How a $1.1 Million Grant Will Aid
Faculty in Teaching Disabled

Education Professor Emiliano Ayala, in collaboration with Professors Brett Christie and James Fouche, was recently awarded a $1,005,155 grant by the U.S. Department of Education to support post-secondary students with disabilities. Funded by the Office of Postsecondary Education, the intent of these federal funds is to support technical assistance and professional development activities for faculty and administrators in institutions of higher education, improving their ability to provide a quality post-secondary education for students with disabilities. These funds provide 100% of the total cost of the project called Ensuring Access through Collaboration and Technology. Over the next three years, SSU will serve as the primary institution carrying out the grant activities. During the first year CSU Humboldt and CSU Chico will participate as partners. In each of the two subsequent years of the funded project additional CSU campuses, up to a total of eight, will become directly involved in this work.

All institutions will work collaboratively to achieve three primary goals:

• Increase collaboration among faculty, students with disabilities and related university-based support services to address issues that impact the retention of students with disabilities at the post-secondary level. Faculty will be provided opportunities to understand and implement Universal Design for Learning, a model instructional approach for designing and adapting course materials, content, instruction and assessment to benefit all students.

• Strengthen faculty development programs and student-centered Assistive Technology services by expanding technology resources as well as develope multimedia technology demonstration projects to address specific instructional issues though the use of current and emerging technologies.

• Disseminate the results of these collaborative and technology-related efforts to support other post-secondary institutions.

ABOVE: Dr. Emiliano Ayala