TRIO - SIG
The TRIO - SIG was established to coordinate a communication/mutual aid and support network, monitor issues, concerns and developments affecting students with disabilities in TRIO programs, and aims to develop the capability to respond to those issues, concerns and developments in a timely and meaningful manner.
SIG Chair
Rhonda H. Rapp, Director TRIO
Student Support Services
Program and Student Disability Services Office
4301 Broadway,
CPO #28
San Antonio, TX 78209
(210) 829-3938 (phone)
(210)
805-5895 (fax)
rapp@uiwtx.edu
Upcoming Events
AHEAD 29th Annual Conference
July 19 – 22
San Diego, CA
TRIO – SIG Meeting
Thursday, July 20th
7:30 AM – 8:45
Room – TBA
TRIO/SIG Q & A
1) TRIO/SSS mission vs. Disability Services mission
· How is the mission of the federal TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) Program different from that of Disability Services?
“The mission of disability services, at the postsecondary level, is to ensure access for all students with disabilities (who request services) to an institution’s educational and education-related offerings. While the mission of the federal TRIO–SSS program is to ensure the success of all its program participants.”
2) Allowable costs for TRIO/SSS students with disabilities
· Can I use my TRIO funds to fund the acquisition of adaptive equipment and software programs for students for disabilities?
“This is one of those areas of concern where there is no ‘engraved in stone’ yes or no answer. The best answer here is: ‘it depends.’
If for instance you want to purchase adaptive equipment or an adaptive software package that will be used solely by your students with disabilities and no one else in your program – then the answer is usually going to be ‘no.’
If however, you want to purchase adaptive equipment or a software package that is available to be used by all the students in your program – then the answer is usually going to be ’yes.’
Example: you acquire Dragon Naturally Speaking which is a computer software package that converts speech to text. From a learning-theory point of view, this software would be useful for all types of learners – not just those with disabilities that greatly impact their ability to write. Any individual who can engage more than one avenue for imputing, manipulating, and using information (learning) has a significantly greater chance of not only remembering the information, but also of understanding what has been learned. This is why this piece of software, utilized in this way, would usually be an allowable cost.”
Or
· Do I have to use my TRIO funds to pay for a sign-language interpreter for a student who is receiving disability-related services and who just happens to also be in my TRIO–SSS program?
“Considering how tight most disability services budgets are, it is not surprising that this question comes up frequently – especially when we are talking about funding a sign-language interpreter.
Be that as it may, it is disability services’ responsibility to ensure access, for all students with disabilities attending the institution – not the responsibility of the TRIO–SSS program. Therefore, the answer here is that ‘no’ you do not have to fund a sign-language interpreter with your TRIO-SSS funds.”
3) TRIO/SSS and Disability Services relationship
· Why and what kind of a working relationship do I need to establish with my institution’s disability services office?
“For many institutions the TRIO-SSS program and disability services office are two different entities on campus. In fact, some are not even under the same umbrella: academic affairs vs. student affairs. However, there is a serious need for these two programs to work together when TRIO-SSS participants are also students with disabilities.
To begin with, students with (documented) disabilities are one of the target populations for your TRIO-SSS program. Who better to confirm that a student’s disability is documented than disability services?
Secondly, providing tutoring for program participants is a major component of TRIO-SSS programs. To effectively and efficiently tutor a student, the tutor needs to know as much about the tutee’s learning strengths and challenges as possible. Because of the information contained in most disability diagnostic testing reports this information and more can easily be extracted from the testing report. Once again, it’s disability services that can aid you in this endeavor. And since a student’s disability-related information (documentation) is covered under FERPA, there should be no problem getting this information from disability services. FERPA regulations allow disability-related information to be shared with those on campus who have an “academic need” to know. Your TRIO-SSS program definitely has an ‘educational need to know’ when one considers the services a SSS program provides for its participants (i.e., tutoring, supplemental instruction, etc.).
Now we have to consider the other side of this relationship – What can you do for disability services and your students with disabilities who are also receiving disability-related services?
We’re back again to the tutoring component of TRIO-SSS programs as an example of what you can do for disability services. Providing tutoring for students with disabilities is not an accommodation that disability services must provide. However, the majority of students with disabilities would benefit from regularly scheduled tutoring (small group and/or one-to-one tutoring). This is where your TRIO-SSS program can really help disability services. By supplying the needed tutoring - which you already do as a part of your program services – your SSS program can fulfill this much needed service for all the students in your program who have disabilities. Thereby relieving some of the pressure disability services constantly encounters in this area.”
4) Accessibility issues
· We attend many events (on and off campus), with our program participants, as part of their TRIO-SSS postsecondary experience. We also offer several field-trips and other travel activities each year. Can we exclude those students with disabilities who have mobility, sensory, or psychological disabilities from these activities as they would be hard to accommodate?
“Obviously excluding any individual from an event or trip, based solely on the disability they have would be as discriminatory as excluding all the minority students from the event or trip.
A much better (and non-discriminatory) solution would be to do your ‘accessibility’ homework well in advance of the event or travel-related activity. If your event or activity is being held at a public or private university/college, then you can be assured that some level of accessibility will be available. However, you will need to contact the disability services office (by phone, in person, or by email) at the institution a couple of weeks in advance of the activity/event to ascertain the specifics of what they have available to ensure accessibility.
For events and travel-related activities that are not held at an educational institution, accommodations may be non-existent, very basic, or there may be a full cadre of accommodations available. It is these types of activities/events that need extensive ‘before event’ homework. In fact, a trip in advance of finalizing the event or travel might be necessary. However, be assured, there is a wide range of venues that will be perfectly accessible for all your students, including those with disabilities.”
5) Summer Bridge concerns and issues
· We hold a “bridge” program for incoming participants every summer. How do we ensure that we are able to provide access for all the attendees, especially those with disabilities?
“There are actually a couple of ways one can ensure access for a Summer Bridge program. The first involves contacting each participant of the summer program after you’ve registered them for the bridge a couple of weeks before the program actually starts. At this point the student has already been accepted by the institution, has paid his/her fee, and has registered for and been accepted into the Summer Bridge program, so many feel confident enough to share information about their disability (or their parents do). Problem is – there will also always be students who will not share information about their disability.
A better way to ensure access for the participants of your Summer Bridge program is through the utilization of ‘Universal Design’ principles. Universal Design is defined as:
Universal Design means the design of instructional materials and activities that make the learning goals achievable by individuals with wide differences in their abilities to see, hear, speak, move, read, write, understand English, attend, organize, engage, and remember. Universal Design for learning is achieved by means of flexible curricular materials and activities that provide alternatives for student with differing abilities. These alternatives are built into the instructional design and operating systems of educational materials and related activities/events – they are not added on after the fact (http://staff.washington.edu/sherylb/univ_pacer.html).
6) Disability training for TRIO-SSS program tutors
· Should I be providing disability training for my TRIO-SSS program tutors?
“Absolutely! It’s been proven that the better a tutor is prepared to work with a diverse group of program participants, the more effective the actual tutoring sessions become. Remember - ‘Diverse’ populations includes students with disabilities.
Your tutors should receive yearly training (minimum) focused on effective strategies for tutoring students with disabilities. In fact, depending on how in-depth the training is, you may need to offer several training sessions during each school year in this area.