High school students with disabilities who drop out are costly to society. Compared to those who graduate, they are more likely to be unemployed, dependent on public services, and involved in the criminal justice system. Consequently, helping students with disabilities graduate has become a prominent national concern. Students with disabilities…

Staff from eight community colleges experimented with a team mentoring relationship to strengthen their programs for students with disabilities. This project explored ways in which disability support service (DSS) professionals could benefit from mentoring by their peers in other institutions. From a national applicant pool of 47 colleges, 4 were…

Cites documents from the ERIC collection dealing with occupational education in community colleges. Addresses the following aspects: special programs for women and the handicapped, occupational program planning and evaluation, the relationship between general education and career training, cooperative relationships between schools and industry,…

Discusses the importance of academic advising to increase college student retention, graduation, and transfer in student-support-services programs designed for first-generation, low-income students and students with disabilities. An integrative, intrusive model of academic advising is defined, its benefits are outlined, and several successful…

A project was undertaken at Jackson State Community College (JSCC), Tennessee, to determine an appropriate plan to develop a disabled student services (DSS) program which would coordinate existing fragmented services and add additional services. A literature review was first conducted to determine legal obligations of the Americans with…

Describes Computer Access Centers (CACs), created by the Colorado Community College and Occupational Education System to help students with disabilities learn job skills and improve their lives. Indicates that, despite fears about program costs, CACs are in place at 11 sites and have expanded access for people with disabilities. (MAB)

From 1993 to 1996, Massachusetts' Springfield Technical Community College implemented Students Creating Optimal Resources for Employment (Project SCORE) to develop a model for increasing job opportunities and career prospects of students and graduates with disabilities. The project provided individual career and academic services to students,…

The Vocational Education for Special Students (VESS) program, structured around local resources and community college vocational programs, makes use of local business in combination with available educational facilities and programs to provide a unique learning experience. The program is aimed at developing job-specific skills that can lead to…

These guidelines for California's community colleges specify required elements of a staff diversity/affirmative action plan, recommend sound practices and activities that will maximize the likelihood of success, and provide information on, and required elements of, related issues such as sexual harassment, handicap discrimination, and AIDS in the…

This final report includes two major components: a narrative describing a project at Edmonds Community College, Washington, to develop a horticultural therapy curriculum and descriptions of six courses developed or revised during the project. The narrative reports the development of a supplementary interdisciplinary certification program to train…

Using primarily a question/answer format and numerous graphs and tables, this 18-part report summarizes the goals, operations and budget of a cooperative program administered by Cerritos Community College to train 90 minority, handicapped, and economically disadvantaged individuals for guaranteed placement in drafting and design positions at…

In order to better serve a growing number of handicapped students, Macomb County Community College (MCCC) initiated a formalized program of cooperation with the Bureau of Rehabilitation, an agency of the Michigan Department of Education. The need for this program was initially revealed in a study of services to handicapped students which…

This guide explains to community and business persons what Vocational Education for Special Students (VESS) programs are and what they will be expected to do as participants in the programs. The guide provides an overview of VESS, which is aimed at providing job skills to disadvantaged and handicapped students through a community…

This paper discusses the role of libraries as the hub of information literacy in college and the need for professional collaboration to ensure library access for students with disabilities at California community college campuses. A working plan for developing assistive technology (AT) capabilities is provided which includes the following steps:…

This affirmative action and staff diversity plan was developed to specify strategies and assign responsibility for increasing the number of qualified minorities, women, disabled, and members of other underrepresented groups who staff California's community colleges. Introductory comments explain the rationale behind the plan, indicating that…