Co and Extra Curricular Think Tank

Co and Extra Curricular Think Tank

Interview Planning

Interview Questions :

Tell us the TRIO-DSPS story.

The TRIO-DSPS grant funded program is in its second year at COD. DSPS-TRIO is a Student Support Services program that has been federally funded by the US Department of Education to provide services to a minimum of 100 students with disabilities who are of low-income and/or first generation students. The program is designed to assist the participants to meet the challenges of graduating from COD and to transfer to a four-year university and therefore: provides academic, personal and career counseling support to eligible participants to help them meet their goals of obtaining a college education. This program is unique from other “conventional” TRIO programs in that its focus is on students with disabilities first and foremost. The requirements to be eligible for this program are students with any of the following disabilities:

·  Learning Disabilities

·  Medical Disabilities

·  Physical Disabilities

·  OCD

·  PTSD

·  Attention-Deficit Disorder

·  Blindness or Low Vision

·  Depression

·  Brain Injuries

·  Hearing impairments

·  Psychological Disabilities

·  Speech Disabilities

·  Other diagnosed physical or mental deficiencies.

In addition to the above listed requirements, the students may also be 1str generation College students or low income students.

Who else should we talk to about your program? (Ask this question before the interview so you can talk to them together.)

Dr. Nathan Church and the program Coordinator Jeroen Dragten were present during the team’s interview.

Are there mandates associated with your program? If so, what are they?

The grant has very specific detailed mandates. The program is not a mandated program, but if the program exists on campus, there are detailed mandates associated with the program. As listed above, students must have a verifiable disability as well as be either a 1st generation student and/or come from a Low-Income family.

COD currently has very little costs outlay in order to offer this program to the community: building space, which is housed with the DSPS program; the Business Affairs office provides accounting services for the program in that the college pays the programs expenses and then is reimbursed by the grant for those expenses. All other costs associated with the program are paid for by the grant.

How do you serve the college and who benefits from your program?

This is the first year of this grant. Though there are very little historical data at this point, the program’s goals ensure that students who participate will be more likely to succeed in obtaining in achieving their goals of graduating and transferring to a four-year university within the 4-year timeline as outlined by the program’s mandates. Historical data has shown that a community that has a greater number of college graduates enjoys a higher standard of living. Additionally, this program supports those students who, because of their disabilities, face a greater challenge and many more obstacles to success than the average student. For each student that succeeds through the program there is one less who likely will be on public assistance.

If your program was to expand, what resources would that require?

More funding from the Federal government. This is a grant funded program that is 100% funded by the Federal Government. It is not dependent upon the College’s general funds in order to operate. Such a program therefore is dependent upon the renewal of its funds over five years to exist.

Do you see opportunities for collaboration with other programs that might save costs to the college and/or increase the services offered with existing resources?

Due to the physical and/or mental limitations of the students who participate in this program, special needs are a matter of routine practice for some students. For this reason, it is not always feasible to work closely in a collaborative fashion with other programs. With this being said, all efforts are made to combine monetary resources as well as services wherever and whenever possible. The TRIO-DSPS program works in close collaboration with the College’s DSPS program. Although there is no duplication of services, the students who are served by the grant program have less need to be

served by the DSPS counselors. Student Education Plans, academic, personal and career counseling support can be provided by the TRIO-DSPS program, which in turn allows for DSPS counselors to attend to other students. Providing accommodative services will be retained by the DSPS counselors.

Do you see opportunities to be as effective with fewer resources?

The grant determines the amount of money we receive each year. We are preparing to “do more with less” in the future, but we don’t know what the future funding brings.

Are there alternative sources of funds or resources that could be used to support your program?

N/A- this program has no cost conveyed to the college except for the few outlined above.

Do you foresee changes in the next five years that would significantly change the kinds or amounts of services you provide and/or costs to the college for your program?

This program is a five-year grant funded program. A renewal application needs to be filed every five years. The program is currently in year 2 of the five year cycle.

What would be the impact if your program went on a temporary hiatus (two to three years)?

The students and families would directly be negatively affected. Many of the current college-bound students that are in our program would likely not succeed in graduating from a four-year university. Indirectly, our community would be worse off. We would have more families facing questionable futures that would be resolved by obtaining a college education before seeking gainful employment.

What would be the impact if your program were discontinued?

See above

Have you had a chance to review the initial data supplied by your area? Is there anything else you would like to tell us about the data/information previously supplied to the Think Tank>

No, no documents were provided before the interview.

What else can you tell us about DSPS-TRIO that will help the College understand how the program fits in the Mission?

This program has no negative impact to the “bottom line” of the college. It is a productive asset to our desert community and a vital source of encouragement and assistance to our students who have special needs. To discontinue the program is a loss to all stakeholders including the college community, our students, their families, and those who would otherwise benefit from the program in the future.