The City University of New York



To: CUNY IT Accessibility Task Force CUNY IT Steering CommitteeRe: Strategic Technology Initiative (STI) Funding ProposalTechnology Workshops for Incoming DOE Students with DisabilitiesProposal:CUNY’s Office of Academic Affairs requests $6,500 from the Strategic Technology Accessibility Initiative to support a pilot technology workshop that will help incoming first year students with disabilities acclimate to CUNY’s enterprise software and understand available AT supports before starting college. This effort to support the transition from high school to college for would be aimed at incoming students from the New York City Department of Education, the largest school district in the country. Given the sheer size and urban relevance of both systems, and their inextricable links—60 percent of NYCDOE graduates attend CUNY colleges, and 75 percent of CUNY freshmen come from NYCDOE schools—this pilot stands to offer an innovative and useful model for other urban districts across the country to ease the transition process for incoming students with disabilities. CUNY serves more than 9,000 students with disabilities. In many cases, these are students whose academic success has relied on services guaranteed by the Individualized Education Plans that guided their primary and secondary years in New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) schools. Upon graduating from high school, their rights under the IDEA change, and under the ADAAA, the individual student becomes responsible for seeking out disability services in college. For various and complex reasons, many students choose not to self-identify, and start college without realizing or using the beneficial supports that are available. They may seek services only after they struggle academically.OAA and the NYCDOE’s Transition Office, part of the NYCDOE Division of Specialized Instruction, are working to identify proactive and collaborative ways to help insure that incoming students with disabilities from the city’s public high schools are aware of the technology resources and academic supports available to them. The enterprise technology workshop described below will be an important first step toward providing new CUNY students at one college with an early and welcoming introduction to CUNY’s essential enterprise softwares like Blackboard and CUNYfirst. Most importantly, it will allow them to practice in an applied and scaffolded environment how their own personal technology (ie: iPADS, Kurzweil) interacts with enterprise applications. This pilot ensures that incoming students with disabilities are equipped for academic success from day one of their college career, and it will create an opportunity for students with disabilities and their families to start thinking about how to use CUNY’s resources while their high school support system and certain financial resources are still in place. Finally, it will enable OAA and the NYCDOE to develop a model that can be refined and repurposed at other CUNY colleges and public high schools going forward. Every CUNY student interacts with CUNYfirst and Blackboard during their college career; understanding how to do so effectively is a fundamental necessity relevant to every undergraduate student. As such, this proposal is entirely replicable and will result in materials to be shared across CUNY and posted online for wide use.Description:Working with one community college and one senior college and the NYCDOE Transition Office, OAA will pilot technology workshops for incoming students from targeted NYCDOE high schools. This effort will include recruitment, development and implementation.Representative from the participating colleges’ Disability Services will join the NYCDOE Transition Office’s presentations at the selected high schools. As part of a program of speakers who address students and parents about the transition out of high school, the representatives will give an overview of the services and resources for students with disabilities available at all CUNY colleges, and encourage students to contact their own college’s disability services office soon.The representative will encourage students bound for the participating colleges to register for a technology workshop over the summer, where they will have the opportunity to start exploring CUNYfirst and Blackboard and to ask questions and work through challenges and assistive solutions associated with these complex systems. Target enrollment is 20-25 students per workshop.A technology workshop will provide the time and space for incoming students with disabilities to gain hands-on experience navigating CUNY’s enterprise software and getting to know the assistive technologies available through their college. Students will observe a demo of Blackboard and CUNYfirst, and a walk-through of other useful resources available through their disability services office. With the help of both IT and disability office staff they will interact with the systems at their own workstations, ask questions, and have assistance troubleshooting issues. They will also be able to practice how their own personal technology interacts with enterprise software.OAA and the participating colleges will work together to develop a guide for implementation, resources, and best practices, which can be shared with other colleges and used to help make technology workshops for incoming students with disabilities available across CUNY. Timeline:In April, OAA will meet with NYCDOE to determine recruitment specifics, choose participating colleges, and develop the curriculum. In May, details will be finalized and in June, the workshop will be implemented and offered at 2 CUNY colleges. Budget:Workshop Developer to create curriculum content (20h @ $50/hour)$1000P/T Staff to administer workshop (2 @ $1000) $2000Workshop Materials $500Staffing/Administrative Oversight at 2 participating colleges (2 @ $1500)$3000TOTAL$6500 ................
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