A U.S. Department of Education grant to the Department of Counselor Education and Educational Psychology will fund research on the fastest growing non-traditional student population nationwide_students with disabilities.
Project PAACS (Postsecondary Accommodations for Academic and Career Success) was funded with $328,000 for a three-year period through the DOE's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
"The project will promote faculty and staff knowledge of academic accommodations for college students with disabilities," said Dr. Anne R. Thompson, Project PAACS director and author of the grant.
"A survey will be conducted to determine current understanding of the rights of faculty and staff and the students' rights in compliance with disability laws and recent court decisions," she added.
Another survey will include all institutions of higher education in the state to determine the number of students with disabilities enrolled and what services are provided them.
Thompson and Leslie Bethea, project coordinator, also will develop a model program to provide assistive technology evaluation and training for college students with disabilities. The model will be disseminated nationally in the third year of the grant.
Thompson defines assistive technology as a comprehensive term which means "any device that can help a person do what they couldn't do." It could be something as simple as a drinking straw bent at a certain angle or as sophisticated as voice-activated computer software.
"Assistive technology is the key to education, employment, quality of living, and independence for persons with disabilities," she pointed out.
Project PAACS will work closely with the Comprehensive Assistive Technology Center, which recently opened adjacent to the Longest Student Health Center.
"Mississippi State, with its history of recruiting students with disabilities combined with the new CATC, is in an excellent position to become a national leader in assistive technology for students with disabilities," Thompson said.
Developing a national model, she said, will show others ways to provide equal access to education and employment to individuals with disabilities.
This World Wide Web version of MSU Memo was modified and updated by Chris Brown.
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Last modified: Friday, 14-Jun-2002 15:59:10 CDT.
URL: http://msuinfo.ur.msstate.edu/msu_memo/1995/10-16-95/grant.htm
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