Director's Digressions

DO-IT News is a newsletter designed to inform educators, parents, participants and professionals of current DO-IT activities. DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology) is a project primarily funded by the National Science Foundation and directed by the University of Washington College of Engineering. Dr. J. Ray Bowen, Dean of the College of Engineering, is the Principal Investigator of this National Science Foundation-funded project. The purpose of DO-IT is to recruit disabled students into science, mathematics and engineering academic programs. The project includes:

Summer Program

High school students with disabilities live on the UW campus for two weeks and spend their days exploring the Internet, mapping earthquakes, studying mathematics, building estuarine models, producing a newsletter and growing crystals.
 

Mentoring Program

College students, professionals and university faculty members work to inspire and facilitate academic and career achievement from disabled high school students. Most communication is established through electronic mail.
 

Information Dissemination

Materials designed to recruit and retain disabled students into science, mathematics and engineering are being created and distributed.
 

Disability Awareness

Presentations for educators increase the awareness of some of the barriers faced by students with disabilities. Practical and creative solutions are an integral part of the sessions.

DO-IT efforts will help increase the number of individuals with disabilities who successfully pursue academic studies and careers in sciences, engineering and mathematics. We welcome your comments, suggestions and support.

Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph. D.
DO-IT Director
Computing & Communications
University of Washington