DO-IT begins its 11th year with new $million!

To frost the cake on our 10-year birthday party on October 10th, DO-IT received a commitment of $900,000 from the U.S. Department of Education to continue its efforts to help postsecondary faculty and administrators more fully include students with disabilities in their courses and programs. Funding for this new project, "DO-IT Admin", is effective 10/1/02. In the previously funded project from the same source, "DO-IT Prof" developed videotapes, handouts, training materials and a Web site that are tailored to the needs of faculty and administrators. DO-IT collaborated with a team of faculty and administrators representing twenty three institutions, each paired with a partner institution in its state. One of our projects is The Faculty Room. Tailored to the needs of postsecondary educators, it includes content on accessible educational technology, universal design, and accommodations for students with disabilities in lecture classes, distance learning, computer labs, science classes, international travel programs and other instructional settings. A large collection of case studies, interesting "Did You Know?" articles, frequently asked questions, resource lists, and free downloadable training videotapes are included at this site.

Our new three-year project takes lessons learned from DO-IT Prof to create similar training products that will reach out to offices of admissions, libraries, tutoring centers, career services and other student services units on postsecondary campuses nationwide. Again, we will work with a team of collaborators from around the country to assure that materials and methods created are of practical value to institutions nationwide.

This $900,000 grant was a nice birthday present for us at DO-IT. "We will spend it wisely!", promises Sheryl Burgstahler, Director of DO-IT.