Jim Kessler
Director of Disability ServicesStudy Abroad: Serving Students with Disabilities
Background
The mix of current economic, demographic, international, cultural, competitive, and technological forces requires that the University establish a set of academic priorities to guide program and resource decisions. ... these priorities reflect a strategy of building on current strengths and in areas with the greatest potential for future success
F: Extend global presence, research and teaching with the Recommendation (F1) Building and integrate global issues and perspectives into the undergraduate curricula.
Carolina Academic Plan: July 2003
Because global and international focus is listed as a priority in the new academic plan (effective Fall 2006), with an effort to increase participation in study abroad programs, I began conversations with Peter Coclanis, Vice-Chancellor for International Studies and Dr. Robert Miles, Associate Dean for Study Abroad and International Exchanges, about the inclusion of students with disabilities in the various programs offered by Study Abroad.
It must be understood that any educational or service learning activities that occur outside of the continental United States are not covered by the American’s with Disability Act (ADA) and that (home) institutions are not required to provide any support or accommodations for these activities. Since Carolina has made study abroad an initiative, we believe that the “spirit of the law” would be our guiding principle to ensure that students with disabilities have the same or similar opportunities to participate in these programs.
The discussions identified two broad “themes”: 1) the limitations or impact of various medical conditions and the ability to provide accommodations in a reasonable manner at a distant location and, 2) the “barriers” in respect to physical, communications and technological access in the various study aboard programs. And in as much as those discussions raised issues that needed to be addressed, it was evident that the discussion at a local level was limiting.
It was suggested that I join Dr. Miles on a trip to London (May 7-10) to begin discussions with colleagues at three of the universities in the University of London system (20 self-governing institutions). The institutions were: Kings College, London School of Economic and Political Science, and the University College London, as Carolina had and existing working relationship with these institutions and were fairly representative of the University system. Funding for the trip was made possible through a grant from the Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center for International Studies.
The Visit
London is a very old and yet modern city. It has a very diverse population and equally diverse cultural offerings. It is a city dependent on public transportation (the “Underground” [subway], buses and taxis), of which one-third, (buses, approximately 90%) are accessible to individuals with physical and mobility impairments. About ten years ago, the city was generally inaccessible but significant changes have been made in the areas of transportation, physical access to streets and sidewalks, as well as social and financial support in educational programs for students with disabilities. Most cultural opportunities are accessible to individuals with physical and mobility impairments, but renovations of many historical structures still provide some challenges through observations of visits to the British Museum, National Gallery, Westminster Abbey, and St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Kings College (est. 1829) is has several campuses. The main campus (most inaccessible) is located on “The Strand” and the other campus is located across the Thames River. The Waterloo campus also has an adjacent building that has been newly renovated and serves as a residence hall and has several accessible apartments in addition to approximately a dozen residential holdings throughout the city. My visit was limited to campuses at The Strand and Waterloo.
The London School of Economics and Political Science (est. 1896) is just off The Strand and a couple of blocks from King’s College and occupies several blocks (about 28 buildings). Approximately 60 percent of the students studying at LSE are from countries other than Great Britain.
University College London is located on the north side in the Bloomsbury area. Founded over 180 years ago, it was the first university in England to admit students of any race, class or religion and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men and is considered London’s Global University. I was invited to sit in on a “disability awareness” presentation and training workshop to the faculty of the Department of Anthropology to learn first hand, how the rights and responsibilities of students and staff at the College were viewed and explained.
Each institution has an office serving students with disabilities which are generally referred to as the Office for Disabled and Dyslexic Students. Informational link for university access is on most front pages of their websites. Accommodations are similar to assure access (additional time for examinations [generally up to 25%, not the 50-100% offered in the US], sign language interpreters [more American Sign Language {ASL} interpreters in southern England than British Sign Language interpreters). Students, particularly residence of Great Britain, receive a Disability Service Allowance (DSA) from their local (home) educational authorities and that funding is used, by the student to pay for support. Some funding is available at each institution to assist visiting students to acquire services. For the student to assume the responsibility to pay (even with provided funding) is a system that will require some adjustment for U.S. students as it is a different approach to independence. It is not a system that is totally foreign to the U.S. but it is not a mainstreamed concept.
In the area of academics, the greatest transition issue will be adjusting to the pedagogical style of lecture and then working independently on projects. End of term testing that examine what one has learned, as opposed to periodic quizzes/test that give you “feedback” about how well you are doing in class, will also require some adjustment from students. The technology is not at the same level as we (specifically UNC-Chapel Hill students) use, particularly scanning textbooks, but it is something that can be addressed with advanced communications.
Perhaps a majority of issues can effectively be addressed in advance of the student’s travel because of having acquired a local contact, which is perhaps one of the intangible but most useful outcomes of the trip. And fortunately there is a “community” of disability service coordinators/directors at the University of London who meet and communicates on a regular bases, providing and extension of the initial contacts.
Success in the life of the college student cannot be defined solely in academics, as the student must also be successful in all daily living activities so that they are able to participate in the academic process which is the one of the objectives of the adventure. All three institutions have limited residential offerings. A significant number of students live in and around Bloomsbury and commute to their respective institutions. Unlike Carolina, where a majority of study abroad “exchange” students live in the residence halls and have access a majority of services and accommodations to meet personal needs, the independent living aspect may be one of the more challenging aspects of study abroad for a student with a disability in respect to orientation to neighborhoods, services, and effective transportation, which would promote the development of an “informational (“how to, when, where and who”) publication.”
Partnerships and Planning
The collaboration between the Department of Disability Services (DDS) and the Office of Study Abroad (OSA) continues to identify the “barriers” that need to be addressed to provide students with disabilities the opportunity to travel and study in foreign countries. Beside the academic access issues that have already been discussed (here and during the trip) there are other considerations some students need to have resolved, before they even consider studying abroad, and most of those involve “costs and expenses” that other students never consider or will encounter. For example, if a student requires services from a personal care assistance for daily living activities (toileting, bathing, grooming, dressing, eating…) there are additional costs of getting that person to the study abroad location as well as the cost of local transportation and some housing expenses. It is our intention, through extending the spirit of the law to identify and have funds available to cover that cost, allowing the student to assume the normal and customary costs that all students must pay.
Through a successful initial partnership with the Office of University Advancement, we (DDS/OSA) have become the recipients of the Niegelsky Fund established through generous private giving to assist the two offices in meeting some of the challenges associated with the unique problems of study abroad and students with disabilities. Initially the funding will cover the cost of a part-time advisor position in the Study Abroad Office to work 1) with students with disabilities, as well as other students, 2) begin a systematic identification of barriers in current study abroad offers, and 3) assist in meeting the necessary individual costs and expenses. Fund raising to supplement the Niegelsky Fund will be an on-going activity.
Collaborative with the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) are in process to investigate the potential to develop and apply for grants from the Department of Education to expand our knowledge and experiences, the development of guidelines for other institutions to evaluate the access barriers in their study abroad program offerings.
For more information, please feel free to contact:
Jim Kessler, Director
Department of Disability Services
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
919-962-8300 (V/TTY)
http://disabilityservices.unc.edu
