AHEAD 2008
Preconference institutes
The AHEAD 2008 Preconference Institutes provide opportunities for attendees to participate in intensive, topic-specific, workshop-style events taught by notable and well-respected experts in their field. Ranging from 3 1/2 hours to two full days, the Institutes are an outstanding chance for Conference attendees to receive in-depth professional development.
Preconference Institutes do require advance registration by July 1, 2008 and an additional tuition fee (separate from the Conference registration fee). On-site registration for Preconference Institutes is not available. Registration for Preconference Institutes includes all instruction materials and refreshment breaks. Meals, housing and travel are not included. Please see the registration form for applicable tuition charges.
One-Day Capacity Building Institutes
Monday, July 14th
9:00 am – 5:30 pm
#CBI1 Creating Intersections that
Connect Students with Disabilities and High-Tech Careers
Lyla Crawford, University of Washington
This one-day Capacity-Building Institute is designed to bring
together disability service professionals and other higher
education personnel from across the country to hear presentations
and participate in discussions
to explore barriers, develop strategies, and design initiatives
to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities
in high-tech fields.
We will take notes and publish and distribute proceedings.
Audience: All
#CBI2 Measuring the Accessibility
of Post-secondary Campuses: Tools and Techniques
Roger O. Smith, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Aura Hirschman, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
The ACCESS-ed Project is developing systems and tools for post-secondary
campuses to increase inclusiveness by infusing universal design
of learning, information media, service and physical environments.
Workshop instructors
present rationales for quantifying accessibility and review
hands-on approaches. Understanding methods, reasoning, responsibilities,
and challenges of measurement
will help participants to more skillfully document successful
outcomes of universal design strategies and influence policies.
Audience: All
Two-Day Preconference Institutes
Monday, July 14th and Tuesday, July 15th
9:00 am – 5:30 pm each
day
#PC1 Essentials of Campus Accessibility:
The AHEAD Institute on E-Text Production
Ron Stewart, AHEAD
Gaeir Dietrich, De Anza College
Khaki Wunderlich, Tompkins Cortland Community College
Meeting the increasing demand for e-text as an accessible
text format depends on sophisticated techniques for production and
delivery based on high speed duplex scanning. While many
colleges are creating e-text
for students with print disabilities, many more are unaware
of the process and requirements of creating e-text.
Join us for this unique two-day institute on best practices
in creating electronic text and working with publishers of
academic materials. The presenters, who are proven experts
in assistive technology, will address
the topic of e-text production and provision by teaching
skills in the use of e-text and best practices, exploring ways to
work with publishers regarding copyright and security issues,
and providing “hands
on” training
in the creation of e-text from print material using models
developed in a variety of programs around the country The
two-day training will address
the needs of both administrators and practitioners so the
potential impact of the institute will be significant. DS Directors are
encouraged to invite
their direct-service staff for this invaluable training.
Audience: All
#PC2 Introduction to Disability
Law for DS Professionals
Scott Lissner, The Ohio State University
Paul Grossman, Hastings College of Law, US Department of Education,
Office for Civil Rights, San Francisco
(Throughout this conference, Mr. Grossman is participating
in his private capacity. The views expressed in his presentations
will be the result of his independent research and do not necessarily
represent the views of the US Department of Education or government.)
This presentation will give DS
professionals a comprehensive introduction to postsecondary disability
law and establish
a framework for answering the questions they encounter on
a daily basis. When is a
medical condition a “disability” entitling an individual
to “accommodations?” What accommodations are, or are not, required
in the college and university
setting? What must be done to make facilities and programs
accessible to persons with disabilities? This institute will
begin with a review of the
history of discrimination against individuals with disabilities
and the emergence of the disability rights movement culminating
in the adoption
of disability laws. We will learn what legal traditions and
concepts all antidiscrimination laws share and then what
is unique to disability law.
Topics unique to higher education, such as admissions, discipline,
academic accommodations, internships and many others will
be covered. Finally, we examine
ways in which these laws have been interpreted to fit the
unique needs of academia.
Audience: All
One and a Half Day Preconference
Institute
Monday, July 14th 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Tuesday, July 15th 9:00 am – 5:30 pm
#PC3 ADA Coordinator’s Institute:
The Intersection of Disability Models, Universal Design, and Practical
Methods
Virginia Reilly, Virginia Tech
Sue Kroeger, University of Arizona
Back by popular demand, the in-depth ADA 101 for new ADA Coordinators
will assist agents of change. This session provides a well-researched
set of guidelines and materials for campus evaluations, and
systems to ensure
institutional compliance. Participants will leave with a set
of resources that will enhance their success in responding
to challenges and changes
in the sea of compliance.
Audience: Novice to Intermediate
Full-Day Preconference Institutes
Tuesday, July 15th 9:00 am – 5:30 pm
#PC4 Foundations in Disability
Services for New and Newer Professionals
Mike Shuttic, Oklahoma State University
Anne Reber, Texas A&M University
Learn about the nuances of the challenging field of disability
services. Long-time professionals will present on philosophical
and practical matters that influence our profession. Recognize
the history of disability
and society, the complexities that impact our field, the practical
to-do’s necessary for effectiveness and reducing “exposure”
to complaints, how
to nurture a team approach on your campus for good decision
making.
Participants will enhance management skills, acquire knowledge
or fill knowledge gaps on effective service delivery, affirm
best practices in documentation, review and discuss program
standards, professional standards,
explore critical thinking skills and use of a decision-making
model, recognize personal biases and potential impact on professional
philosophy.
Audience: Novice
#PC5 Physical Access on Campus
and across Disciplines: Laws, Tools, and Practical Approaches
Irene Bowen, U.S. DOJ, Disability Rights Section
James Bostrom, U.S. DOJ, Disability Rights Section
All colleges must have physical access for everyone: students,
visitors, faculty, and staff. Explore ways of working with
others to implement the legal requirements for access in
areas such as academic programs and
buildings, residence halls, sidewalks and parking, performing
arts, athletics, counseling services, fraternities and sororities,
and transportation. Through
presentations, real-life examples, and exploration of what
works and what might work, participants will learn the requirements
for campus accessibility
and ways to apply them and work for change in their own college
or university.
Audience: All
#PC6 Interpreting Diagnostic Assessments:
From Assessment to Accommodation
Janet Medina, McDaniel College
Most colleges and universities are in agreement when it
comes to requiring current, comprehensive psychoeducational evaluations
of their students with disabilities in order to justify
students’
requests for accommodations.
Many postsecondary disability support service providers
come to their positions with little or no updated formal training
in administration and/or interpretation
of psychoeducational evaluations, even though they are
required to request them and review them in order to assess the most
appropriate academic accommodations
for their students. The goal of this session is to help
make
psychoeducational reports more accessible to professionals
working with postsecondary students
with learning disabilities. A focus of this presentation
will include the challenges of assessing English Language
Learners [ELLs] with disabilities.
Suggestions for aligning assessment results to academic
accommodations will be included.
Audience: All
Half-Day Preconference Institutes
- Morning
Tuesday, July 15th 9:00 am – 12:30 pm
#PC7 The Ethics of Doing Business
as Usual: Reframing Disability, Reframing Our Roles
Melanie Thornton, University of Arkansas at Little
Rock
Sharon Downs, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
As we shift our thinking about disability and view
it as an aspect of diversity integral to society, we must also
examine our practices in light of this new perspective.
Join us in this highly interactive session
as we take a challenging look at some of the common
policies and practices in our field via a guided ethical decision-making
process. Participants
will be able to recall Kitchener’s moral principles;
apply Corey, Corey and Callanan’s (2007) ethical decision-making
model to relevant scenarios;
analyze various responses to given scenarios and identify
ways in which certain approaches may be in conflict
with
ethical principles; evaluate
their current role and list three concrete ways they
plan to adjust or expand their role on their campus.
Audience: Intermediate
#PC8 Tennessee’s Transition Initiative:
A Grass Roots Model for High School to College Transition
Garret Westlake, Volunteer State Community College
Kathy Lutes, Chattanooga State Technical Community
College
What if every high school student with a disability
came to college knowing documentation and DS office
policies? What if parents, teachers, and guidance counselors
knew too? Based on Tennessee’s successful
2006/2007 transition initiative, this interactive
presentation provides a strategic plan for implementing transition
education at any level. Learn
how grass roots action can achieve a lasting impact
on transition education. Participants will gain knowledge
of a step-by-step model for implementing
a transition education program in their local community
or
at the state level through exploration of a training
program for empowering high school
faculty and staff to lead their own college transition
education programs. A transition curriculum will
be
broken down into 6 workshops designed to
teach self-advocacy and college planning skills,
which participants
will have a chance to experience “hands-on.”
Audience: All
#PC9 Today’s AT: Ongoing Challenges
and Solutions
James Bailey, University of Oregon
Providing Assistive Technology in higher education
settings is in a state of constant flux. This presentation
looks at some of the growing technical challenges
for students with disabilities, such as the
use of complex course management software and the
increasingly
“social” nature of the Internet, and discusses
“real world” solutions. This is presented
from the management perspective, emphasizing planning,
collaboration and use of resources, rather than
from a highly technical one.
Audience: Novice to Intermediate
Half-Day Preconference Institutes
- Afternoon
Tuesday, July 15th 2:00 pm – 5:30 pm
#PC10 Seeing Students for Who They
Are: A Multiple Identity Development Approach
Oscar Collins, University of Massachusetts,
Amherst
AnnMarie Duchon, University of Massachusetts
Amherst
DS Coordinators must make effective accommodation
decisions for students. In order to do so,
it is crucial that they are aware of individual
issues affecting
their
students.
The presenters will provide an overview
of the multiple identity models utilized to
best understand today’s students. Through an
interactive and multimodal presentation, participants will
learn about Social Justice theories and have
the opportunity to engage in
activities to better understand the generation
of students coming to
campus.
Audience: All
#PC11 Strategies for Making UCD
a Permanent Fixture on Your Campus
Kirsten Behling, University of Massachusetts,
Boston
We have all heard about Universal Design.
We think it is a good idea, but how do we effectively
bring the concepts of Universal Design to
our colleges
and ensure long-term implementation by faculty,
administrators and staff? This interactive
presentation describes the
experiences
of 15 different community colleges and universities
who have successfully embedded
Universal Course Design on their campuses.
Participants will leave this session better
understanding how
Universal
Course Design (UCD) can positively
impact their campuses as a whole. Each participant
will leave with a concrete plan for introducing
and
firmly embedding UCD on their campus. They
will
receive strategies and have access to the
tools necessary for working with faculty, gaining
administrative support and analyzing the
effectiveness of UCD on their campus.
Audience: All
#PC12 Accommodations in Online
Learning: Everything Old Is New Again!
Jane Jarrow, Disability Access Information
and Support
Kelly Hermann, Empire State College
If you think services to students with
disabilities are no different for online classes, you
are wrong. If you think accommodations
in online
learning can be handled by diligent attention
to technological access, you are wrong.
If you think you
are
understaffed and overwhelmed
by the thought of supporting online learners,
you may be right! But we’ve got a plan.
Attendees will gain a better understanding of how online
learning contexts pose new challenges for
both learners
and service providers. They will learn
a framework
for examining their existing policies,
procedures, and practices to determine what, if any,
changes are needed, and receive a “to do”
list of practical
actions to take on return to their own
campuses.
Audience: All