The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) assessed the following areas related to the domain:
- Accommodations and support services
- Social engagement opportunities
- Professional development
Accommodations and Support Services
Students with verified disabilities were provided intake assessment appointments which included a meeting with a disability management specialist to evaluate and determine appropriate support services that will accommodate and provide resources to students with diverse disabilities and limitations. Appointments were conducted by disability management specialists who followed the interactive process to determine appropriate support services and the tools by which students were given direct access to select those services that they determined to be needed for each semester and each class.
Enhancing Social Interaction
10th Annual Ability Awareness Week: The events and workshops hosted during this week included a student panel presented by the WorkAbility IV (WAIV) program, a Virtual 2K, and two accessible group builders presented by the assistive technology coordinator which allowed students with varying disabilities to share their challenges with access to websites and University instructional materials.
National Autism Awareness Month: Spearheaded by students on the autism spectrum and hosted by an OSD disability management specialist. This panel presentation allowed students within the spectrum to share their experiences as university students, challenges they encountered along the way, and demystified autism and the characteristics associated therein. The presentations were well attended by students in the University community, staff and faculty. This program will continue to provide awareness annually.
Professional Development
OSD, in collaboration with the State Department of Rehabilitation and the Career Center, helped graduating students prepare for the labor market post-completion of their degree objective. The OSD WorkAbility IV program provided weekly workshops on résumé preparation, cover letters, navigating job boards, mock interviews, and other career-related topics. These weekly workshops were well attended by students with diverse disabilities all of which shared their concerns, and sometimes, fear of the job market and the treatment of individuals with disabilities. In addition to the aforementioned topics, a WAIV employment counselor met regularly with the students to address more individualized needs and provide one-to-one assistance to address her inquiries and questions.
The learning outcomes related to the domain included an increase in the individual’s ability to self-advocate for their disability-related needs, autonomy and independence.
Accommodations and Services: For example, through the OSD AIM system, students decided which accommodations they would be using, if any. They chose whether or not to use a specific support service as accommodation and learned that when is not approved, steps can be taken to address this challenge.
Professional Development: Through the WAIV program, students were able to prepare for the job market. In the academic year 2021-2022, the program showed approximately 28 successful case closures, which meant 28 students successfully achieved gainful competitive employment in their area of study and preparation. Other areas of successful learning outcomes are reflected in student GPAs which are reported through the OSD Tableau Dashboard created by Institutional Effectiveness.
The total number of students that participated, or were taken into account for this assessment was the total number of students registered for the academic year 2021-2022.
The academic year 2021-2022 was particularly challenging for many students with diverse disabilities. Cal State LA began to resume in-person instruction and this required students registered with OSD to make difficult decisions. In particular, the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic continued to linger, affecting students with diagnoses of anxiety, depression, PTSD, immunocompromised conditions, and new diagnoses that are currently being revealed in individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19. These new diagnoses are being termed brain fog and also include neurological conditions affecting students’ abilities to function. This is reflected in the fall 2021 cohort, specifically the GPA comparison between the fall 2021 and the spring 22 GPAs. Spring 2022 reports a decrease in OSD student GPA from 2.72 in fall 2021 to 2.67 in the spring.
The information obtained from this data tells us that as a department and as an institution we need to address the support needs of students with disabilities and modify how we approach the provision of appropriate support services. Success is not always achieved in all areas of support provided by OSD, but we will assess a more cohesive way to support student needs and provide new opportunities and pathways for success.
The Office for Students with Disabilities will continue to provide intake assessments to new and continuing students. OSD will enhance the scope of the former WAIV program and bring its support to a wider range of students registered in the department. This entails hiring a new employment counselor and establishing a stronger collaborative relationship with the Center Career.
OSD is also recruiting a new disability management specialist with an emphasis on working with students on the autism spectrum to help students with this diagnosis better acclimate to University life. The focus will also be to increase collaboration with faculty and address specific concerns related to the functional limitations of students with this diagnosis.
Lastly, OSD will open up its Assistive Technology Learning Center in the fall of 2022 and refocus the purpose on providing more training to students in the use of assistive technology.