Presented to The

Presented to the

OMRON FOUNDATION, INC.

A request for assistance in support of the

Access and Disability Services Center: Assistive Technology

at William Rainey Harper College

July 15, 2009

Submitted by Catherine M. Brod Executive Director 1200 West Algonquin Road Palatine, Illinois 60067-7398 Phone: 847-925-6133 E-mail: [email protected] Fax: 847-925-6041 Introduction Over the past 10 years, students with disabilities have increasingly been enrolling in higher education, where Harper has seen its number of registered students double to over 1,000 annually. Today, the use of technology within education is taken for granted and everyone is expected to use the internet, email and course management systems, such as Blackboard. During this time, Harper College’s Access and Disability Services program (ADS) has embraced this challenge of electronic accessibility and continues to make significant progress. Today, the challenge continues as students need to access and use information, while struggling because of lack of access to and familiarity with tools (software and hardware) that will open these doors to information. The ADS program at Harper College seeks partners to support the education of the growing number of students who need assistive technology. These hardware or software devices facilitate student access to information and include text-to-speech software, e-text versions of print material, audio and digital versions of tests and captioning of video media. Deaf students and students with learning disabilities comprise two populations that can advance their education with technology support. To meet these growing needs and to stay on the cutting edge of assistive technology, we respectfully request a $25,000 grant from the OMRON Foundation to purchase devices, software and training to empower students with tools for learning and access. These tools will help all students in the ADS program, including the blind, learning disabled and deaf students.

Program History Background ADS was established at Harper College in 1973 to provide accessible education to many local high school graduates needing services. The ADS mission is to create a comprehensively accessible environment and to empower students to become involved in all aspects of campus life. Initially, the department served approximately 70 students. By the 1980’s, the number grew to nearly 300 students and by the 1990’s, it grew to 500 students. Over the past five years, the number of students has grown to 1,280 students or approximately 4 percent of all enrolled, credit students at Harper College. In the late 1980’s, the College purchased initial equipment to begin providing students with specialized technology. Beginning in 1989, the Allstate Insurance Company contributed $150,000 to develop an Assistive Technology Lab including the purchase and upgrading of both hardware and software and to build access into open labs on campus. The College has continued to develop assistive technology resources and access of the past fifteen years while short-term state grants were used for further enhancements In 2005, David and Diane Hill provided a $200,000 gift to establish the Kimball Hill Family Institute for Deafness, a new learning center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. The gift equipped a technologically advanced learning laboratory for personalized, web-based learning for specialized group and individual instruction; expanded classroom communication using state-of-the-art transcription systems and

2 captioning; and a specialized “Summer Bridge” program designed to assist with transitional issues for first time in college Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. In addition, a part-time Assistive Technology Specialist and an Information Technology liaison / support staff member currently coordinate their efforts to provide services and improve campus access. In 2008, OMRON’s generous $25,000 grant allowed ADS to purchase captioning software, assistive technology hardware and software, and captionist training and research. Our students’ usage of assistive tech software and hardware (as well as traffic in the Assistive Technology Lab) is up 28% due to OMRON’s support. In addition, most of our digital e-text readers and Braille note takers are being used by students at all times during the semester. Your support of captioning services has allowed us to produce more captioned videos this past year than ever before.

Program Awards and Recognition ADS is known for providing excellent programs for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students and for its assistive technology resources. In the 1980’s, ADS was recognized by the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Organization on Disability for its exemplary programs. In the 1990’s, the Illinois Community College Board recognized the department for its support of entering high school students with disabilities. In the past five years, the national Council on Student Development awarded an Exemplary Practices award and recently the University of Illinois – Urbana invited ADS to participate in a National Science Foundation grant project aimed at recruiting and supporting students with disabilities entering careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. More recently, ADS received the following awards and recognition: . The Chicago Hearing Society recognized ADS’ years of outstanding service to Dear and Hard of Hearing students in November 2004. . The American College and Personnel Association recognized ADS as its Outstanding Disability Services program in 2005. . The Illinois – Iowa Association of Higher Education and Disability recognized ADS’ Director for Access and Disability Services with a “Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2005 for service to others working in the field of post-secondary disability services. Significantly, ADS staff have raised $30,000 to establish two endowed scholarships and to support an emergency fund for ADS students.

Assistive Technology Need Given the growth in the numbers of students using services and a 59 percent increase in students needing technology over the past five years, the Assistive Technology Lab has increased its document conversion activities and is loaning more equipment to more students each semester. Most students with disabilities are required to take developmental English, reading and math and require specialized software to aid them in their studies. In addition, students are often required to use the web to do research,

3 complete homework assignments and even register for classes. Students with disabilities require specialized software to make the web accessible for them. To meet the growing needs and continue making all aspects of the college experience accessible for students with disabilities, the College would like to increase our instructional software and tools for access. OMRON support of this grant would would also give faculty the tools needed to create accessible versions of documents they use in class or post on Harper’s online classroom.

Funding Budget The Harper College Educational Foundation respectfully requests a grant of $25,000 to purchase additional hardware and software needed by students to facilitate their educational access and success.

Hardware & Software for Students Quantity Unit Total Cost Cost Texthelp Read and Write Gold Software Site License 1 $5,800 $5,800 Used for writing assignments and taking exams. ModuMath Software 1 $1,000 $1,000 Used for mastery of math concepts Browsealoud Software-two year license 1 $8,500 $8,500 Dynamic conversion of web data to voice/audio to allow blind students to surf the web. Subtotal $15,300 Hardware & Software for Faculty/Staff who work with students MS Office 2007 Virtual508 Software (25 License Bundle) 1 $1,000 $1,000 Allows faculty to create HTML accessible versions of documents Attendance at conference on Accessibility in Higher Ed 2 $1,500 $3,000 Subtotal $4,000 Instructional Hardware/Software Software products for producing the most robust and versatile form of accessible media, DAISY or Digital Accessible Information Systems Format. Dolphin produces some of the best software conversion products available. Dolphin EasyConverter with SMA 1 $2,040 $2,040 Dolphin EasyReader Licenses 10 55 $550 Dolphin EasyProducer with SMA 1 $660 $660 Humanware VictorReader Stream 7 $350 $2,450 Portable e-text reader for DAISY Books Subtotal $5,700

4 Total Request $25,000

OMRON Employee Involvement – Working for the Benefit of Society OMRON has a strong commitment to playing a vital role in the global community by engaging in various activities that benefit society. To address this commitment, the Access and Disability Services at Harper College invites OMRON employees to consider visiting the campus and meeting students who are users/recipients of the support provided by Omron.

Recognition of Support Upon awarding of the ADS Assistive Technology grant to the Harper College Educational Foundation, a press release will be written by the Harper College Communications Department and released to local news organizations. Previous grants have been highlighted or featured in the Pioneer Press, The Daily Herald and the Chicago Tribune. The grant will be highlighted in the College’s Annual Report which is distributed to business, community and philanthropic leaders in the twenty-three cities and villages served by Harper College. The grant will also be highlighted in the Community Catalyst, a Harper College Educational Foundation newsletter mailed to approximately 5,000 businesses, community and civic leaders, and friends of Harper College.

Conclusion The Access and Disability Services Center is one of the leading centers in the state of Illinois for providing excellent programs for the visually impaired and physically disabled community and providing extensive assistive technology resources. The growth of students using these services has increased 59 percent over the past five years, and is expected to continue. The Harper College Educational Foundation is respectfully requesting that the OMRON Foundation join us in continuing to meet the growing needs of the Access and Disability Services Center to serve its students by providing support for this $25,000 funding initiative. Your support will continue to provide educational access to those with disabilities. Thank you.

Stated Policy of Non-Discrimination William Rainey Harper College prohibits discrimination against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or unfavorable discharge from military service. This policy governs the recruitment and admission of students, the recruitment and employment of faculty and staff, and the operation of any of the College’s program and activities as specified by federal laws and regulations. It is also the policy of Harper College that no student or employee shall be subjected to sexual harassment, which is regarded as a form of discrimination. Source: College Catalog, 2003-2004, pages 46, 47.