Cooperative Program For The Deaf & The Blind
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Contact
Lee C. Wise
Coordinator
Robert W. Day, Ph.D.
Director, Vocational/Postsecondary Education
South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind/Spartanburg Technical College
355 Cedar Springs Road
Spartanburg, South Carolina 29302-4699
Phone: 864-591-3746
Phone: 864-577-7744
Phone: 1-888-447-2732 V/TTY
Fax: 864-585-3555
E-mail: wisel@spt.tec.sc.us
E-mail: rday@scsdb.k12.sc.us
Mission
The mission of the Cooperative Program for the Deaf and the Blind is to maximize opportunities for competitive employment and successful transition of citizens who are deaf/hard of hearing and blind/visually-impaired from throughout South Carolina. The program provides postsecondary educational programs, learning resources, assistive and adaptive technology, career and counseling services, residential and independent living services, transportation services, and transition services to help state residents who are deaf/hard of hearing and blind/visually impaired to maximize their potential for independent living.
Organization
Organization Type: Community college or two-year college; Education Agency: School (State Residential School)
Geographical Area: State or commonwealth
Primary Setting: Community college (two-year college), Residential school or facility
Funding: No special external funding source
Consumers
Target Population: Adults with disabilities, Postsecondary education students with disabilities, community service providers, business people or employer
Disability Areas: Deaf, deaf-blind, hearing impairment, visual impairment
NTA Framework Categories
Description
The Cooperative Program for the Deaf and the Blind in South Carolina is a unique partnership between the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, the state's 150-year-old residential school for the deaf and the blind, and Spartanburg Technical College, a public two-year technical community college. Begun in 1986, the initiative was funded through a Charles Stewart Mott Foundation grant award to the college but has since been operated through regular state funding.
This program has enabled over 200 individuals who are deaf/hard of hearing and blind/visually impaired from throughout South Carolina to pursue associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates leading to competitive employment or transfer to a four-year university through provision of services to ensure student success. The program served 22 students who were deaf/hard of hearing or blind/visually impaired in the Fall semester, 1999.
The program consists of three major components: Student Services, Residential Services, and Transportation Services.
Student Services
A full-time coordinator and 8-9 part-time interpreters for the deaf, note-takers, and reader/writers for the blind, who are all employees of the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, are physically housed in the Office of Student Services at Spartanburg Technical College. They deliver the following services for deaf and blind students who are mainstreamed into one of over 50 majors at the college: interpreting for the deaf; note-taking, reading/writing; tutoring; career counseling; independent living training; referral to college services including admissions; financial aid; career center; and faculty advisement. This staff provides the necessary support to help students self-advocate their needs as they progress through educational programs leading to the associate degree, diploma, or certificate.
An Assistive Technology lab for the blind/visually impaired adjacent to the college's computer center helps students learn the use of software and computer technology to increase their learning skills. Assistive listening devices for the deaf/hard of hearing help students who elect this means of communication in lieu of American Sign Language. Staff and students help train new students in the use of assistive technology.
Residential Services
Deaf and blind students from throughout South Carolina may reside in an adult living facility on the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind campus, approximately 10 miles away. Modern apartment-like suites with kitchenettes, lounges, washer/dryers, a pool table, and TV rooms are available to help foster independent living skills. Full-time dormitory staff (one of whom is deaf) help students adjust to living away from home and in developing independent living skills.
Desktop computers are available in the dorm for students to do their homework and assignments. E-mail training is mandatory and an e-mail profile is established for each postsecondary student on the school's network.
Cooperative Program students participate in the student activities at both campuses and help sponsor the Students with Disabilities Club at Spartanburg Technical College to raise funds and support community and college causes.
Students receive meals on the campus of the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind and are provided opportunities for part-time employment on campus to support their tuition and living needs.
Students pay tuition directly to the technical college; room and board is paid directly to the School for the Deaf and the Blind. Financial aid assistance is provided through sponsorship from Vocational Rehabilitation or the Commission for the Blind, federal Pell grants, loans, college work-study program, state loan and scholarship programs, civic club donations, JTPA program, and part-time employment opportunities on campus. In recent years, no student has been unable to enter or complete their program due to lack of financial resources.
Transportation Services
Cooperative Program students may elect to use South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind's statewide bus system. Busses bring students to the SCSDB campus on Sunday evenings and return students to their home communities on Friday afternoons.
Mini-vans provide transportation between the residence hall and the technical college on a daily basis, leaving early in the morning and returning later in the afternoon. Deaf/hard of hearing students with driver licenses may provide their own transportation and have their own cars on each campus. The cost of transportation is included in the overall fee structure. The total cost of tuition, room and board, and transportation is $2,500 per year with college textbooks and other incidentals extra.
Cooperative Program Management
The Cooperative Program is overseen by an eight-member board comprised of the following persons: President of Spartanburg Technical College, President of South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, the Vice President of Student Services, Director of Admissions, and Counselor for Disability Services at Spartanburg Technical College, Director of Outreach Services, Director of Vocational and Postsecondary Education, and Coordinator for the Cooperative Program for the Deaf and the Blind at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind.
The Board meets three times per year to develop and review long-range plans, annual goals, monitor student progress, develop marketing strategies, review budgets, review student outcomes, and broaden linkages between the two schools.
Evidence of Success
Success Story
"S" is an exemplary graduate of this program in 1995. Totally deaf, "S" completed associate degrees in Accounting and Computer Information Systems at Spartanburg Technical College through the Cooperative Program and went on to complete his B.S. degree from the University of South Carolina. He was employed as a systems analyst in the Information Technology department at Spartanburg Technical College, where he worked for several years. He recently accepted a position as Web Page designer for the corporate offices of Michelin Tire Company in Greenville, South Carolina. "S" is also the President of the South Carolina Association of the Deaf.
Products
South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind • Brochure
Cooperative Program • Video
Updated 10/30/00