Resources available for students with individualized needs
College isn’t typically described as easy, but for some students, a disability makes higher education even more daunting. Besides physical disabilities, many students struggle with psychological disabilities and financial problems. For these students, there are resources designed specifically to help with their individual needs, one of which is Vocational Rehabilitation.
As another student service, though funded on a state and federal level, Vocational Rehabilitation, located at 275 W 400 in Logan, provides help “to achieve and maintain meaningful employment” for individuals with disabilities, according to its provided pamphlet. Eligible disabilities range from the physical, such as back problems, multiple sclerosis, diabetes or paralysis, to the psychological.
Having a brother with a psychological disability is what first attracted Dirk Anderson, a rehabilitation counselor, to this brand of counseling. Anderson has worked at Logan’s Vocational Rehabilitation Office for 10 years and explained the process of getting involved with Vocational Rehabilitation.
After attending an orientation, he explained, applicants submits their application for services. Following the application process, an applicant’s eligibility is determined. To be eligible, an applicant must have a “verifiable physical or psychological disability (‘impairment’),” a disability that “creates problems with getting or keeping a job (‘impediment’),” a need for the “benefit from services in terms of an employment outcome” and a requirement for Vocational Rehabilitation services “in order to be successfully employed.”
Once eligibility is determined, applicants meet with a counselor and plan their “vocational goal,” which includes writing their plan for employment. Once a plan is made, the individuals attend treatment for their disability, whether it be physical or psychological. Individuals are also trained if necessary, which may include schooling at USU, BATC or other private schools, but can entail on-job training, according to Anderson. Ideally, at this point the individual reaches employment.
Though the end goal of Vocational Rehabilitation is for individuals to obtain employment, Anderson said the main goal is to teach them to be self-sufficient. This is done through the services provided by Vocational Rehabilitation, which include counseling, job placement, vocational testing, training, assistive technology and other provisions decided on by a counselor. Anderson said the process for each person is “individualized.”
Besides the satisfaction of helping people succeed, Anderson said the biggest benefit of being a rehabilitation counselor is helping them “reach their potential.”
Located in the basement of University Inn, the Disability Resource Center (DRC), another student service, has assisted, “on average, 700 students a year by providing the support they need to have a successful career in school,” even before the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The mission of the DRC is to “provide qualified persons with disabilities equal access to University programs, services and activities.”
Diane Craig Baum, director of the DRC, has seen this mission fulfilled since 1981 and said she’s seen the center grow in number as well as variety.
“When I started, we had 47 students,” she said, “and now we have 500. We’ve also seen the types of disabilities change considerably. The larger group is people with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder and depression.”
The DRC offers services, such as, but not limited to, note-taking assistance, sign-language interpreters, counseling and referral, a peer-mentor program and priority registration. This, Baum said, is one of the biggest benefits of the DRC because it “levels the playing field.”
“They get to compete with other students without their disability interfering,” she said.
Baum said working with the students can often times be an “emotional experience.”
“We go to commencement every year,” she said, “and watch our students graduate. One of the most important things is seeing a student find their way.”
Baum went on to give advice to students considering seeking help from the DRC.
“Give us a chance to help,” she said. “Having a disability is not anything to be embarrassed about or shy about.”
Offering students services such as academic advising, course selection, tutoring, financial aid planning, faculty mentoring, reading instruction, study skills instruction, math instruction and major or career advising, Student Support Services (SSS), also in the University Inn basement, has a mission to “support disadvantaged students who have potential to meet the challenges of higher education by strengthening and developing their academic and self-management skills.”
Nazih Al-Rashid has been director of SSS for 22 years and explained the services provided by the program are “aimed to retain them (the students), help them perform better and increase their chances for graduation.” He went on to say the services provided are based on research and aren’t “hap-hazard.”
Aside from group and individual tutoring, financial-aid planning, academic advising, among others, Al Rashid said an important service provided is the atmosphere of the program and office.
“Each SSS participant knows there is a friendly spot to visit and contact with,” he said, “a place they can come and feel secure and welcomed.”
Aside from being the director for SSS, Dr. Al-Rashid has taught classes in sociology, which he said have given him a “special vantage to see student needs and the class environment.” As for his personal experience, he said it has always given him a “great reward.”
“I know for sure that the program and the staff contributed,” he said, “to create a better experience for the students in promoting their success and impact our community positively due to their graduation with a bachelor degree.”
In one of its pamphlet, SSS quotes a previous student, Lupe Young, who said SSS helped her adjust to college and gain confidence.
“The program was very influential in keeping me on track with my goal to graduate,” she said. “I am now employed as an accountant for a large firm in Las Vegas and will be attending graduate school.”
Besides being an American citizen and an undergraduate student at USU, students must meet one of three criteria. A student must either be on a low income, a first-generation student or have a documented disability, learning or physical.
Because the three goals of SSS are a high retention rate, high graduation rates and high academic success, Al-Rashid explained that the program conducts a longitudinal evaluation study. For six years, they follow students from three groups on campus: the average USU student, those that fit the requirements for SSS but don’t receive their help and those enrolled with SSS. Al-Rashid said the study shows that the program is reaching its goals.
“That (the study) is one way to see if we are doing well or not,” he said, “and we are doing really great.”
Al-Rashid encourages students to contact SSS for application during the first week of August, well before classes start, by calling them at 797-3372 or e-mailing them at ssstrio@usu.edu. Though some might be reluctant to receive help, he said SSS students are the “average USU student.”
For more information, visit usu.edu/drc, usu.edu/sss or call the Logan Vocational Rehabilitation office at 787-3487.
– k.vandyke@aggiemail.usu.edu