C
ollege Access Retention and Employment (CARE) Final ReportExecutive Summary
Miami-Dade Community College offers Associate of Arts and Associate of Science Degrees as well as vocational Certificate programs. The College serves 120,000 (85,000 credit) students annually. Miami-Dade Community College has provided services for students with disabilities since 1973. The College Access, Retention and Employment (CARE) Program was designed to evaluate those services for both institutional and student perspectives. The CARE Program had two major goals. The first was to develop a demonstration model to improve the delivery and outcomes of post-secondary education for people with disabilities. Special focus was placed on individuals who are also members of minority groups. The second goal was to disseminate the Model, describing the program to public, urban post-secondary institutions in the United States. Both goals were essentially met. The CARE program attempted to improve enrollment, retention, graduation rates in post-secondary settings and employment rates of students with disabilities. The CARE Program evaluated existing service provision for students with disabilities in college settings including: Financial Aid, Registration, Academic Advisement, Job Placement/Career Exploration, the Vocational Support Lab, the College Prep Program, Disabled Student Services and the Library. Through a systems change approach, CARE encouraged colleges and universities to include students with disabilities in existing programs and services, as well as to provide training for faculty and staff to make academic, support, and extra curricular activities accessible to students with disabilities. CARE also piloted a mentorship program for students with disabilities on campus. Data were generated by the CARE Program about students with disabilities at Miami-Dade. Information including demographics, type of disability, retention, graduation rates and student satisfaction with services received was included. College-wide, Miami-Dade provides services for approximately 1,500 students with various disabilities per year. At the North Campus of M-DCC, 426 students were served in the 1996-97 year through Disabled Student Services. the largest disability group served was learning disabled students. The majority of these students were members of minority groups. There were four major findings of this project. First, there was a 23% campus increase in enrollment of students with disabilities over the three years of the grant, as compared to a slight enrollment decrease for the college overall. Interestingly, there was little difference from year to year of students receiving services from Disabled Student Services. We attribute some of the increase as a result of more accurate data collection because of the project. Others may have self identified because of an increased comfort level made possible by the project activities. A second finding was that retention figures are fairly consistent through the life of the project and roughly equivalent to our best measure of students at large. Our satisfaction surveys identified students as generally pleased with their experience in college. Therefore, despite grant activities and student satisfaction, no increased retention resulted. Rather, the retention was basically consistent throughout2 the project. CARE staff attributes this to increased academic standards paired with decreases in financial support through agencies such as Vocational Rehabilitation available to these students. Also, because of ADA, private universities in the surrounding area now reach out to students with disabilities. This allows more choices for able, financially independent students with disabilities who otherwise would continue in the community college. Third, because of the lack of historic attention to evaluation of services for students with disabilities, the data source was chaotic. CARE piloted an approach to data which would discern disability in a mainstreamed manner. We purchased a software program for one service-Job placement. Another problem occurred, however. Despite the promises of the manufacturer that such software was accessible, it was not. Therefore, a disproportionate amount of college time was used to correct the problem in order to track students with disabilities. The last major finding was that a possible obstacle to improved services for these students in higher education is the isolation that many professionals serving students with disabilities feel, even in their regions and states. The state departments of education--usually invested with governance and technical assistance responsibilities for public colleges and universities have typically not recognized a role on behalf of this special population. Because these services are often dependent on external resources and inter-agency coordination, outreach support from states are critically important to the development of services for students with disabilities. The following are major recommendations:
· Developing programs for students with disabilities cannot be built on predictable enrollment patterns. Rather than numbers of students as a goal, a more productive use of resources is the development of innovative and mainstreamed approaches to recruitment and services. · Initiate a comprehensive approach to data collection with special attention to students with disabilities. If software is used to track students in classes, services or trends, make sure that the contract is contingent that this software is accessible to people with disabilities in the field. · Research and pilot outreach approaches on the part of state departments of education designed to enhance the quality and cost of services for students with disabilities in institutions of higher education.
3 Introduction Miami-Dade Community College (MDCQ offers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science Degrees as well as Vocational Certificate programs. The College serves 120,000 (85,000 credit) students annually. Miami-Dade has provided services for students with disabilities since 1973. Over the years Disabled Student Services Offices college-wide have grown to serve approximately 1,500 students per year. Striving to deliver the most effective services for students with disabilities, the need to evaluate the services being provided was critical. In addition, both State and Federal dollars for student services were diminishing. The importance of utilizing small budgets in the most cost effective way was paramount. National data reveals several facts relevant to community colleges. First, students with disabilities enter post-secondary education more under-prepared than their peers. This indicates the need for effective remedial instruction, usually not provided in the university setting. Second, of the 890,000 students with disabilities enrolled in post-secondary settings in 1992-93, 63% were enrolled in community colleges. Finally, students with disabilities enroll in post-secondary settings much less often than their mainstream counter parts. Once in a college or university, students with disabilities do not continue or graduate in comparable numbers as their peers. With these three issues in mind the College Access, Retention and Employment (CARE) Grant was written and funded. The CARE Program had two major goals: the first was to develop a demonstration model to improve the delivery and outcomes of post-secondary education for people with disabilities. Special focus was placed on individuals who are also members of minority groups. The second goal was to disseminate a model, describing the program to public, urban post-secondary institutions in the United States (see enclosed Model). The CARE Program attempted to improve enrollment, retention, graduation rates in post-secondary settings, and employment rates of students with disabilities. In addition, as each grant objective was accomplished, cultural differences were taken into account and when relevant, incorporated into grant activities and model development. Significant work regarding special needs populations (ie: "at risle' populations, speakers of other languages and cultural groups, etc.) have been addressed throughout the history of this Institution. The CARE grant worked to create linkages between existing special programs and students with disabilities. Data was generated by the CARE grant about students with disabilities at Miami-Dade. Information including demographics, type of disability, retention, graduation rates and student satisfaction with services received was included. College Aide, Miami-Dade provides services for student population of 120,000 (85,000 credit students) and approximately 1,500 students with various disabilities per year. At the North Campus of MDCC, 442 students were served in the 1996-97 year. The largest disability group served was 262 learning disabled students. The majority of these students were members of minority populations. 78 were White Non-Hispanic, 167 were Hispanic, 185 were Black NonHispanic, and 12 were Other. Of that group 219 were male and 223 were female. Four were first time in college, 323 were not and 15 were unknown. The majority of students fell within the 26-45 age group. 4 Student Surveys In order to assess students' with disabilities satisfaction with services received, a student survey (see appendix) was developed and administered. The surveys were administered two consecutive years and results were used to design interventions. Two hundred students were surveyed, (120 year one and 80 year two). There were approximately 800 students in the cohort of students receiving services annually at Mami-Dade, North Campus. A list of students who self-identified as having a disability during registration was generated. In addition, Disabled Student Services counselors encouraged students to participate; flyers were placed in various areas on campus and students were also offered a resume software disk, as an incentive to complete the survey. The survey included two sections. The first was the Enrolled Student Survey previously developed by Mami-Dade Community College's Institutional Research office. The survey was designed to measure the relative value of and students' satisfaction with a variety of student services. M-DCC had previously administered the survey to a 5% random sample of the general student population. The results provided a baseline against which to compare disabled student responses to identical items on a college-wide survey of mainstream students. The second section was developed specifically to measure the importance of, and satisfaction with, services offered by M-DCC's North Campus Disabled Student Services (DSS) Department and other support service areas. Items regarding the services were formatted in the same manner as the first section to maintain consistency. Additional items were added regarding frequency of visits, frequency of equipment use, and perceived educational opportunities. Ratings of services which were considered most important were compared by examining the percent of agreement between the two populations on the items "I believe the ideal college should have etc". The five items which received the highest percent of strongly agree and agree responses from students with disabilities were: 86% An excellent Job Placement Program 84% Financial Aid program that helps make college affordable 84% Excellent athletic recreational facilities 82% Adequate transportation to and from the campus 8 1 % An advising program focused on the students academic needs Among the general student body the five highest items with strongly agree and agree responses were: 91% A library that meets students' needs 91% Faculty members who are excellent teachers 91% Faculty who are up to date in their fields 91% A flexible schedule of courses at a variety of times 91% A financial aid program that helps make college affordable Two of the services receiving the highest number of agreements from students with disabilities were in the five lowest from the mainstream students. These were the "adequate transportation" and athletic/recreational facilities" items. While a comparison of these responses may seem to indicate major differences between the populations, the reality is quite different. The two items at the top of the students with disabilities Est relate directly to having a disability. Often students with disabilities have mobility difficulty. Many college campuses are large and inaccessible. Students need convenient transportation to campus locations. The second item "athletic/recreational facilities" may involve students using the physical training facilities for rehabilitation related to their disability. When the survey items are isolated by relation to disability, the survey responses of both populations become more uniform. For example, both populations rated financial aid in their top five responses. Goals, Objectives and Outcomes GOAL I Develop a demonstration model which will improve the delivery and outcomes of post-secondary education for people with disabilities with special focus on individuals who are also members of minority groups, i.e. Hispanic and Black. Objective I Improve the utilization of existing college resources for college students with disabilities. Develop new strategies to inform disabled people and others in the community and college about the availability of special services for disabled students. This includes college orientation classes, mail-outs in accessible formats, media announcements, fairs and other community events, etc. National statistics indicate students with disabilities should be approximately 9% of a postsecondary institution's student population, based on secondary population. However, most institutions have 3% or less. The percentage at MDCC was 2%. This data suggests a need for improvements in recruitment of students with disabilities. The first step was for the CARE director to evaluate how high school students with disabilities were currently obtaining information about post-secondary alternatives when the recruiters from MDCC-North campus went to the local high schools. We found that the majority of students with disabilities, those participating in the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program did not attend. This appeared to be the norm within the secondary schools in the North Campus catchment area. This includes the geographical region surrounding MDCC-N, including 12 public and 3 private high schools. 6 The strategy in place at the time was for the students to get college related information in one of three ways: Directly from the ESE department, from College Assistance Providers (CAP) advisors located in each high school who visited the ESE classroom once each year and the MDCC-N Disabled Student Services (DSS) office sent out a representative to the ESE departments once a year. Using the ESE department and the MCC-N, DSS representative did not prove cost effective. Relying on teachers or counselors who were not recruiters to do the job, in addition to their other jobs was not always useful. These methods also did a minimal job of providing students adequate post-secondary information. The CAP program is responsible for providing college information to all students. However, they usually make no special effort to include students with disabilities in their program and when students with disabilities visit the CAP advisors office, they are typically referred back to the ESE department. A variety of methods were developed by the CARE program to inform the community about services available on campus. CARE started with the MDCC-N college recruitment office to improve information dissemination. They had not been opposed to including students with disabilities in recruitment efforts. and They started to include information about support services available on Campus in their general recruiting. They also agreed to provide separate invitations to the ESE counselors and encourage those students to attend when recruitment activities were held in the high schools. In addition, the CARE program director visited ESE teachers, counselors, CAP advisors, transition specialists in the 13 high schools, provided written letters and group meetings (see objective 5) and made them aware of the programs and services available to students at the community college. However, with cost-effectiveness in mind and wanting to make postsecondary information available to students in a "user friendly" manner, the CARE program developed videos entitled, "Support Services for Students with Disabilities at the Community College and Vocational Programs" and "Support Services for Students with Disabilities." The CARE program director identified the information relevant to potential ~MCC applicants. With the idea in mind that high school students with disabilities were currently receiving very limited information about post-secondary options, the information included was basic. Such as, degree and certificate programs offered; the support services available to students with disabilities; who is eligible to attend and how to apply and enroll at MDCC. These were distributed to the ESE Programs in the high schools by the College recruiters. The procedure for future recruitment was that students could check these videos out for viewing in the high school at their convenience. Students could also take them home and share the videos with parents. The ESE departments could also show them to small groups based on student interest or course content. Next, the CARE program personnel focused on the important connection between post-secondary enrollment and providing parents with information. Two newsletters were developed and mailed out in years 2 and 3, providing parents information on the various degrees, certificates and support services available at the community college. These newsletters were mailed directly to the parents from the public schools. 7
Social service agencies affiliated with the DATA group (see objective 5) were provided information about various degree and continuing education programs available at MDCC. By doing so, the CARE staff attempted to reach those persons not currently affiliated with any educational institution. In addition, as more and more service agencies, including post-secondary settings, develop home pages, the CARE program encouraged them to include services for people with disabilities. Computers make accessing information possible when once it was not, particularly to the homebound segment of people with disabilities. This effective method of "caccess" to information was confirmed by visually impaired students who completed the MicroComputer survey (see objective 1c).
There are now 5 new methods of information dissemination, where students were previously receiving limited or no post-secondary information. Although enrollment figures dropped during the CARE grant time frame, there were extenuating circumstances. The actions of the State Legislature impacted students with disabilities, as did College policy changes (for additional discussion on these political and College policy changes see discussion under objective 6c).
Recruitment is a cornerstone of the CARE model. In order to make improvements in the large unemployed and current under-representation of students with disabilities in post-secondary settings, the first step is undoubtedly recruitment. With regard to post-secondary settings, institutions need to make the commitment to recruit students with disabilities, as they would any other under-served population. Some of these methods proved more effective than others. Positive feedback was obtained on three of the new recruitment measures. Through inclusion in DATA both the social service agencies and the public school officials not only received information from the CARE Project director, but also provided positive feedback about the information being useful to their clients/students. In addition, transition specialists from the public schools relayed that their students were asking questions based on having seen the videos produced by the CARE grant. This was presented in a positive light in that several of these students had not previously considered post-secondary education at all. While CARE was able to have the existing ~MCC Recruitment office include students with disabilities in their efforts, there was still resistance from the public schools. Related to the commonly held misconception that students with disabilities, particularly those in the Exceptional Student Education departments are not college material. There was very little indication that the inclusion of students with disabilities in MDCC Recruitment office visits to the local high schools had any impact. This suggest that the public schools still do not always take them to the recruitment sessions. Finally, there were positive comments made about the information in the newsletters produced by the CARE program by public school personnel. However, there were only 3 phone calls from parents generated in direct response to the newsletters. Taking into consideration the amount of time it takes to generate newsletters, including the content and, in this case, both language and accessible formats, this did not prove to be a very cost-effective recruitment method.
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l b. Place disabled students in the following college environments which will be made newly accessible to them: I - Micro Computer Classes--year 1 2 - Vocational Support Laboratories--year 2 3 - Library Resource Centers--year 3 1 c.Evaluate and track student progress in these newly accessible resources and develop new/revised approaches to learning based on the evaluation in these resources. Micro-Computer Course (CGS 2990) The Micro-Computer course offered at Miami-Dade Community College-North Campus provides an integrated approach for learning about access technology for people who are visually impaired. This evaluation occurred after three sections of the course were taught. The evaluation included all twenty students who enrolled and completed the course during the three terms. That number would appear to be low averaging approximately 7 students per term. However, we must keep in mind that blindness and visual impairments are very low incidence disabilities. The entire population of students who fell into this category when this evaluation was completed was 30. Students are expected to learn and use the Vocal Eyes and Window Eyes screen reading programs and will learn how the programs specifically change the way they function as they utilize different applications. In addition, using taped materials, students will become familiar with many of the current characteristics of access technology as it relates to visually impaired people. Students will acquire a basic knowledge of DOS and Windows 3.1 operating systems, the use of WordPerfect, the Internet, and data bases with special emphasis on those that function efficiently with speech. This evaluation was completed to determine student satisfaction with the Micro-Computer course. Two methods were used to obtain student feedback. The required course evaluations completed at the end of each class and surveys developed by the CARE Program completed in May/June 1995. The course was taught three semesters (93-3, 94-1 and 95-1). The first class met over a mini-term for twelve weeks. The other two sections met during two consecutive Fall terms, sixteen week semester periods. The class met for one three hour lecture and one two hour lab session each week. The class met in a micro-computer lab, in order to provide hands on application for students. There were two instructors for this course and they used a team teaching approach. Adaptations and revisions were made each time the course was taught to improve the course to meet the stated objectives. The evaluation for this course included twenty students, seven males and thirteen females. Various ethnic groups were represented including Affican-American, Caucasian, Hispanic and Asian. This course was an elective in the College's Business Technology and Office Science, Associate of Science Degree program. Students were required to register through Disabled Student Services. 9 The survey and course evaluations identified some negative opinions about this course. These negative comments focused on problems with instructors and course content. Almost every student felt there was either too much or too little course content. This was based on prior computer experience. Those with experience wanted to spend more-time on advanced applications. Those with little or no computer experience wanted to spend more time on each of the applications covered in the class. As a result, the first recommendation was to divide the class into two sections, similar to what is done in mainstream computer courses, into beginning computer and advanced computer content. Every student had an opinion on this issue, thus indicating the importance. One option for the advanced students is to provide the disability specific skills and enroll them in mainstream computer classes. Another need for advanced visually impaired students could be met by augmenting the present technology available to them in Disabled Student Services. As a result of personnel savings in this project, CARE was able to purchase advanced hardware and materials. Two scanners and one sheet feeder were purchased. These have been added to the existing computers in the technology labs. Accessible CD's were also bought so students could use dictionaries, classic books, encyclopedias, and dietary information from the CD rom. Previously, we had no such materials. CARE also purchased "open book" software which allows these scanners to read printed materials through the computer. This represents a major stride in the effectiveness of resources in the classes as well as usage by students for overall studies. Students shared in the surveys, that they had looked for a class like this for years and could not find one. In addition, there was substantial documentation about how important this class was in providing what they need to open doors to education and employment through use of the computer. This was an important class for students with visual impairments. In Dade County there was only one other provider, the Lighthouse for the Blind, whose class is significantly more expensive, and as a result out of reach for most students. This course continues to be taught at MDCC-North, being offered on an as needed basis. Knowledge of computers, the ability to use them and the ability to access information is crucial to college success. Providing blind and visually impaired students knowledge of access technology assures the bridge to computers which they need to complete post-secondary education and become employed. In addition, a student that has the ability to utilize computers can take their own notes, research material and access information. Thus, alleviating some of the services required of Disabled Student Services offices by students who can function more independently. Therefore, it is recommended that other colleges/universities look at the need to offer such adaptive classes. Vocational Support Laboratories (VSL) Mami-Dade provides several forms of remedial support services. There are two labs designed to assist students with remedial difficulties. The Vocational Support Lab is designed to help students 10 participating in vocational training programs. In this lab, students work on computers at their own pace, with assistance from a coordinator and student assistants. The Learning Center Lab is housed in Disabled Student Services and is a support for degree seeking students with disabilities, almost exclusively learning disabilities. Over the course of the first year of CARE grant activities, concerns had been raised by Vocational rehabilitation and Dade County Public School counselors about learning disabled student progress through the Vocational Support Lab. There had been several cases of learning disabled students not progressing in the Vocational Lab and then dropping out. CARE reviewed records and tried to make a determination on the success of the students in the Vocational Lab. In an attempt to identify how many students with disabilities were utilizing the VSL, the CARE Director began with the College's Institutional Research Office. Unfortunately, the data collection process is significantly different between degree students and vocational students. Data on vocational students is not as extensive and disability status is not available. Next, CARE contacted the Vocational Department. They indicated that they did not collect data on whether or not a student had a disability. Still trying to obtain the information CARE questioned Disabled Student Services and it appeared that there were not a large number of students with disabilities participating in the lab. However, after talking with agencies (such as Vocational Rehabilitation) who refer students to the Vocational Department, it seemed the number was larger than previously thought. Collection of the numbers was difficult and ultimately the numbers are too small for firm recommendations to be made (See table next page). During Grant Year Two CARE continued to evaluate the Vocational Support Laboratory for student progress. Twenty-eight students were enrolled in one or more VSL courses between 95-1 and 96-2. Two distinct patterns were apparent. Sixteen of the students were enrolled only in VSL courses during that period. Nine of them were enrolled only for one term and only in remedial prep VSL; no courses providing vocational certificate credit. The other seven were enrolled for multiple terms, but only in VSL courses. None of these students progressed beyond VSL courses. All had either discontinued or were still in VSL courses at the end of the Winter Term 1996-2. One of these students was reported as having a physical disability. The remaining were reported as having a learning disability (n--9) or had no disability listed on the Student Data base (n--6). The second group of students (n--6) were enrolled in VSL courses and other course prefixes concurrently. The remaining students took both VSL and other courses but only remained one term or had taken only one course other than the remedial VSL course. In summary, it appears that learning disabled student progression throughout the VSL courses does not demonstrate satisfactory academic progress. There are some implications of this data. First, little attention is paid to special needs of students in some existing learning laboratories. Thus, the use of these mainstreamed labs may not be effective for disabled students. However, it is recommended that colleges take the time to develop strategies and tracking methods for this population before assuming that programs must be separate in order to be effective for the disabled student. Library Resource Centers Perhaps the most important single location on campus for accessibility is the library. Technology has made that access much easier than in the past and there are a broad range of functions that students with disabilities can handle more efficiently than ever. Online cataloging actually makes it possible for students with disabilities to do a good deal of their own research. Many colleges and universities include Internet access in their libraries. Students who would normally have to rely on readers for assistance, can do their own investigating and download their own information. Access should be built into any renovation plans for libraries and librarians should be aware that there are Federal grants through the LSCA or LSTA (Library Services and Construction Act or Library Services and Technology Act) funded by Congress that can be used for this purpose. At Miami-Dade Community College, CARE grant staff worked with the MDCC-North Coordinator of Disabled Student Services to develop college-wide requirements for an appropriate work station. Ironically, another group of librarians also recognized the critical nature of need for students with disabilities in Florida's Community College system. As a result, the Florida Legislature allocated approximately half a million dollars to make Florida post-secondary libraries accessible to students with disabilities. The accessible work station is now in place in each library of every campus throughout Florida. CARE staff have publicized the availability of this adaptive on line computer which includes zoom lens and JAWS for windows. CARE has arranged %krith Ms. Susan Lynch, Librarian, to identify this new work station to all students touring the library through the orientation classes. Disabled Student Services have also made the availability of this new station known to students receiving their services. Other post-secondary institutions may wish to adopt similar strategies and resources for their libraries. These three support services were designed to assist students with disabilities complete college and enter the work force. Combined they illustrate the need to constantly evaluate the services provided by any post-secondary institution. Evaluation should determine if the services being provided are completed in the most cost-effective manner and that services meet the student's need. The need for evaluation of services, cost-effectiveness and meeting student need are priorities of the CARE model and recommended as good practice for all institutions. These efforts are imperative toward meeting both institutional and student goals. Objective 2 Determine methods by which a college Job Placement Center can be utilized by disabled students in a timely, cost-effective and relevant manner. 2a. Develop, in collaboration with the Director of Job Placement , adaptive technology that will make the information from the Center accessible to students with disabilities. 12 1. Order " 1st Place" software for the Job Placement Center and field test ease of use for disabled students--year one 2. Adapt and field test-years two and three CARE evaluated the services provided by the Job Placement Center for students with disabilities. In the year previous to the CARE grant starting, only two students with disabilities had utilized services and no placements had been made. The obvious difficulty was that there was no access technology being used. The office was not usable by students with various disabilities. As identified in the CARE grant proposal I st Place! software was purchased and installed. Through the Disabled Student Services office volunteers with various disabilities visited the Job Placement Center to try out the software to determine accessibility. In the beginning a variety of problems were identified related to lack of accessibility. These problems were addressed and corrected. Adaptations and improvements were made during the entire three years based on user (student) feedback. These "Ist Place" discs are presently housed in the College Placement Office and have been formatted for use on this campus. Although major accessibility problems were corrected, our experience with this software was trying. Promises by the manufacturer on this issue were not fulfilled. A great deal of time and effort by the CARE staff was needed to manage minimal accessibility. We recommend that colleges carefully pilot software for accessibility before purchase and insure that each contract includes assurances before final payment is made. 2b. Develop and implement strategies that will affirmatively recruit students with disabilities to the College Job Placement office. CARE used the existing method of information dissemination on campus to improve utilization of the Job Placement office by students with disabilities. With so few students using the services provided the need to make mainstream counseling areas aware of the accessible changes was apparent. CARE informed counselors in both Disabled Student Services and the Counseling and Advisement Center of the new accessibility of the Placement Center. CARE also made available to the counselors a resume writing software called I st Place! Disk Resume. Students can personalize, keep and update the disk, as skills and education change. The CARE Program provided Disk Resume to counselors to give to students as an incentive to try the Job Placement Center. The strategy worked and over fifty students with disabilities now utilize the office each year. 2c. Acquire, retain and evaluate data on the participation of students with disabilities in the activities of the Job Placement Center. When the CARE program was finded students with disabilities were not using the Job Placement Center. During the 1993-94 academic year, only two students used the Placement Center. During the three year course of the CARE grant, improvements were made in accessible software, recruitment and 13 training for the Placement Center staff (see objective 2d). As a result, participation by students with disabilities increased to 50 during the 1996-97 year. 2d. Provide training for the staff of the Placement, Financial Aid and Career Exploration Center that will acquaint them with approaches that are necessary for various disabilities. Training was provided by the CARE grant for the Job Placement, Financial Aid and Career Exploration offices. These student services offices were made up of professionals and student assistants. CARE utilized pre-post tests to determine knowledge of accommodations for students with disabilities. The range of knowledge about working with students with disabilities was large. In the student surveys, students with disabilities had identified discomfort in many mainstream student services offices. As a result, improved customer service specific to this population was the focus of training. In addition, the training included information about the numbers of students with disabilities growing in post-secondary settings; disability etiquette such as who to look at when a student uses a sign language interpreter; the resources available to assist them on campus and time for questions and answers. Post tests indicated that participants increased knowledge about working with students with disabilities and how to improve provision of accommodations for students. Job placement centers have become critical to the role of student services in post-secondary settings. Federal initiatives such as School to Work and financial aid are aimed at getting students educated and employed as quickly as possible. The CARE Model stressed the importance of making placement centers open and accessible to students with disabilities. This is possible by obtaining accessible software and providing staff training. By combining the proper support services in academic programs and student services, post-secondary institutions can provide the bridge to employment for students with disabilities and improve services for all students. Objective 3 Determine and implement a comprehensive approach for recruiting qualified students with disabilities into college academic programs. 3a. Increase the effectiveness of transition conferences by developing outreach specifically aimed at parents and by implementing follow-up strategies after conferences that will increase enrollment of qualified students. These will include regular meetings with specialists from the school system to identify students with disabilities who are mainstreamed to the point where transition conferences are not mandated. Also, materials will be sent to qualified students following conferences. For the first two years of CARE grant activities the advisory group DATA (described in section 5a) met on a quarterly basis. The group included Exceptional Student Education (ESE) department representatives, transition specialists and other public school officials. By meeting on a regular basis, the CARE director was able to keep the schools abreast of CARE efforts to improve recruitment. DATA members responded by providing input and a more direct line to the students we wanted to 14 reach. The transition specialists identified students for CARE grant activities and disseminated information. The schools provided mailing lists to send college information directly to high school parents. The CARE grant proposal indicated that CARE would work with specialists from the school system to identify students with disabilities who are mainstreamed to the point where transition conferences are not mandated. The CARE project director researched this population through school system records. The records indicated that there were no students with disabilities who did not have transition conferences. All students with disabilities obtained some type of assistance from either the ESE department or transition specialists. The real variance was how many classes they participated in the ESE department and how many students took classes through mainstream channels. 3b. Work with the Talent Search and Upward Bound programs to help them in affirmatively recruiting students who are disabled and to assist those programs to arrange for effective transition into college programs. The Talent Search group active in the MDCC-North catchment area is ASPIRA (to aspire). They serve exclusively Hispanic high school students. ASPIRA representatives attended DATA committee meetings and regularly enrolls graduates into Miami-Dade. However, when CARE visited ASPIRA in 1994, they did not have any students with disabilities. When the CARE project director asked why, the ASPR?,A assistant director indicated that because ASPRU serves a small number of students they do not have the special education teachers to serve students with disabilities and the programs are provided in other Dade County Public Schools. 3c. Develop and implement strategies to recruit students who have already left school into acaden-dc programs at MDCC through liaison with service agencies, consumer groups, business and industry and the media. With the large number of people with disabilities not working, they become disenfranchised. After completing secondary school if they choose not to continue their education and do not work, they may not have access to information on programs and services available in post-secondary settings. Through DATA many social service and rehabilitation agencies were involved in improving both education and employment for people with disabilities. An additional way to improve the employment outlook was to involve businesses directly. In order to include the business community, the CARE director attended the local Chamber of Commerce Education Committee meetings. By utilizing the existing liaison between the College and the Chamber, CARE was able to provide students shadowing opportunities with member businesses. The CARE director developed shadowing opportunities. The chamber businesses were originally not receptive to getting involved. However, after CARE provided information about students with disabilities as potential employees and the possibility that the College could train students and prepare them to work for the businesses, they agreed. However, when it came time to recruit students to 15 participate, students were not interested. The recommendation here is to provide some motivational workshops for students previous to providing shadowing or employment related opportunities. Once again, in many instances students with disabilities have not been encouraged to seek employment. In addition, when people with disabilities do seek employment, there are still many obstacles to be overcome. 3d. The college's main streamed recruitment effort will be enhanced so as to assure that potential students with disabilities are reached by its activities. For objective 3d see objective la for an explanation of how the colleges mainstream recruitment was enhanced to include students with disabilities. The priority for improved recruitment was stressed throughout the CARE Program Model. The importance of networking with the community and other existing programs was pointed out within this objective. Consumer groups, service agencies, business and industry can better coordinate efforts to address issues such as how best to increase numbers of students with disabilities completing college and becoming employed. It is particularly important with this population to reach out in as many ways (television, radio, computers) to as many locations (social service agencies, secondary schools, hospitals) as possible. In order to make post-secondary offerings available. It was not so long ago that college was not an option for people with disabilities. Working through community organizations assisted in achieving common objectives, both institutionally and community based and also in changing misconceptions about people with disabilities. Objective 4 Develop a method by which faculty will become aware of college resources and effective strategies to instruct students who are disabled, through the Teaching/Learning Project. 4a. Institutionalize the inclusion of a presentation on serving disabled students into the new faculty orientation. 4b. Develop and implement a workshop for all new faculty on effective integration of disabled students into classes. 4c. Provide workshops on how to use, and access technology to enhance the integration of students with disabilities into classroom activities. In order to institutionalize a disability specific training the CARE Program utilized the existing process for staff training, the Teaching/Learning Project on campus. This is the Department that provides inservice training to faculty and staff college-wide. The idea was to develop training for faculty and staff that would continue after the grant ends. 16The CARE grant director reviewed the Faculty Handbook. Not surprisingly, there was not any information about the Americans with Disabilities Act or working with students with disabilities. CARE program staff worked with the Teaching and Learning office to get Rights and Responsibilities for Faculty regarding Students with Disabilities as well as Rights and Responsibilities of Employees with Disabilities incorporated permanently into the College Faculty Handbook. These documents include information on procedures for faculty working with students and for employees working at the College. There are also local contact numbers for additional information, such as the College Affirmative Action Officer, and the Disabled Student Services Coordinator on campus.
In addition, new faculty training is also sponsored by the Teaching/Learning Project. The training now includes information on integrating students with disabilities into classroom activities and the various resources on campus to assist faculty.
CARE also held a variety of teleconferences and workshops for faculty and staff including:
· African Americans with Learning Disabilities in Post-Secondary Settings
· Meeting the Needs of Special and Disadvantaged Learners in Tech Programs
· School to Work/Community College Relationship
· Leadership Challenge for Deaf College Student
· Awareness of Learning Styles for All Students
· Sensitivity to Student with Disabilities
· Focus on Learning
· Assessing Effectiveness Promoting Student Success
· Assistive Technology in the School and Home
These teleconferences included information about usage of access technology, integration of students with disabilities into classroom activities, resources available on campus and demographics about the population of students with disabilities at MDCC.
Teleconferences/workshops were offered on different days and times. About two hundred faculty, staff, administrators, social services and public school professionals participated in the training activities. Written evaluations completed at the end of the sessions were positive. The only difficulty seemed to be time. Due to faculty teaching at different times it was next to impossible to schedule a time that was convenient to all. Video tapes were made of all sessions and available to faculty and staff. However, usage of videos was minimal.
CARE staff also worked with the Academic Dean on campus. In an attempt at a top down process to enhance attendance. The CARE director offered to address faculty/staff meetings in all College departments. Again, participation was limited. Only two departments took advantage of this method.
Low attendance is a common experience echoed in several national meetings which the CARE program director attended. However, this does not lessen the importance of the need for such training.
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Students with various disabilities are attending post-secondary settings in increasing numbers annually. Learning disabilities present specific issues and challenges to faculty members and student service professionals. There are many forms training can take, ie, workshops, teleconferences, staff meetings or by computers. Training must be ongoing however provided. Objective 5 Develop model agreements with selected industries, agencies and government employers to bring classroom accommodations into the job market in which disabled students and graduates will be employed. 5a. Assume leadership in the creation of a Dade Area Transition Alliance (DATA) which will bring together representation from all appropriate entities to plan more effective transition into and out of college. DATA was created and met on a quarterly basis serving as an advisory board for CARE Program activities. DATA was made up of 17 educational, employment, social service, community and advocacy agencies in Dade County. One way to reach the disabled population was through the social and community service agencies they utilize. As a result, the CARE program included agencies such as: Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), Blind Services, Deaf Services, Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology FAAST) and SCLAD (Spinal Cord Living Assistance Development) in the DATA group. CARE was not only able to provide these organizations information on various programs available but was able to obtain their input on changes in college programs that would benefit their clients. 5b. Target three jobs, one each year, which are in demand in Dade County and develop specific training and accommodations for these as models. These jobs will be determined through DATA. In order to identify the job for year one, DATA utilized a list produced by the Private Industry Council of jobs in demand in Dade County. DATA had previously determined the most cost effective method of providing the training would be to utilize an existing vocational program at MDCC and simply provide the necessary accommodations. This would allow any institution the ability to replicate this model based on their own programs and services. After reviewing the list and identifying correlated programs of study at Miami-Dade, the targeted job for year one was day care provider. Utilizing the Vocational Specialist in the Disabled Student Services office to identify students interested in pursuing this course of study, six students enrolled in this vocational certificate program. This is a popular program partially because students can work with children right on campus in the day care facility provided by the College for children of students and employees. 18 The accommodations included training for students on when and how to notify employers about disabilities and request any necessary accommodations. Many students with "hidden7' (Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder etc.) are apprehensive about telling employers of their disability. However, through training, students were encouraged to see the benefits of revealing their disability to employers. The process involved helping the students to become aware of the "real world" of work and the need to build necessary support systems. The MDCC-North Day Care Center enrolls pre-school children with disabilities. This interaction acted as an esteem building exercise for college students and an affirmation that college disabled students can serve as positive role models to the disabled and non disabled pre-school children as well as others.. A course is offered on campus titled "Psychology of Career Adjustment SLS 1401" (see additional information about SLS 1401 under objective 6c) which examines the unique situations that students with disabilities may encounter while trying to get and keep a job, such as how and when to reveal their disability, how to provide the employer with any necessary information about accommodations etc. The students in this group were encouraged to take this course by the advisor in Disabled Student Services. Providing such a class is another vehicle to assist students in developing skills to manage getting and keeping jobs with his/her disabilities. The curriculum for this class is on file in Disabled Student Services. With regard to Year 2 and 3, the CARE Program Director was unable to identify a cohort of students willing to participate in the Model activities, including training with the Vocational Specialist and enrolling in SLS 1401. One reason for this was the change in direction of both the College and state regarding employment services. For example, MDCC was in the process of developing a One Stop Center which is located within the Vocational Education Department. This Center will provide an integrated approach to service provision and as a result should make vocational programs and accommodations more accessible to people with disabilities. The CARE program director acted as a resource to the Vocational Education Department on how to include students with disabilities in the developing One Stop Center. 5c. Work with the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, the school system and Vocational Rehabilitation to create and implement a technology transition process which will allow students to retain and enhance their technological knowledge as they move into employment. In addressing this goal, during year 1, the CARE director met with FAAST, VR and public school officials. The issue was that in each service area technology was available to the person with a disability, but when the individual left that setting, the technology stayed at the former location. The ideal thing would be to have the individual provided the necessary technology to keep with him/her--whether in the secondary school, college or employment setting. 19 Within year two, the work completed between these agencies did provide positive outcomes. The technology existed in each area, public schools, college and through VR in the work setting. The schools and College made VR aware of the necessary technology for each employment site, they were able to have the technology available when the student was ready for work. One final note, because there are so many different types of accommodations available, the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology, a Federal initiative which is available in all states under the Tech Act, is active in the Miami area. MAST provides a demonstration center where consumers or employers can visit and try various forms of Assistive technology. Therefore being able to purchase the most cost effective solution to making reasonable accommodations. The recommendation here is that Colleges must reach out to agencies such as V.R. as well as identify the state Tech Act affiliate appropriate to each setting. 5d. Develop and implement training and placement opportunities that will increase the job readiness of students through workshops on employability and assertiveness, job exploration, on the job-training, summer work experience, and college work study. A number of as previously mentioned disability specific classes were provided (see objective 6c); and significant changes were made in the Job Placement office (see objective 2). During Years 2 and 3, CARE provided training for the Career Exploration Center staff at MDCC-North Campus and provided disability related resource materials such as How to Select an Upper Division School Sensitive to Students with Disabilities. The CARE director also attended the local chamber of commerce's, education committee meetings throughout all three grant years. As a result, a "Shadow Day" was developed. Students were able to visit a member business related to their major and obtain "real world" information about employment. In the summer of grant year two, a four day disability specific orientation was offered for incoming freshmen. This orientation contained traditional post-secondary material, such as what to expect on campus, resources available to assist the student and an employment related segment. Information was provided about seeking employment, developing a resume, interviewing and work place etiquette. CARE advertised the orientation through the public school transition specialist for the NMCCNorth Campus catchment area. Sixteen students attended; all of them were learning disabled freshman and either from African-American or Hispanic ethnic groups. 15 of the original enrollees finished the training. Participants provided positive written feedback. The employment related information was particularly well received. We also noted that their attitudes regarding talking about their disabilities openly were changed with the segment on being disabled, presented by the totally blind coordinator of Disabled Student Services. The only negative comments related to the amount of time required to complete the training. It was 12 hours in length. This feedback is 20 being utilized to design future orientations. Despite the extra time needed to provide this program, Disabled Student Services will offer one day orientation for students with disabilities, utilizing a shortened curriculum. Many obstacles exist for people with disabilities becoming employed. There are employer prejudices and as a result a lack of motivation on the part of the individual. There are also institutionalized obstacles to employment for people with disabilities. Social Security is a good example. When people with disabilities obtain any type of employment whether it is a summer job for a student, a part time job to gain work experience or work study in the college setting, the individual's Social Security benefit is decreased. A chain reaction goes into effect threatening other benefits such as health care. As a result people with disabilities are encouraged not to work. While a variety of opportunities were made available to students to enhance work ability, those that provided actual hands on work experience were utilized by few. These obstacles must be removed before any real progress can be made in improving employment figures for people with disabilities. Objective 6 Increase retention of students with disabilities by 20% and placement by 10% by year three of the project. Specific numbers were identified in the CARE grant proposal. Data collection was needed in focusing on students with disabilities: demographics such as age, sex, disability type, ethnicity etc. The proposal intended to utilize the existing College Office of Institutional Research to obtain data. However, when the data was requested two problems became evident. First, never having been collected before, much of the data requested did not have disability codes, such as vocational programs, retention and graduation rates. Second, an issue that has plagued data collection for all three years of grant activities, students with disabilities reluctance to self-identify during the registration process. There are ADA confidentiality issues involved with identifying students any other way. Maintaining the "systems change" approach the Grant worked within existing departments and committees to bring about lasting changes. During the course of the Grant, political changes (both internally and externally) brought about drastic changes in policy effecting students with disabilities. The Florida State Legislature has become involved in limiting the number of times students can take remedial classes. As previously stated, students with disabilities enter college under-prepared, this policy inordinately effects them. In addition, at the State level the funding for Auxiliary Aids has been under attack. These are dollars placed in a categorical fund to be utilized to fund auxiliary aid for college and university students in the Florida state system. In the 1995-96 fiscal year Miami-Dade was allotted $282,000 from this fund. During 1996-97 only $155,000 was provided. Finally, Miami-&Dade instituted a policy in 1997 excluding students with 21 special diplomas from enrolling. Previously these students had been admitted on a case by case basis. With regard to Objective 6, "increase retention by 20% by year 3 of the grant", this was not met. In fact, retention figures were fairly consistent throughout the grant--see retention chart. There were timing problems in data collection for year three. We hand sorted year three student count for enrollment, which is usually related to the retention figures. Here we found that there was a 23% increase for students with disabilities over the three years of the grant. The percent increase is compared with overall campus figures which slightly dropped over the three years of the project. We were successful in enrolling increasing numbers of black and hispanic students over the three year project. This overall increase, as stated in the Executive Summary is believed to be the result of enhanced tracking of these students as well as a possible high comfort level of students who self identify. The degree of difference is surprising, as 65% of our Campus registration is through the telephone, (STAR), which does not ask a question about disability. CARE has placed the asking of this question on the programming list for STAR and we expect that within the next year this question will be a part of the telephone registration process. Therefore, we anticipate that the percent increase will significantly increase when students have more opportunities to self identify. Despite the enrollment data and grant activities, student retention did not improve. Factors including increased academic standards, cutbacks in funding of agencies such as Vocational Rehabilitation which sponsors students with disabilities in college and increased choices of colleges--specifically private universities in the surrounding areas, may account for the flattened retention. This last factor, the increase of college choice, may be most accessible for white, non hispanic students with disabilities, which can possibly explain the increase of minority enrollment. These figures are compared to the only clear retention figures available through Institutional Research, which are first time in college students over a 5 year period of time. Because these groups do not match exactly, no statistically valid conclusion can be drawn. However, figures are roughly equivalent between groups regarding retention--see college retention chart. One group of students not specifically reflected on the chart--vocational and non degree seeking, was disproportionately negatively impacted. As illuded to in the vocational laboratory study, these students did not progress sufficiently in their basic skills to continue in college. As the vocational component is relatively new to MDCC, it will be recommended by the CARE director that more attention be placed on selection and retention of these students in vocational programs. CARE changed the way in which the College Institutional Research addresses record keeping for students with disabilities. Institutional Research now included data on students who are disabled and are continuing to do so on a continuing basis. Also, Mr. Ron Vorp indicates that there is a new awareness of the needs and issues of students who are disabled on the part of Institutional Research. During grant year one, between Fall 1994 until Winter 1995 the retention rate of students was 70%. During grant year two retention increased, from Fall of 1995 to the Winter 1996 which indicated a 73% retention rate of 398 students. However, during grant year 3 of the 304 students who enrolled in A.A. or A.S. programs from the Fall term 1996 to the Winter term 22 97 there was a 66% retention rate. Although retention figures remained fairly constant for the three years of grant administration, the 20% increase was not realized. 6a. Develop and implement a mentor program in collaboration with our cooperative education program that will allow students with similar disabilities who have college experience to work with new students to help them acquire and utilize effective coping skills. Mentorship It has already been mentioned that students with disabilities enter post-secondary education more academically unprepared than their peers. In addition, as a result of being secluded from mainstream peers into special education departments in high school, they are less likely to have participated in extra-curricular activities and developed social skills or the ability to build proper support systems necessary in the college environment. These students are less likely to have held a job or had a date. In addition to their already existing disability, their lack of experience in these areas often puts them at a disadvantage in college and vocational settings. To ease some of these difficulties, CARE developed a mentorship program through which students with disabilities worked with peers on individual issues. These included building academic supports such as finding available tutoring on campus; participation in extra-curricular activities; and career exploration. Mentors and students visited locations on campus to develop knowledge of support services available to help students such as: remedial labs, Disabled Student Services, the Library and the Women's CHANGE Center. Mentor/student pairs participated in extra-curricular campus activities including: Student Activities, Student Government, athletic events and campus fairs with various themes. Students who wanted to focus on vocational skills were paired with people already working in the community. Eleven disabled students participated in the mentorship program. The mentorship program was designed to improve student retention. There were other positive outcomes as well, such as, increased self-esteem of students in the program and increased participation in both on and off campus activities by students with disabilities. Mentorship is an important support effort, particularly for students with disabilities. As previously stated it was not so long ago that people with disabilities did not attend college nor did they become employed. Mentorship is a fairly low cost service that provides great benefits. Not only did the students with disabilities benefit but so did the mentors by helping to dispel some of the misconceptions they had about people with disabilities. Mentors written evaluations indicated that they discovered they had more commonalities with disabled peers than differences. 23The CARE Program had some difficulty getting students to participate as mentors. The obstacle seemed to be community college related. Students in this setting are often working in addition to attending classes and only come on campus to attend class. Participation in extra-curricular activities is limited, due to lack of time. These problems can be overcome by providing incentives to mentor. These incentives can include offering course credit through existing classes, making mentorship a course through Service Learning, or providing service clubs credit points through the Student Activities office.
6b. As most disabled students enter college programs with less academic readiness than their non-disabled peers, possible barriers in college preparatory courses which inhibit disabled students from succeeding will be evaluated and, if needed, modified.
Seventy-five percent of students entering Miami-Dade each year need at least one class of remedial instruction (prep course). As previously stated students with disabilities enter college more unprepared than their peers. As a result, students with disabilities usually take at least one prep course. This CARE evaluation would identify any barriers to completion of prep courses. A review of the original student evaluations identified no complaints about the College Prep Department from students. However, two outside referral agencies (Vocational Rehabilitation and Dade County Public Schools) had complained that their clients did not complete prep courses and dropped out of college.
CARE evaluated the support services available to assist prep students including, assistive technology, knowledgeable faculty and access to Disabled Student Services. In discussions with the Chairperson of College Prep he asked that CARE provide faculty with information on resources on campus to assist them and disability specific information for the classroom; such as how best to accommodate different disabilities. CARE provided this training in 1996. The training was attended by the majority of faculty in the department. The trainer focused on not only information that would benefit faculty working with students with disabilities, but all remedial education students. Information was provided for faculty members on how to accommodate various disabilities in the classroom, such as allowing students with visual impairments to sit in the front of the class; writing important information on the chalk board; and allowing students to tape lectures. Information was also provided about legal obligations of faculty members and laws governing post-secondary settings.
6c. Disability-specific workshops will be offered to provide students with methods for optimizing their study skills, given their particular impairment.
Orientation, micro computer classes and other employment related experiences have been documented previously in this report. In addition, CARE has provided information to students that the Florida Alliance for Assistive Services and Technology (see additional information about FAAST under objective 5c) offered students the opportunity to work in part-time and volunteer positions at their demonstration center. This allowed students to gain work experience and knowledge of assistive technology in an environment supportive of a disability.
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Objective 7 Develop and implement a seamless process for disabled students to move into the university for upper level work or into the work place. 7a. Regular meetings will be held with area universities in order to share approaches to service delivery and access technology so as to make the transition to upper division schools easier for disabled students. Students in Florida's Community College System participate in a two plus two system. The majority of students graduating from Miami-Dade Associate of Arts degrees, who continue their education in Miami go on to Florida International University (Flu). However, similar to many other steps within the matriculation process, students with disabilities do not transfer as consistently as do their peers. In order to address the transfer process, the CARE project director met with FIU's director of Disability Services. Two major issues were identified. First, the differences in services provided by the community college and university are significantly different. This creates confusion with students as to what to expect as they advance to FIU. Second, FIU is more strict in what they will accept as documentation of disability than are the community colleges. The FIU director of Disability Services indicated that they would prefer documentation be no more than two years old. Miami-Dade will accept older documentation, related to the open door policy at MDCC. This creates a problem when MDCC students transfer to FIU. While agreeing to work on these issues together, FIU agreed with CARE to develop a video aimed at MDCC about the transfer process. The video was produced and made available to possible transfer students in the Disabled Student Services office at MDCC-N.C. The open lines of communication between institutions proved successful. Partially as a result, the Southeast Florida Consortium of Disabled Student Service Providers was created. The Consortium included representation from: Florida International University Miami-Dade Community College University of Miami Barry University Nova Southeastern University Broward Community College Palm Beach Community College Florida Atlantic University 25 The Consortium met on a monthly basis for two years addressing issues including: differences in services between institutions; assistive technology sharing; political voice in the State and improving methods for providing information to students. The Consortium was one of the more successful developments of CARE program activities. Each Institution facing similar issues and each member willing to assist with development of solutions to ultimately improve retention, graduation and employment of people with disabilities. The success of the Consortium is also testament to the commonality of the issues identified in this report existing in post-secondary institutions. 7b. Students enrolled in Associate of Science Degrees or the Post-Secondary Adult Vocational Programs will be offered the opportunity of a transition conference with appropriate agency representatives to assure that appropriate placement services can be planned. The Associate of Science and Vocational Programs underwent significant change during the three years of the CARE grant. One of the more positive changes to come about was the decision to create the One Stop Student Service Center in the Vocational Education Department. This Center houses both vocational program advisors, employment resources and many other service agencies. One Stop Center coordinates efforts to get students trained and employed as quickly as possible. This process facilitates the ability to meet CARE grant objective 7b. The Center has made a commitment to include students with disabilities in vocational classes and placement in employment. The necessary "agency representatives" to facilitate college success and placement are available in the Center. As such centers are a national thrust, it is important as One Stop Centers open in other educational institutions that the services are available to students with disabilities. All too often there is a tendency to expect the Disabled Student Service office to provide all services for students with disabilities. The inclusion of students with disabilities not only benefits the students but the institution, by not having to duplicate services. The important idea is to make employment services available to students with disabilities as with any other student. GOAL 2 Develop and disseminate a guide nationally illustrating this model program including evaluation with a description pertinent to the majority of public, urban post-secondary settings in the United States. This guide will be produced in accessible formats, including tape, large print and Braille. a. Special opportunities to enhance success for disabled students who are also members of minority groups will be documented in this guide. b. Dissemination will be focussed on the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). 26 The CARE Program Model (see enclosed) was researched and developed during years I and 2 of the funding period. The document was written, produced and disseminated (see following section for dissemination process) during grant year 3. A thorough plan was followed to disseminate this Guide. Previous to the start of the grant, contact had been made with AHEAD and AACC. Arrangements were made to utilize these organizations' mailing lists to mail out the Model. The combination of the two organizations memberships is about 3,300 universities, community colleges and other post-secondary settings. Press releases were also placed in several professional newsletters, with contact information for people interested in obtaining the Model. Over one hundred responses were generated asking for copies of the Model 7,500 copies of the Model were produced. Accessible formats were also produced including tapes, disks and Braille versions. Accessible formats Arrangements have been made with AHEAD to disseminate any remaining copies of the Model as well as: student/faculty surveys, Note taker and Reader Handbooks and Note taker Assessment forms. Also, 800 copies of the model are being disseminated by the College Teaching/Learning Project to all faculty at MDCC. ADDITIONAL PROGRAM ACTIVITIES · Follow-up study on Dropouts · Survey of post-secondary institutions · Presentations of Program Activities While addressing Objective 6, improving the retention rate of students with disabilities, a followup survey (see appendix) of dropouts was completed. CARE administered this survey in order to better understand what causes some students to stay in school and others to drop out. More specifically CARE wanted to determine if the reasons students with disabilities drop out were any different than the overall college population. A comparison was made to a College-wide study indicating the main reason students drop out were these: 1) finances 2) started work and 3) personal reasons (ie: had a baby, moved out of town, etc.) Ninety-one students who enrolled in the Fall Term 1995, but did not attend after Winter 1996 were identified. Thirty-four of those students were surveyed. Responses were similar to the college-wide survey. However, there were also some responses indicating students were not aware of or did not utilize available support services. This information was shared with the College, a reminder to all offices of Disabled Student Services that we must constantly seek new ways to disseminate information. 27 CARE/AHEAD SURVEY OF POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS While researching CARE Program objectives nationally it seemed many post-secondary providers were not aware of the resources available to them at the Federal level. There also appeared to be a sense of isolation by coordinators of disabled services offices within their states. There seemed to be little networking supported by state departments of education. CARE researched data bases to determine if there were exemplary practices in this area, focussing on state departments of education and found nothing substantive on the subject. As a result, the CARE director contracted with the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) to complete a survey of their 2,079 member institutions, including both community colleges and universities. The survey (see appendix) would address three objectives: Assess the degree to which governing entities in states for post-secondary settings provide standards, services or information networking to member institutions. 2) Quantify and/or describe approaches taken by post-secondary settings to share information with other institutions. 3) Identify needs as seen by Disabled Student Services providers which could be best met through the state educational authorities, AHEAD delivered surveys to all members and provided a minimum of three weeks for the instruments to be returned. The response was uncharacteristically and disappointingly low. Fortunately, the quality of the of the responses was very thorough (see appendix). The responses unanimously confirmed the suspicion that post-secondary providers were not aware of or were not using available resources. Through a statewide task force in Florida the CARE director was able to make our Department of Education aware of the lack of knowledge about available resources. This approach, which will result in a state-wide handbook for community colleges in Florida on the issue of post-secondary education for students with disabilities is one to consider. Senior administrators in higher education are in the best position to initiate such a state-wide project. CARE PROGRAM INFORMATION DISSEMINATED The CARE director attended and disseminated CARE Program findings at the following Conferences: Miami-Dade Community College Conference Day 1995, 1996 Florida Association of Community Colleges 1996 American Association of Community Colleges 1996, 1997 SERS Project Directors' Meeting 1995, 1996, 1997 Association on fligher Education and Disability 1995, 1996, 1997 President's Council on Employment of People with Disabilities 1997 28 APPENDICES 1. Student Survey 2. AHEAD Survey3. Project Evaluation
4. Completed Model