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UCLA

Office for Students with Disabilities

ANNUAL REPORT
2000-2001

University of California, Los Angeles
P.O. Box 951426
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1426
A-255 Murphy Hall
(310) 825-1501 (voice)
(310) 206-6083 (TDD)
(310) 825-9656 (Fax)
http://www.osd.ucla.edu (Website address updated 05/29/2007)

The Office for Students with Disabilities

The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) is a campus resource that assists the faculty and the University in meeting the mandates of Federal and State law and University Policy to provide academic support services and programmatic access to students with disabilities. The OSD also provides information to faculty about academic accommodations for students with disabilities. The philosophy and mission of the office focuses on encouraging independence, assisting students in realizing their academic potential and facilitating the elimination of physical, programmatic and attitudinal barriers.

Services Provided 2000-2001

The OSD provides a variety of services including registration assistance, disability parking, on-campus van transportation, campus accessibility, assistance with housing appeals, tutorial referrals, adaptive equipment loan and the following:

New This Year

The OSD collaborated with the Dashew International Center and Melnitz Movies in hosting an international film exhibition capABLE REALity: Addressing disABILITY in Film. The weeklong celebration included film screenings, an art exhibition, and a poetry reading. The opening event was the screening of the movie "Beyond Silence" with a special guest appearance by Howie Seago, internationally acclaimed Deaf actor from the film.

The College of Letters and Science introduced two new scholarships for students with disabilities this year. The Oschin Family Scholarship states a preference for undergraduate students with physical disabilities who are College of Letters and Science or School of Engineering majors and in at least one extra-curricular activity. This scholarship provides for registration fees and educational materials. The Nims Family Scholarship states a preference for students who have physical disabilities. Each scholarship requires students to be currently enrolled and in good academic standing. Information is available at www.college.ucla.edu/up/src/ under Donor Directed Scholarships.

Disability Demographics

During the 2000-01 academic year, a total of 1,324 students with documented disabilities received one or more academic support services and/or parking assistance (an increase of approximately 2.5% from last year). Of this number, 754 students received services other than parking and were identified in the following categories:

A total of 570 students requested and received only parking assistance. The graph below demonstrates our overall distribution between parking only and academic service users over a five year period.

The Learning Disabilities Program

Support services were provided for students with specific Learning Disabilities (LD), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), Acquired Brain Injury (ABI), and students with psychological disabilities.

The Peer-Mentor Program matched new students with continuing students in our program. The mentors stayed in touch throughout the year to provide support and to answer questions. Workshops this year included: reading, writing, and notetaking strategies. Monthly support groups addressed issues such as disclosure to faculty, career exploration and time management. Toward the end of the year, these groups shifted focus to take on more of a supportive role.

The "Working Together Orientation Workshop" was led by continuing students to address issues such as: succeeding in the quarter system, interactions with professors, and selection of classes. A "Survival Tips" Peer-Mentor Newsletter written by students in our program was distributed to all new students. An integral part of our program continues to be the screening of students for suspected learning disabilities, counseling on specific strategies, and disability-management counseling by our four learning disabilities specialists.

OSD offered two weekly support groups. One was for students with psychological disabilities, co-facilitated by an LD Specialist and a psychologist from Student Psychological Services (SPS). The other was for students with AD/HD facilitated by an LD Specialist.

Technology Resources for Students with Disabilities

The Office for Students with Disabilities maintains a Resource Room at Powell Library that is used by students for distraction-free testing and for use of special adaptive equipment and devices. There are several computer workstations with adaptive software that are used for scanning, reading, converting materials to large print and other activities. In addition, there are computer labs throughout the campus available to students who do not need adaptive software.

The Office for Students with Disabilities works closely with the Disabilities and Computing Program (located in MSA 4909). The DCP provides adaptive technology and information access training, support, and services for students, faculty and staff with disabilities. Web accessibility evaluations and recommendations along with voice synthesis, Braille print, large print, and voice recognition technologies are available, as are consulting for individuals and departments. Students can contact the DCP directly at 310-206-7133 or be referred by OSD. Also see the DCP web site at www.dcp.ucla.edu.

Mobility Assistance

A total of 668 students with documented disabilities affecting their mobility were issued disability parking permits. Placards from the Department of Motor Vehicles and letters from physicians were accepted forms of verification. Permits were issued to 570 students who requested no other services from this office; permits were issued to an additional 98 students who received other academic accommodations.

A total of 4,532 on-campus van rides were given to 227 students with documented mobility impairments. This represents a decrease of 8% in the number of riders and a decrease of 26% in the number of rides.

Comparisons to Other Students

The OSD continued to work with the Registrar's Office to compare the academic progress of students who receive services from this office with all other UCLA students. The results indicate more similarities in grade point average (GPA) than differences.

Overall, students with permanent disabilities averaged just .05 grade points below all other UCLA students. The most extreme differences were noted at the freshmen level, where OSD students averaged .38 higher than other UCLA freshmen, and at the sophomore and professional level (medical, dental and law school), where OSD students averaged .21 below other sophomore and professional level students.

Students with temporary disabilities had similar comparisons. The overall average was .08 below all other UCLA students. Freshmen with temporary disabilities averaged .22 higher than other UCLA freshmen and professional level students averaged .31 below other professional level students.

The Office of the President is currently tracking graduation and retention rates for UC students who have received academic support services at all nine campuses.

Evaluation

An evaluation of services is sent each year to all students who have received academic support services from the OSD. Based on comments received, changes may be made in the way service is delivered. Students who choose to identify themselves on this evaluation can request a follow-up on their comments. Last year, the OSD did not send our usual evaluation form to students because last spring, the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Disability (CACD) conducted a needs assessment. Students who were registered with the OSD were sent this questionnaire and asked to complete it. They were also invited to attend focus group discussions. Because different instruments were used, we cannot make a comparison of last year's ratings with this year's ratings. We also changed our rating scale on the OSD evaluation from a 4-point to a 5-point scale and added a few categories (Research Assistance, Test-taking Assistance by Professors/Departments, Support Groups, and New Horizons). A total of 695 evaluations were sent out. The return rate was approximately 22% (152). The ratings were quite high in most areas and are indicated below:

* indicates fewer than 10 people responded to this item.

Resources Outside the Classroom

• Programmatic access is provided by campus departments for all campus activities including student organizations, sporting events and extra-curricular activities. Contact the UCLA Access Web at www.ucla.edu.
• The UCLA Libraries provide many services to students with disabilities. www.ucla.edu/home/lma.html
• A Support Group for students with learning disabilities and another one for students with AD/HD offers opportunities for personal growth. (310) 825-1501.
• Student Psychological Services and the OSD co-facilitate a support group for students with psychological disabilities. Contact the OSD for more information on this group.
• The Union of Students with Disabilities is an Associated Students special interest group.
• Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Disability is made up of students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members. (310) 825-2242.
• The Chancellor's ADA/504 Compliance Office assists the University in recognizing and acting upon access and compliance issues. (310) 825-2242 or http://www.saonet.ucla.edu/ada.htm
• The Career Center provides career counseling and other services. (310) 825-2981 or www.saonet.ucla.edu/career/.

OSD Staff

Kathy Molini, Director

Dan Levitt, Assistant Director/Coordinator of the Program for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Students

Linda Stolt, Assistant Director/Proctor Coordinator

Ed McCloskey, Coordinator of the Mobility Assistance Program

Doug Gerow, Auxiliary Services Coordinator

Dr. Arline Halper, Coordinator of the Program for Students with Learning Disabilities (retired April, 2001)

Chana Bell, Learning Disabilities Specialist

Dr. Julie Morris, Coordinator of the Program for Students with Learning Disabilities (took over position April, 2001)

Dr. Sharon Teruya, Learning Disabilities Specialist

Deb Owen, Budget Analyst/Supervisor of Technology Planning and Training

Maria E. Martin, Payroll/Personnel Administrator

George Auletta, Computer Technologist

Tony Buffo, Assistant Proctor Coordinator

Robert Ono, Resource Room Assistant

Student Workers

Luis Aguilar, Tim Andrews, Joshua Hamilton, Gabriella Hernandez, Alejandro Ibarra, Cheryl Mercado, Edgardo Montoya, Mary Oyster, Allen Rowin, Ria Sengupta, Ernest Shahbazian, Lyndsey Wells, Cori Wapnowski and Narine Zardarian.