Project seeks to help faculty aid disabled

The National Department of Education recently issued the University a $300,000 grant to start a project to formally educate faculty and staff on how to better serve disabled students.

The project is aimed at surveying students with disabilities, said Pamela Wolfe, the project's director.

"Sometimes faculty doesn't know what a student needs, so we're going to try to find out what students need and teach our faculty," said Wolfe, assistant professor of special education. "We're hoping that our grant will make the Penn State community a better place for students with disabilities."

- Pamela Wolfe, project director

But sometimes they may not understand how to change lectures, like forgetting to read written notes out loud or helping to order Braille textbooks," said Battles (freshman-computer science).

"I guess what it boils down to is reducing the shock factor so they're not completely surprised when someone with a disability comes into their class," Battles said. "It hasn't been bad for me since the teachers were willing to sit down and work it out."

Teaching faculty and staff how to modify lesson plans and classroom activities for students with diverse needs is the primary goal of the project, Wolfe said.

Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, it is the legal responsibility of universities to provide disabled students with equal educational opportunities. The act serves as civil rights legislation for disabled students, said Sharon Salter, the project's coordinator.

"Whatever the student's role is in the University, if that person has a disability and needs accommodation, it's the University's responsibility to make it," Salter said.

The grant will fund a three-year program to assess student need, develop professional training and introduce different service methods to faculty and staff, Salter said. The programs developed and tested at University Park will eventually become available across the country, she added.

Educational plans include creating training packages for faculty and staff, increasing available literature, providing group and individual training, creating a World Wide Web site and providing E-mail reply services, Salter said. Currently, only limited training is available for faculty and staff, she said.

The group intends to begin testing their work on interested incoming 1999 faculty and staff, Salter said.

The grant does not mean the University lacks services for disabled students in accordance with the law, but rather it illustrates the University's interest in disability service improvement, Salter said.

"It's my hope that this is going to lead Penn State to be state of the art in terms of serving students with disabilities," Salter said.

Students interested in participating in a project advisory board should contact Sharon Salter at 863-2421.