College, Disabilities, and Success

#70 Expanding Inclusive Career and Technical College Programs with Dr. Drew Andrews

June 29, 2022 Mickie Hayes Season 2 Episode 70
College, Disabilities, and Success
#70 Expanding Inclusive Career and Technical College Programs with Dr. Drew Andrews
Show Notes Transcript

Do you want to see more career and technical college programs for students with intellectual disabilities?  Today's episode introduces you to Dr. Drew Andrews, the Assistant Director & Technical Assistance Coordinator for the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities at the University of Central Florida. You will learn how Florida created grant-supported programs across the state, and how Florida students with Intellectual Disabilities who are enrolled in these programs can be awarded $7,000 scholarships to attend. If you are not in Florida, you will be able to learn how your state can reach out to Dr. Andrews and Think College for assistance and insight, and support when growing programs in your own state that are in line with current Federal guidelines.

drew.andrews@ucf.edu

Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities

Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities  Video

Think College Career and Technical Education Initiative

Think College Contact - Dr. Danie Roberts-Dahm
danielle.dahm@umb.edu

Mickie Teaches
mickieteaches@gmail.com



Drew  0:00  
 Students have completed a welding helper and an electrician helper certificate and have gone to work for electric companies and for welding businesses. We have programs where students have completed culinary arts or baking and pastry certifications and have gone to work in a bakery or in some type of restaurant. We have programs where students have received their Adobe certification, or students may be working on 3D graphics. And those students are either working towards advertising, or those students are maybe working towards in a business where those skills are are needed. At the College of the Florida Keys, students have received different types of diving certifications.
 
 Mickie  0:52  
 You just heard Dr. Drew Andrews, the Assistant Director, and Technical Assistance Coordinator for the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities at the University of Central Florida. Do you ever wish that your child with an intellectual disability or your student with an intellectual disability can be part of one of these programs? That's why I'm here today to tell you how that could happen. My goal today is twofold. If you live in the state of Florida, you will learn how you can help create a post-secondary program for students with intellectual disabilities at one of the local colleges in your part of Florida. But I'm also interested in helping people that are outside of Florida learn how they can duplicate the programs Florida has already established because you will find a program that is already established according to federal guidelines. So welcome to college disabilities and success with Mickie Hayes, Episode 70, Expanding Inclusive Career and Technical College Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities with Dr. Drew Andrews. The opinions in this podcast are my own, please reach out to your college, physician, or legal services for additional information.
 
 Mickie  2:18  
 Today, I am going to introduce you to Dr. Drew Andrews, who is the Assistant Director and Technical Assistance Coordinator for the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities at the University of Central Florida. And he's going to talk about inclusive post-secondary education in Florida with a focus on the Florida Post-secondary Comprehensive Transition Program Act.  Drew. Hi, it's nice to see you again, Would you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you're working on here?
 
 Drew  2:48  
 Thanks for the invitation to join you today. I'm always happy to share information on the Florida post-secondary comprehensive transition program as I have been in the area of special education for almost 30 years now and started as a special education teacher at an elementary school and then went to high school and found out that working with students in the transition process, you know, beginning at age 14, going all the way through age 22. helping them transition to adulthood was really a very exciting process. And so my whole career has focused on that. And so I've been a Transition Coordinator, Special Education Director, I worked at the University of Florida previously provided technical assistance there. And then I've been here at the University of Central Florida over five years at the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities.
 
 Mickie  3:49  Tell us a little bit about the students that you serve and the kinds of assistance that you can give those students.
 
 Drew  3:56  
 Okay, I guess the best way to start with that would be to tell you a little bit about the Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition program act. And that Act was passed here in Florida in 2016, to provide inclusive postsecondary opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities who had exited High School in Florida at Florida institutions of higher education. And so our work here at the Florida Center has been to work with institutions throughout Florida to develop programs to establish credentials to help them establish their programs and then to provide support to them through that process, as well as providing support to students through student scholarships. And we work with programs in the continuous improvement model so that they're continually looking at how do we improve programs and really provide students with Have a meaningful postsecondary education experience that leads to a meaningful credential that will eventually lead to successful employment of the students area of interest and strengths.
 
 Mickie  5:14  
 So the Florida postsecondary inclusive transition program Act has four major areas. Could you talk about those four areas? And tell us a little bit more about the act itself? The transition act itself?
 
 Drew  5:30  
 Yes, I certainly can. This act was passed in 2016. The four major areas are that it established the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities at the University of Central Florida, as a coordinating center and really charged the center with the implementation of the act. And so although we do have a program here at UCF, we work with all universities, state colleges, technical colleges, and private not-for-profit, accredited colleges and universities. throughout Florida. They're actually about 120 institutions of higher education that fall into those categories. So that was what it did first, next, it established Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition programs. And so that's sort of like the framework of what a program might be. And these programs really align with the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, which established comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs. And so they aren't specifically degree programs. But there are programs where students are enrolled, and at a postsecondary institution in an inclusive environment and earning meaningful credentials. And that depends on what area of focus that institution may provide. And so those vary. And then next, the third area of the Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition program Act is that it provided funding for developing programs and for sustaining programs. And so through the center here, we provide grants to institutions to establish programs, and then they can have an ongoing grant that they can reapply for, for sustainability, because we know that it takes additional funding to provide services to students with intellectual disabilities. And then the fourth thing that the Act did was that it funds scholarships for students with intellectual disabilities to participate in approved Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition programs. And those scholarships are $7,000 a year that students receive that helps them cover all of the things that scholarships may cover. I've got a little more information on that a little bit later that I'll talk about. So those are the four major areas that established the center. It established the programs established the grants and established scholarships.
 
 Mickie  8:26  
 So if an administrator or educator is listening to today's episode, and they're interested in starting a program at their site in Florida, you provide grants for the institution to do that. And then you also provide scholarships for students who want to be part of that program.
 
 Drew  8:46  
 We do both of those things, but the very first step is becoming an approved program. And so institutions that are interested can reach out to us. And we're happy to provide you know, technical assistance and guidance and support in their planning process. And so the first step is for them to complete the Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition program application. There are two different elements here, there's a program application, and once that is approved here at the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities, it goes on artment of education, the Board of Governors, depending on whether it's a Technical College's state college or a university, and final approval is there with the appropriate chancellor and the commissioner. Once they are an approved program. They can submit a Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition program grant and that's where the funding comes if to implement the program. Then once students enroll, they simply send us the list of students with intellectual disability arrays that are attending the approved program, and we send the scholarships to their institutions. So there is that first step of becoming an approved program. But then yes, there are grants that are available, and student scholarships that are available. And we and then the center is here as a resource as a support. And to help with any questions, you may have any support that you need. And we meet regularly with all of the programs to provide them support.
 
 Mickie  10:32  
 So if anybody is interested, they would first reach out to you. And I will have all of the links that drew is talking about today in the show notes, and all of the ways that you can reach Drew and learn more about what he's doing and how your institution could possibly become a we would call them CTP. Program comprehensive transition program to begin with. Yes, yes, it. Drew, could you tell us a little bit about the eligibility requirements for the comprehensive transition program act? Sure.
 
 Drew  11:10  
 Well, when we're talking about eligibility, first, we'll talk about the eligibility of institutions to become approved programs. So all of the state universities, all of the state colleges, and all of the technical colleges throughout Florida, as well as the not-for-profit, accredited colleges and universities in Florida, are all eligible to complete a program application to become an approved Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition program. And again, there are about 120 institutions here in Florida, that can become a program. And then next with eligibility, we talk about student eligibility. So the Act was passed specifically to provide postsecondary opportunities to students with intellectual disabilities. So these are students that previously really haven't had a lot of access to postsecondary education, because in most cases, they would not be working towards a degree. And so what we do is work with institutions to develop programs that may not be degree programs, but their programs that must have a meaningful credential, certificate, or industry certification in very plain language, which means that the student is going to earn something that whenever they leave, they can take to an employer to show that they have been prepared for the specific employment that they are applying for, really gives students I'd say an advantage in the application in the job application process because they have a meaningful credential, that employers are going to be able to identify and know that they are prepared for that position.
 
 Mickie  13:13  
 Can you give me just a quick few examples of some of the programs students have shown interest in sure apply to
 
 Drew  13:21  
 Yes. For example, students have completed a welding helper and an electrician helper certificate and have gone to work for electric companies and for welding businesses. We have programs where students who have completed culinary arts or baking and pastry certifications, and have gone to work in a bakery or is some type of a restaurant, we have programs where students have received their Adobe certification, or students may be working on 3d graphics. And those students are either working towards advertising, or those students are maybe working towards in a business where those skills are, are needed. Those are just those are just a couple. At the College of the Florida Keys. Students have received different types of diving certification because diving is very popular for many different businesses that focus on either recreation or maybe a business that's doing more. That's just how, how that sort of relates. So students earn credentials at institutions. And those institutions are really they're there to meet the employment needs of their area, their region, and so it differs from one Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition program to the next. Sometimes there may be the same credential that's offered, but many times it may be different
 
 Mickie  15:00  
 That's wonderful. Any parent who's listening to this or any teacher who's listening to this, who knows that they have a student that would benefit from the kinds of training that you're offering? I'm sure we'd be extremely interested in finding out more information and reaching out to you. Thank you drew, that was very helpful. Can you talk about scholarship opportunities that these students would have as well? Sure.
 
 Drew  15:26  
 The Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition program, Student Scholarship is provided to every student that's enrolled in an approved Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition program. And that annual scholarship is $7,000. And that scholarship can be used to cover things like tuition, books, transportation, may be fees that are associated with a specific course, technology equipment, industry, certification exams, fees that are program-specific, or even travel, like in many of the career tech education programs, students compete in SkillsUSA. And so their fellowship dollars can be used to cover travel expenses. That's
 
 Mickie  16:16  
 amazing. So any student who is accepted into a program will automatically qualify for the scholarship.
 
 Drew  16:25  
 It almost be true, but it's not. It's true. And we have the data to show that every student is receiving that $7,000. It's, it's really a wonderful thing that our legislators did here in Florida back in 2016. By providing that funding to students, and providing the funding for grants to universities, state colleges and technical colleges to be able to develop these programs. You know, as a seventh generation Floridian myself, I tell folks that it makes me proud to be a Floridian because there aren't other states. Some states recently are having some legislation passed. But we receive inquiries from lots of other states asking how did this happen. And I wasn't involved in that. It happened back in 2016. And it's really wonderful that students with intellectual disabilities were made such a focus by our legislators here in Florida, and that this great work was done and the rest of the nation is very envious about this.
 
 Mickie  17:37  
 I imagine they are I imagine they are. Now if somebody is in another state, and they want to know about programs, like you've established in Florida, I know you've had a good working relationship with St. College. Yes, the national effort with programs like yours. Could you talk a little bit about Think College and how you're involved with Think College and the national effort. For people who are listening to this, they can't do Florida because they're not here, but they want to duplicate what you're doing or learn more about what you're doing on a national level, where would they
 
 Drew  18:14  
 go, they would go to think college.net. And think college is the National Coordinating Center for Inclusive postsecondary education. And there you can do a search for every state. And you can find the inclusive postsecondary education programs. And then maybe and you mentioned earlier, Mickey about tips it. And that's where the chips and grants and programs are coordinated through Think College. And Florida certainly has a large number of programs. We have 19 programs on 24 campuses, as of now, and ideally growing and adding new programs. But you can visit the Think College site to find out more nationally, or you can visit our website@fcsua.org. And under students and families there's find a postsecondary program. And there's information about all of our Florida postsecondary comprehensive transition programs right there. So two great websites that have lots of information about inclusive postsecondary education, and lots of other resources. They're also
 
 Mickie  19:33  
 wonderful. And I want to remind the listeners also that those links will all be in the show notes. So any links that Dru mentions today will be available to you. And all of that information is, as Danie said to be in our last podcast, Dr. Danie Roberts, Tom, who is your contact with in college, is that correct? DREW? Correct. Yeah. She she said I like to think of them as complementary All of our services are complementary. There's nothing that anybody has to pay for.
 
 Drew  20:06  
 Exactly. Yes. Yes. That's a great way to put it. You're right.
 
 Mickie  20:10  
 Drew, could you tell me where exactly programs are located in colleges right now? Sure.
 
 Drew  20:18  
 Well, I'll go through this first by talking about universities in Florida. So there's a program at Florida Atlantic University, and that's on their Jupiter campus and their main campus in Boca Raton. There's a program at Florida Gulf Coast University, and that's over in the Fort Myers area, Florida International University in Miami is a program here at the University of Central Florida. In Orlando. There's a program at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg campus in St. Petersburg. And then there's a program at Southeastern University, which is our private, not for profit University, and that's in Lakeland. Then at our state colleges. There are programs at Broward College both in Fort Lauderdale and Coconut Creek is a program at the College of the Florida Keys in Key West and Key Largo program at Indian River State College in Fort Peerce and Vero Beach at St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Santa Fe College in Gainesville, and Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee. And then our technical colleges include Cape Coral Technical College, Fort Myers, Technical College, lively Technical College, and that's in Tallahassee, McPhatter Technical College, in Fort Lauderdale, Okaloosa, Technical College in Fort Walton Beach, orange Technical College, West Side, and that's in winter garden, Robert Morgan, Technical College in Miami, and share it in Technical College in Hollywood. So those are all of our technical colleges, state colleges and university programs currently
 
 Mickie  22:09  
 and growing. Yes, what does what Drew is doing? Drew's job is to grow those programs, and to see that they happen in new locations. And so if this applies to you, if this is something you're interested in, either as a parent or as an educator,  Dr. Drew Andrews, is the person you want to talk to, to make that Florida connection for these programs. Drew, could you talk a little bit about your connection with the Think College Network,
 
 Drew  22:40  
 the Think College Network, reached out to the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities, due to the success that we have had in expanding inclusive postsecondary education opportunities on career technical education campuses, as I mentioned earlier, and went through the technical colleges that we have, as well as some of our state colleges have career technical education programs. We have 11 programs, and all that are focused on career technical education. And so we're going to be working with the fate College Network, and have put together a workgroup, a collaborative work group that will be focusing on how do we expand opportunities for students in career technical education. And that means that we're going to look at what are some of the barriers, we're going to also identify what the successes are of students, we're going to look at needed resources, that professionals in the area of career technical education might need to be able to develop a program, and then be able to support students in that program. And so that's going to be done through seven regional networks. And that's another part of the Think College Network, they're going to develop seven regional networks that will be nationwide, where there will be an alliance in each of those regions where they can collaborate and work together. And so what we're going to do is share the work that we've done here in Florida, so that others can see that this is being successful. It's it's working students are earning credentials. Students are in some cases, earning industry certification. And then students are going on to employment. So we're going to really try to highlight what's happening. And we've also been doing that a lot through our Facebook page, which is, you know, the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities on Facebook, because we have lots of students that are being very successful. And it's always great to be able to share those success stories whenever a student earns a meaningful credential. because, you know, the look on anyone's face whenever you've accomplished a goal, and you finally have that document that says, and I've earned this, and you just do that over and over, it's one of the best parts of my job, Nikki to see that the faces on the students as they earn those meaningful credentials. It's really very exciting.
 
 Mickie  25:22  
 Oh, that is absolutely the best part. That is absolutely the best part. I mean, the end goal of all of this is employment. This takes students into the real world of employment now with real credentials, valuable credentials, and meaningful credentials,
 
 Drew  25:39  
 right. You know, as a special education teacher, I worked with many students during that time between age 18, and 22. And there were so many students that during that time, there was so much development that took place in early adulthood, and oftentimes wished that students could stay just a little bit longer, stay a little bit longer to earn a to develop, to learn more skills, because they were really developing a lot of employment skills in early adulthood. And this is an opportunity. And we oftentimes tell people that this is what's next, after the Individuals with Disability Education Act ends, because we know that that can provide services to age 22 for students with disabilities. But one of the things that we're seeing with our programs is that students are enrolling in college before age 22, they're exiting high school, and they're going on to college. Wow, very exciting, because they're with their age-appropriate peers, they're in an inclusive environment, they have scholarship dollars to support their participation there, and they're earning meaningful credentials alongside their peers,
 
 Mickie  27:06  
 and drew when they get into these college programs, they're not just left to their own devices, because your programs built-in support for the students once they are there. Could you talk a little bit about that?
 
 Drew  27:20  
 Certainly, many of our programs, have peer mentors, here educators, that are peers working on the same program, or in that field that are there that support students, and that may be an academic peer, that may be a recreational here, were the programs that have a residential component that may be a residential Peer. And then many programs also have instructional support. So there's additional support in that classroom. For the students, many students and programs receive tutoring from instructors at an additional time. So there's a lot of front loading of information, if a student's going into a specific program, there's time that spent front-loading information. And then while students are in programs for many students, some additional time is provided for them to complete that program. And support is provided to them while they are in that program.
 
 Mickie  28:25  
 Wonderful, wonderful, because it's it's so important for parents and teachers to know that once they get into these programs, they're not just left to their own devices, there is support available to them throughout the entire process. So that yes, so that they don't get into the program and fall apart, they will be successful, because the support is there to help them become successful. Yes. Nice. Very nice. Drew, I want to really thank you for all of the valuable information. This has been incredible because the clarity for families and for educators is so very important, that they understand exactly what opportunities are out there, and what opportunities you particularly can help them with soy. Thank you for that.
 
 Drew  29:14  
 And thank you so much for having me today. You know, in closing, I just want to remind folks that just because this is something that's new, and hasn't been doesn't mean that it should not have been. Finally a door's open for students with intellectual disabilities. And that is truly using the federal definition of intellectual disabilities to postsecondary education and the opportunities that many of us have benefited from. in postsecondary education. Many of our programs do not have an age limit for what age students can enroll in programs. And so there are many adult students that are enrolling. And there was, I'll say a young man because he was about my age in his 50s that enrolled in a program, and he was the only sibling that had not graduated from Florida Atlantic University, all of his other brothers and sisters had graduated from Florida Atlantic University. And so his family was so excited that he was going to have an opportunity to attend and he didn't complete the program. But while at the program, the the owls their mascot, and their football team played Navy, and his father had attended the Naval Academy. And they went to that game together with the dad wearing his navy shirt, and the son wearing his owl shirt. And that dad said, That was a great day. And to think about that opportunity, so that everyone can have access to postsecondary education, it makes me wonder why there's anyone out there that wouldn't be working towards establishing a program and providing that opportunity for students with intellectual disabilities to participate in postsecondary education and earn a meaningful credential, because it's going to benefit the student, but it's also going to benefit the campus, it's going to benefit teachers, and they'll become better teachers. Because we know when you're using universal design, and you're teaching to students of different level, you really become a better teacher when you do that. So those would, those would be my closing thoughts. And I hope that that motivates someone to reach out to us at the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities at the University of Central Florida and ask questions, because here in Florida families, families can make a difference. And families that want to see programs in their areas, or someone who's with a school district, and is like me, and you always wanted more for students after they leave the K 12 system. The opportunity is here. So thank you so much, Mickie
 
 Mickie  32:06  
 Thank you very much, Drew. This has been remarkable. Well take care now. Bye. Bye bye. Thank you for listening to today's podcast. As I said early on, if you are interested in building or growing and inclusive postsecondary at comprehensive transition program in Florida, Dr. Drew Andrews is the person that you want to talk to. But he's also part of an initiative at Think College. And so you can also reach out to Dr. Danie Roberts-Dahm from Think College, because she and drew are working closely together to build more career in technical education programs throughout the United States. I will also make sure that this information is on my website. So please feel free to check there at Mickey teaches.com M I C K IE teaches.com. And if you have any questions, feel free to email Dr. Drew Andrews or Dr. Danie Roberts-Dahm Or me and I'm at Mickieteaches@gmail.com. That's M I C K IE teaches@gmail.com. And don't forget to check the show notes for all of the appropriate links that have been discussed in today's podcast number 70. And also in podcast number 69 with Dr. Danie Roberts-Dahm. In the meantime, I hope you have a great rest of the day. We'll talk again soon bye. The information contained throughout this podcast has been gleaned from my own personal experiences, but to ensure accuracy please contact the Disability Services at the college of your choice to have firsthand information and the most up-to-date policies and procedures followed for your particular institution of higher education. The content in any of these podcasts is not intended as a substitute for information from legal, educational or medical professionals. Always seek the advice of your attorney or qualified health care provider with any questions you may have with regards to illegal educational or medical concerns.