PAVING THE ROAD TO SUCCESS: A STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES ORGANIZATION IN A UNIVERSITY SETTING.

This article explores how the creation of a student organization dedicated to serving students with disabilities in a predominately Hispanic serving university supported students with disabilities who felt isolated from campus life activities. Research indicates that limited opportunities for inform...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:College Student Journal Vol. 48; no. 1; pp. 34 - 45
Main Authors: AGARWAL, NEELAM, CALVO, BEVERLEY A., KUMAR, VINOD
Format: Case Study
Published: Project Innovation Austin LLC Spring2014
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:This article explores how the creation of a student organization dedicated to serving students with disabilities in a predominately Hispanic serving university supported students with disabilities who felt isolated from campus life activities. Research indicates that limited opportunities for informal social interactions between individuals with and without disabilities can impact student graduation rates. Results of a series of focus groups conducted with students with disabilities revealed the Miner Prospector student organization significantly impacted these students' experiences at the university. Specifically, emerging trends were identified in the areas of transition from high school to college, social interactions with peers, establishing an informal leadership network, and developing opportunities for members to provide training, and educating others about their successes and daily struggles. Participants began to feel socially integrated in the fabric of student organizations on campus. These results describe the positive effects that a student organization can have on a typically underserved student population.