Review and evaluate SSD program to encourage student participation in services and to promote efficacy of same.

Provide accommodations and auxiliary aids and services for purpose of affording students with disabilities full and equal access to educational programs and campus activities.

Questionnaire administered at conclusion of Fall, 2011 and Spring, 2012 semesters, respectively, to gauge client satisfaction with various aspects of the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD).

1) At least 80% of respondents will rate their overall experience with SSD as "Good" or "Excellent."

2) At least 80% of respondents will indicate that SSD's testing facilities for accommodated exams met their needs.

3) At least 80% of respondents will indicate that SSD services contributed to their academic success.

Strengths
The following are cumulative results of the Fall, 2011 and Spring, 2012 SSD Program Evaluation Survey:

1) 88.1% of respondents rated their overall experience with SSD as either “Good (21.4%)” or “Excellent (66.7%).”

2) Of the respondents indicating their use of SSD’s testing facilities for accommodated exams, 100% reported that they either “Agreed (15.4%)” or “Strongly Agreed (84.6%)” with the statement, “The testing facilities are adequate to my needs.”

3) 83.3% of respondents indicated that they either “Agreed (11.9%)” or “Strongly Agreed (71.4%)” with the statement, “The accommodations provided by the SSD office have contributed to an improvement in my academic performance.”

Weaknesses
The following are cumulative results of the Fall, 2011 and Spring, 2012 SSD Program Evaluation Surveys:

1) Mass e-mailings of the survey yielded a relatively low response rate of 7.6%.

2) Only 7.1% of respondents indicated that they used the Adaptive Technology Lab at the Counseling Center and were aware of the adaptive technologies available at other venues on campus.

The results of the Fall, 2011 and Spring, 2012 SSD Program Evaluation Surveys suggest that students are generally satisfied with the quality, scope, and provision of SSD services, and that these services have contributed to improvements in their academic performance.  These findings should be interpreted with caution, however, as they represent the views of a relatively small percentage of SSD clients (i.e., those responding to the survey).  To increase the response rate to the survey in academic year 2012-2013 and obtain a broader sampling of SSD clients, the department will explore alternative delivery methods, such as the use of notebook computers to administer the survey to students at the Counseling Center.  SSD will also develop additional survey items and/or supplemental questionnaires to assess students’ satisfaction with auxiliary aids and services, including alternative textbooks and contracted services, such as sign language interpreting, captioning/transcription of instructional media content and note-taking services. 
As the survey results of the 2011-2012 academic year suggest a lack of awareness on the part of SSD clients regarding the adaptive technologies available at the Counseling Center and other venues on campus, SSD will explore appropriate means of publicizing these technologies and encouraging their use.  To that end, SSD will partner with various departments on campus, such as the Newton-Gresham Library, the Reading Center, and the campus bookstore, to facilitate orientations to adaptive technologies and alternative formats of instructional materials.

Provide training opportunities in disability-related issues for SHSU faculty and staff. 

Promote awareness and understanding of disability-related issues on part of SHSU faculty and staff by means of training opportunities (e.g., outreach presentations, workshops, teleconferences, etc.).

Questionnaires administered at conclusion of training opportunities to gauge extent of disability-related knowledge, insights, and/or skills gleaned by participants.

At least 80% of respondents will report enhanced awareness and/or understanding of disability-related issues (e.g., legal standards/requirements, institutional policies/procedures, SSD services, etc.) as result of participation in training opportunity.

Strengths
The following are results of program evaluations completed by SHSU staff members that attended outreach presentations or conferences facilitated by SSD:

1) 77.8% of respondents (i.e., SHSU Physical Plant, Residence Life, and Recreational Sports staff) attending the multi-part, AHEAD-sponsored tele-institute on the 2010 ADA Access Standards in November and December, 2011 indicated that they had “a deeper understanding of and appreciation for access issues and institutional responsibilities under the ADA” as a result of participating in the conference. 88.9% of respondents further indicated that the information presented in the conference would enable them to promote compliance with the new access standards in their respective departments.

2) 78.9% of SHSU Information Technologies staff attending an SSD presentation on disability etiquette in March, 2012 indicated that they had “a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the experiences of persons with disabilities” as a result of this presentation. 89.4% of respondents further indicated that the information presented in this outreach program would enable them to interact more appropriately and effectively with persons with disabilities.

Weaknesses
1)  The most frequent suggestion from participants for improving the above-noted presentations was to use a power-point display.

2)  Neither of these presentations included faculty participants.

3)  Participants in the Disability Etiquette program expressed an interest in learning more about students with emotional/behavioral disorders and effective strategies for interacting with same.

The results of the program surveys administered to SHSU staff members that attended SSD outreach presentations indicate that these events were effective in raising awareness of disability-related issues and institutional responsibilities under the ADA.  SSD will incorporate power-point displays to augment future such presentations, as participants in each of the aforementioned programs indicated that the quality of these presentations would have been enhanced by the use of such visuals.  In addition, SSD will endeavor to solicit faculty participation in future outreach programs by using such platforms as the Academic Affairs Weekly Update to advertise programs of interest.  In light of the interest expressed by the Disability Etiquette program participants in students with emotional/behavioral disorders, SSD will develop presentations for faculty and staff on this issue of concern.