MaryKate Carter/Courtney Meyer
The mere mention of college strikes a wide range of emotions within high school students; some are excited, and some are fearful, but all should believe it possible. Through Project Venture, MSU's Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities offered six students with mobility disabilities and one student who is blind a two day preview of an accessible and inclusive college experience.
Transitioning to college requires high school students to adopt changes on multiple levels. Beyond the concerns that most students and families harbor about finances, independence and choosing an appropriate career path, these students must creatively strategize and accommodate their physical challenges for participation on campus. Activities such as navigating a dining hall, living independently or locating a class across campus require a little more planning and insight than simply negotiating where or when to go.
These challenges are what motivated the RCPD to develop Project Venture in 2011. Funded by the Hal and Phyllis Wochholz Endowment for Persons with Disabilities, the program allows students to learn ways to self-advocate and communicate their needs in a collegiate setting.
As a successful 1958 graduate of the College of Engineering who is grateful for the assistance and accommodation he himself received many years ago, Hal Wochholz established the Hal and Phyllis Wochholz Endowment for Persons with Disabilities. The Wochholz family is committed to raising awareness of MSU's exceptional and sustained record in meeting the needs of persons with disabilities, so students with disabilities enjoy the benefits higher education and pursue their career goals.
Hal and Phyllis Wochholz believe in the students they support with their donation to the program, so they met each participant over Skype. When one high school senior confessed she wasn't sure what she wanted to study during college, Hal encouraged her there was time to make a decision and plenty of choice.
"Take hard classes, and prepare for the career you want, not the one you're limited to," Wochholz said.
From the very beginning, students were challenged to expand their thinking about college as they learned more about assistive technology, techniques for self-advocacy and how to take ownership of their campus life. RCPD Director Michael Hudson reminded participants that they already bring a unique skill to their future careers.
"You are valuable assets to your future employers because you are already well practiced at creativity and problem solving," Hudson said.
Hudson went on to say that participants would expand these valuable skills over the two day program with new knowledge of accessible solutions and techniques. With two packed days of programming and an overnight stay in a dorm in between, there was plenty to take in.
Though each disability brings its own challenges, students found during the first brainstorming session that they had many common concerns about college. Popular topics were transportation, how to navigate campus in inclement weather and classroom accommodations. Not only did students talk about solving these problems with real Ability Access Specialists from the RCPD, but they also experienced the solutions first-hand.
Project Venture features MSU's facilities, but students learn how to find what they need at any institution. For example, students rode CATA's SpecTran around campus. The local service serves as a sample of Paratransit curb-to-curb transportation, equipping students to research similar organizations at any college.
The process for requesting and securing the accommodations available under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is self-initiated in college, so students learned how to clearly communicate their needs with a campus office of disability or other service provider.
They learned about implementing those accommodations in a question and answer session with an MSU alumna. Tess graduated with a Master's in Social Work in 2012 and is a power chair user who experienced many of the difficulties and accommodations the participants discussed. She was a wonderful resource, offering real-life examples of how she worked with MSU to make an environment accessible to her learning.
It wasn't all academic though. Participants enjoyed games of wheelchair basketball and floor hockey too. Instead of a traditional tour, they even traversed MSU's campus for an Amazing Race activity.
The busy two days will prove important to all participants, but some have years of high school ahead of them before college, while others are starting in the fall. RCPD staff coached parents in transition techniques and the differences between ADA provisions for secondary and higher education. They left the program ready to help their students follow through with techniques acquired in two busy days.
Parents will help keep their students on track, but the resounding message of the program is one of self-advocacy. These students will someday take charge of their own college experiences, and because of what they learned at MSU, they will be ready. One participant summed up her sense of confidence this way.
"It feels good to be able to tell my parents that this is going to help me in my future, and this is something I can do by myself," Mary said.
[One participant learns how to use an iPhone with Informational Technologist Al Puzzuoli]