[nfbmi-talk] Survey on MCB Services to College Students

Wed Jun 16 01:47:55 UTC 2010

Christine,

Thank you for your suggestions about the survey. I have not seen any additional comments or suggestions from my sister, but if you are referring to the suggestions that were made in the report, they would be my own thoughts and reflections after sending out the survey. Repeating the survey again this fall is a good idea, but unless we can think of a way as an organization to reach out to new students, I am not sure if it would be worth repeating the survey.

It was difficult enough to get seven students who are members of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan to participate in the survey, I am not quite sure if I would be up to the challenge of repeating the survey again while taking classes at the same time. If others would like to help out with this project, that would be great, but I am just not sure if I can do it all on my own again.

I did not include a question about what college the students attend because I was focusing more on the quality of services the student receives from the Michigan Commission for the Blind and not necessarily the college or university. I only included questions about the disabilities office because the Michigan Commission for the Blind tends to use these resources first before spending their own money on services for the student.

Also, the main reason why I decided to conduct this survey was to provide the information that Geri Taeckens requested from Leamon Jones during the last Michigan Commission for the Blind Board meeting. I wanted the report to be well received, so I thought it best to leave out specific names. I thought this kind of information would be helpful to have for the college policy meeting scheduled for Monday. Now if only I could get paid the way Leamon Jones does for gathering such information.

Elizabeth

> From: Christine_Boone at comcast.net
> To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:32:24 -0400
> Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Survey on MCB Services to College Students
> 
> Kudo's to our Michigan Association of Blind Students! 
> I think that this survey would be well worth distributing again, after the
> fall semester has started and the students are all back on campus. The
> Changes that Dianna suggests would help to strengthen the survey as well. I
> do not know whether the survey asked for the student's college or university
> name, but if not, I think that would be a helpful bit of additional
> information. It could help you to spot any patterns of either excellence or
> the lack thereof, in the various disabled student service offices around the
> state. 
> 
> 
> Just some thoughts. Thanks for your pro-active work here students! 
> 
> Christine Boone
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
> On Behalf Of Elizabeth
> Sent: Monday, June 14, 2010 10:46 PM
> To: nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Survey on MCB Services to College Students
> 
> 
> During the March 19, 2010 Michigan Commission for the Blind board meeting
> there was a request to receive qualitative data concerning the services
> being administered to current college students. Since the current
> administration of the Michigan Commission for the Blind has been slow in
> producing such data, the Michigan Association of Blind Students has been
> conducting a survey over the past month to assess the quality of services
> college students are currently receiving from the Michigan Commission for
> the Blind. 
> 
> The questions used for the survey were based on the personal experiences of
> current college students and recent college graduates. The survey included a
> total of nineteen questions including sixteen questions with one choice for
> an answer, two questions with multiple choices for an answer, and one opened
> ended question. Questions included quality of reader services and assistive
> technology, quality of communication with counselors, coordination of
> services between the Michigan Commission for the Blind and the college or
> university, and access to services provided by the Michigan Commission for
> the Blind. The survey was open to current college students as well as any
> student who has graduated within the past five years.
> 
> Every effort was made to distribute the survey as widely as possible, but
> due to the limited time constraints for the survey, only seven students
> responded to the survey. All of these students indicated that they were
> members of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan. Out of the
> seven students who participated in the survey, three students indicated that
> they were recent graduates. Out of the remaining four students, one student
> was a non-traditional student, one student was a sophomore, one student was
> a junior, and one student was a senior. The range of credits that were taken
> during the previous academic year ranged from nine to twelve credits. Most
> of the recent graduates did not indicate how many credits they took during
> their last semester before they graduated. It is recommended that this
> question be modified if the survey is repeated to obtain additional
> information about recent graduates.
> 
> As it relates to the use of reader services, three students indicated they
> use reader services provided by their college or university, one student
> uses reader services provided by the Michigan Commission for the Blind, one
> student uses reader services from both the college or university and the
> Michigan Commission for the Blind, and two students indicated that they
> provide their own reader or that they do not use reader services. When asked
> how well the disabilities office provides reader services and accessible
> textbooks, five of the seven students said that the disabilities office does
> an okay job or an exhalent job at providing these services, and two students
> said the disabilities office does a poor job at providing these services.
> There was not a question asking how well the Michigan Commission for the
> Blind provides these services, and it may be helpful to add this question to
> the survey for the future.
> 
> When asked about how well the disabilities office at the college or
> university provides assistive technology that meets their needs as a blind
> student, five of the seven students said the assistive technology is
> adequate when they need to use it or that the best assistive technology is
> available whenever they need to use it. Two of the seven students said the
> assistive technology is adequate, but does not always work when they need to
> use it or the assistive technology rarely works properly when they need to
> use it. Four of the seven students said that they have experienced some kind
> of problem when trying to obtain assistive technology from the Michigan
> Commission for the Blind. 
> 
> All seven students indicated that they have been denied a service or
> accommodation by either the Michigan Commission for the Blind or their
> college or university. Two students said they had to drop a class due to a
> lack of accommodations from their college or university, and one student
> said they had to drop a class due to a lack of accommodations from the
> Michigan Commission for the Blind. One student said they have been denied a
> service or accommodation from the college or university, four students said
> they have been denied a service or accommodation by the Michigan Commission
> for the Blind, and two students said they have been denied a service or
> accommodation by both the college or university and the Michigan Commission
> for the Blind. 
> 
> When asked to list the services they have been denied from the Michigan
> Commission for the Blind, the most common answer was tuition and fees
> followed by textbooks and course materials. Four students said they have
> been denied tuition and fees, three students said they have been denied
> textbooks and course materials, two students said they have been denied
> assistive technology, and one student said they have been denied reader
> services. Two students have been asked to use Social Security benefits to
> pay for services, one student has been forced to take out a personal loan to
> pay for services, and one student said that they are currently not receiving
> any assistance from the Michigan Commission for the Blind.
> 
> When it comes to working with their counselor with the Michigan Commission
> for the Blind, two students said they received a thorough explanation of the
> current college policy without receiving a written copy of the policy, two
> students said they received a basic explanation of the current college
> policy along with a written copy of the policy, two students said they
> received a basic explanation of the current college policy without receiving
> a written copy of the policy, and one student said they received little
> explanation of the current college policy, but received a written copy of
> the policy. It appears as though the results are mixed when it comes to
> asking for an exception to the policy to account for personal circumstances.
> Three students said they have never asked for an exception to account for
> personal circumstances, two students found it relatively easy to receive an
> exception for personal circumstances, one student said it took a
> considerable amount of time and effort to receive an exception for personal
> circumstances, and one student was never able to receive an exception for
> personal circumstances.
> 
> When asked about Memorandum of Understandings and how they impact the
> services they receive as a college student, four students said they have
> heard of a Memorandum of Understanding before, but do not know how it
> applies to them as a college student, one student said that the disabilities
> office at their college or university has explained a Memorandum of
> Understanding to them, and two students said they have absolutely no idea
> what a Memorandum of Understanding is or how it impacts them as a college
> student. Two students have encountered a situation where an accommodation
> was not delivered in a timely manner because there was a disagreement
> between the Michigan Commission for the Blind and the college or university.
> One student said they were able to resolve this situation after a
> considerable amount of personal time and effort while another student was
> not able to receive an accommodation due to a disagreement between the
> Michigan Commission for the Blind and the college or university.
> 
> A majority of the students indicated that it typically takes two to three
> weeks for their counselor with the Michigan Commission for the Blind to
> return phone calls and respond to emails. Two students said that it takes
> five to seven business days to hear back from their counselor, four students
> said it takes two to three weeks to hear back from their counselor, and one
> student said it takes one to two months to hear back from their counselor.
> When asked if the Michigan Commission for the Blind and the college or the
> disabilities office at their university has enough understanding of
> blindness to accommodate for their needs as a blind college student, two
> students said they felt as though their counselor with the Michigan
> Commission for the blind had a good understanding of blindness, but not the
> disabilities office at college or university, one student said the
> disabilities office at their college or university had a good understanding
> of blindness, but not their counselor with the Michigan Commission for the
> Blind, and four students said there is an overall frustration with the lack
> of understanding of blindness from both the Michigan Commission for the
> Blind and the disabilities office at their college or university.
> 
> When asked how to describe their college experience when compared to Their
> sighted classmates, three students said they successfully completed their
> degree in the same amount of time as the average student, three students
> said they need more time to complete their classes due to a lack of
> accommodations, and one student said they need more time to complete their
> degree when compared to the average student. There was not a question on the
> survey that measured the correlation between the lack of accommodations and
> the number of credits a student took during the previous academic year.
> 
> Based on this survey, it would appear as though the statement made at the
> March 19, 2010Michigan Commission for the Blind board meeting stating that
> blind college students are not being denied services would be an incorrect
> statement. The fact that all seven students indicated that they have been
> denied a service or accommodation from either the Michigan Commission for
> the Blind or their college or university is startling, and would suggest
> that blind college students are not being given the proper support to
> succeed as a blind college student.
> 
> The data from this survey shows that students receive adequate
> accommodations from the disabilities office at their college or university
> including reader services, accessible textbooks, and assistive technology.
> However, more research should be conducted to assess how well the Michigan
> Commission for the blind provides these services when they are not provided
> by the college or university. While it is clear that students have problems
> when asking for assistive technology from the Michigan Commission for the
> Blind, it is not clear if students encounter the same problems when asking
> the Michigan Commission for the Blind to provide reader services or
> accessible textbooks. Additionally, the survey did not explore what kind of
> problems students are facing when asking the Michigan Commission for the
> Blind to provide assistive technology.
> 
> The fact that two students have been asked to use Social Security benefits
> to pay for services, would suggest that the Michigan Commission for the
> Blind is violating federal regulations regarding the provision of vocational
> rehabilitation services for individuals receiving Social Security benefits.
> In addition, the fact that one student has been forced to take out a
> personal loan would suggest that the Michigan Commission for the Blind does
> not consider how difficult it is for blind college students to pay back
> personal student loans due to the extremely high unemployment rate for the
> blind.
> 
> In regards to the relationship between college students and their counselor
> with the Michigan Commission for the Blind, the data clearly indicates that
> counselors do not respond to phone calls and emails in a timely manner. This
> may suggest that it is difficult for a student to get a hold of their
> counselor when they encounter a problem with their classes. Additionally, it
> appears to be clear that counselors do not adequately go over all of the
> policies related to receiving services as a college student including
> Memorandum of Understandings. 
> 
> The fact that two students had a difficult time receiving services from the
> Michigan Commission for the Blind when there was a dispute about who should
> provide the accommodation would suggest that the Michigan Commission for the
> Blind is violating the regulations set forth in the Memorandum of
> Understandings.
> 
> According to both federal regulations and the Memorandum of Understandings,
> the Michigan Commission for the Blind is responsible for providing a service
> or accommodation when there is a dispute between the Michigan Commission for
> the Blind and the college or university until the dispute is resolve. It
> would appear from the data that has been collected that the Michigan
> Commission for the Blind is not following this protocol.
> 
> It seems to be that one of the most positive things to come from this survey
> is that most of the students who participated in the survey believe they are
> capable of completing their academic program in the same amount of time as
> the average student. It seems to be that the only thing that is preventing
> this from actually happening is a lack of services or accommodations. While
> it is good to have high expectations for blind college students, if they are
> not given the proper support from the Michigan Commission for the blind as
> noted in this survey, then it will prove to be difficult for blind college
> students to achieve these high expectations.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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