Collaboration between Career Services and Disability Services Works! The DCO Model

1. Collaboration between Career Services and Disability Services Works! The DCO Model Alan D. Muir, Executive Director Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities Sarah Helm Disability-Careers Office The University of Tennessee August 16, 2006

2. Objectives of Presentation • Introduce the Disability-Careers Office (DCO) model • Provide information on the history and implementation of the DCO • Cover services provided through the DCO • Review roles and responsibilities of the DCO Coordinator • Discuss campus and community collaboration • Highlight future goals of the DCO • Introduce COSD Career Gateway

3. Background Information • Observed low participation by students with disabilities within University Career Services • Needed to identify methods of increasing traffic of these students • Extensive research on transition from HS to work, yet no information on transition to work from Higher Education • No statistics on the unemployment rate of college students with disabilities – Best estimate is near 40% • TN State VR provided a small grant, mainly for travel expenses • Required results of research

4. Research Hypothesis • Collaboration between Disability Services (DS) and Career Services (CS) is needed • CS is the only office at which employers visit to recruit • Without students with disabilities participating in CS programs, they are invisible to employers • CS needs exposure to disability • DS needs exposure to careers

5. Research Results • University • No active “model program” • Several attempts that withered away • Some DS and CS offices were unaware of each other • Other possible programs were active but ineffective • Assigning a specific person in CS as the disability expert • Limited hours with limited disability experience

6. Research Results • Employers • Great enthusiasm and recognition of need to hire people with disabilities • Changing workforce with looming labor shortage • Disability is a new source • More questions than answers • Where do we find students with disabilities? • When we do find students, why are they unqualified?

7. UTK Solution • Creation of the Disability-Careers Office • Liaison between Office of Disability Services and Career Services • Serve students who are registered with the Office of Disability Services and/or are funded by Tennessee Vocational Rehabilitation • Provide services to over 750 current UTK students • UT Funding

8. Office of Disability Services Disability-Careers Office In cooperation with UT Career Services and the Office of Disability Services, the purpose of the DCO is to assist individual college students and alumni, with various disabilities, by providing career planning services and guidance.

9. DCO Organizational Chart Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dean of Students Director, Career Services Director, Disability Services Disability-Careers Office

10. DCO Annual Budget(Approximate)

11. Office of Disability ServicesDisability Type Breakdown • ADHD = 188 • LD = 153 • Psychiatric = 100 • Chronic = 82 • Deaf/Hard of Hearing = 38 • Mobility = 37 • Blind/Low Vision = 21 • TBI/ABI = 10 • Temporary Disability = 9

12. DCO Services • Services provided • Career path and major exploration through assessment tools • Career counseling • Job seeking skills • Self-advocacy skill development • Self-disclosure skill development • Interview techniques and preparation • Information regarding an individuals rights and responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 • Informational resources for students, staff, faculty and employers • Referrals to UT Career Services and the Office of Disability Services

13. Self-Advocacy • Difference between K-12 and Higher Education law • Articulation of one’s disability • Low expectations inhibit self-advocacy • Career Services and Disability Services are generally unfamiliar with the functions of the other. Therefore, the student is caught in the middle without proper self-advocacy training.

14. Self-Advocacy • Two transitions • Transition from high school to higher education • Transition from higher education to work • Definition of self-advocacy and disclosure is very different within this transition • The stakes are much higher • protected vs. non-protected environment • We need to teach self-advocacy at the next level in order for students to be successfully prepared for the workforce

15. Disability Disclosure Definition A voluntary act of revealing a disability for the purpose of receiving accommodations and/or providing awareness

16. Disability Disclosure • Who am I? • Questions that should be asking during the college years • How does my disability play a role? • What is the best match for me and my career choices? • What are my needs beyond the classroom?

17. Disability Disclosure • Preparing to disclose • Exploring feelings • Identify accommodations • Weigh the benefits, risks and timing of disclosure • Analysis of essential functions • Script preparation

18. Americans with Disabilities Act • Title I - Employment • Interview • Hiring • Essential functions • Reasonable accommodations

19. Internship and Employment Opportunities • Disability Mentoring Day • DO-IT AccessSTEM • Entry Point!/ACCESS - AAAS • Emerging Leaders • Microsoft-AAPD Federal I.T. Internship Program • Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation AAPD Congressional Internship Program • The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, Scholarship Program for College Students with Disabilities • The Workforce Recruitment Program

20. Referral Sources • DS professional staff members • CS professional staff members • Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors • TN Career Centers • Local disability service providers

21. Outreach to Students • Email listserv • Orientation • Campus newspaper • Bulletin board • Brochures • Career Services job posting database

22. Outreach to Employers • Career Fairs • On-campus recruiting • Off-campus visits • Become familiar with the employers company wide diversity efforts in regard to recruiting and hiring • Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD)

23. Outreach to Community Constituents • Knoxville Area Employment Consortium • Business Advisory Council • Tennessee Valley Human Resources Association

24. DCO Student Contact November 2005 – April 2006

25. DCO – Future Goals • Double unique student participation numbers • More focus on employer relations to create additional employment opportunities • Increase participation in related experiential education opportunities for students with disabilities • Create Graduate Assistant position to assist with student meetings, campus and community outreach and employer relations. • Increase DCO funding to improve services

26. Bringing It All Together • Employers • Specifically searching for students with disabilities • Specific recruiting programs • Specialized personnel in Disability Services role • Greater sophistication in disability

27. Bringing It All Together • Career Services • Understanding of key role as liaison between student and employer • Need to be more helpful and attuned to needs of students with disabilities • COSD training is getting out there • COSD encouraging CS to reach out to DS

28. Bringing It All Together • Disability Services • Expanding the “continuum of service” • Understanding difference between disclosure in higher education and the workplace • COSD encouraging involvement with students and employers • COSD encouraging outreach to CS

29. Challenges • Confidentiality in sharing of student information between CS and DS • Not enough time within the CS or DS office • Not enough knowledge regarding disability and /or careers

30. Additional Successful Programs • Adelphi University • Cal Berkeley • Florida International University • Ball State University • DO-IT AccessSTEM

31. ========Continuum======== The DCO is an example of an ideal model. What is best for your institution? • Learn about the roles and responsibilities of both Disability Services and Careers Services • Collaborate and provide staff training in regard to students with disabilities and career development • Open up lines of communication if a question would arise from either department • Appoint a professional staff member within each department to serve as the disability/career contact • Create a program that bridges the two departments

32. The Disability-Careers Office is a national example, which is driven by Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD)

33. Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) COSD is a unique national association of higher education institutions, well-known national corporate employers, U. S. Government agencies and private sector non-profit organizations focused on career employment of college graduates with disabilities. COSD is funded by a number of corporate partners that are committed to hiring people with disabilities.

34. Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) • Career Gateway • COSD is launching a national recruiting database that focused on college students with disabilities that will benefit both these students and employers. The database is an interactive environment where employers post job openings and students upload their resumes for review by employers. The database will provide a central point at which employers can identify and recruit qualified candidates with disabilities.

35. Questions