M.A. in Economics, both from the University of Montana. She has worked at the Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities (RIIC) since 1992, and with RTC:Rural since 1999. She currently serves as the Associate Director for RIIC and Director of RTC:Rural.
Dr. Ipsen has over 20 years of experience conducting disability research and evaluation, with funding through the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC), and U.S. Department of Education. Her primary research interests focus on strategies to support rural consumers in securing and maintaining employment and participating in the community.
Education
B.A. Economics, Occidental College
M.A. Economics, University of Montana
Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Research, University of Montana
Research Interests
Rural disability disparaties and measurement
Personal assistant services
VR and AIVR self-employment opportunity
Behavioral health and self-management skill-building
Projects
RTC:Rural - Place-based Solutions (2018-2024)
- Expanding the Availability and Quality of Rural Data
- Exploring Rural Disability Onset
- Rural Access to Health Insurance and Health Care
- Rural Self-Employment
RTC-Rural: Expanding Rural Capacity (2023 - 2028)
- Expanding the Availability and Quality of Rural Data
- Secondary Data Analyses to Inform Practice and Policy
- Indicators of Rural Personal Assistance Services Workforce Capacity
- Comparing Remote Peer-Group and One-on-One Health Promotion
- Building AIVRS Capacity in Self-Employment
Rural Youth Apprenticeship Development Project (2020-2025)
New Return on Investment for VR Program (2022-2025)
Field of Study
Vocational Rehabilitation
Employment
Self-Employment
Health care access, insurance, and health promotion
Professional Experience
I currently serve as the Principal Investigator of the Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities (RTC:Rural) at the University of Montana. My research interests focus on improving employment, health, and community living outcomes of people with disabilities. As part of this work, I have developed the VR Self-Employment Guide and TVR Self-Employment Toolkit websites to support VR and TVR consumers and counselors explore and pursue self-employment within VR services (www.vrselfemploymentguide.org; www.tvrselfemployment.org), and I have conducted training with VR and TVR agency staff regarding self-employment. My past research interests have focused on strategies to enhance self-employment outcomes within the VR program, including evaluation and recommendations for agency self-employment policies and procedures, linkages with small business development centers, and enhanced training and understanding among VR counselors. I employ participatory, quantitative, and qualitative methods, including participatory curriculum development strategies.