DO-IT Prof Does-It!

Sheryl Burgstahler

DO-IT Prof, funded by the U.S. Department of Education (grant #P33A990042), began in September, 1999. Its purpose is to help faculty and administrators at post-secondary institutions become better prepared to fully include individuals with disabilities in their classes. Project team members were selected from twenty-four colleges and universities nation-wide. Each team member selected a partner school, making a total of forty-eight schools from twenty-four states represented in the project. The "Prof" part of the title represents "professional," a description of the quality of material created, and "professors," our primary audience. On February 15-18 a working session was held in Seattle to begin project collaborations between team members. Our goals for the meeting included:

Picture of Drs. Richard Radtke, University of Hawaii professor and DO-IT Prof team member; Robert Stodden, Director of the Rehabilitation and Training Center and Post-secondary Educational Supports

Sheryl Burgstahler, director of DO-IT, co-present at the 200 Pac Rim conference.

Working Relationships

to develop a collaborative team spirit and working relationships between team members
to begin to develop tasks, strategies and timelines for DO-IT Prof team members/partners and project staff

Needs/Issues

to listen to/discuss/brainstorm/summarize needs/expectations/concerns of students with disabilities and faculty through focus groups, panels, and team member experiences
to consider common and contrasting issues faced by students and faculty at two- and four-year schools and their impact on project materials and on working relationships between two- and four-year schools

Evaluation/Impact

to draft evaluation and data collection instruments
to discuss ideas for showing student impact in the areas of attendance and graduation rates

Project Products

to share ideas regarding ways to deliver professional development to faculty on our campuses
to begin to consider/prioritize content for presentations, especially for "Model 3"
to develop ideas regarding areas to research to form a theoretical/research basis for the materials/strategies we develop
to facilitate team members selecting specific areas of project work and begin formulating small group outcomes, timelines and working relationships

We made significant progress on all objectives. The input from team members as a group and in special interest groups now provides the foundation for our ongoing project efforts. Most communication related to the project will take place via electronic mail.

Our meeting provided a great first-step in a very important undertaking!