DOE grant to aid training for students with disabilities

A U.S. Department of Education grant to Mississippi State will fund research on the fastest growing non-traditional student population nationwide--students with disabilities.

Project PAACS (Postsecondary Accommodations for Academic and Career Success) was funded with $328,000 for a three-year period through the DOE's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services to the Department of Counselor Education and Educational Psychology.

"The project will promote faculty and staff knowledge of academic accommodations for college students with disabilities," said Anne R. Thompson, Project PAACS director and author of the grant.

"A survey will be conducted to determine current understanding of the rights of faculty and staff and the students' rights in compliance with disability laws and recent court decisions," she added.

Another survey will include all institutions of higher education in the state to determine the number of students with disabilities enrolled and what services are provided them.

Thompson and Leslie Bethea, project coordinator, also will develop a model program to provide assistive technology evaluation and training for college students with disabilities. The model will be disseminated nationally in the third year of the grant.

Project PAACS will work closely with the Comprehensive Assistive Technology Center, which recently opened adjacent to the Longest Student Health Center.