    |
News From the Regional Centers
The eight Regional Centers
that are funded by the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education served
over 1,000 students with disabilities last year. This column highlights
their activities and accomplishments.
The Adaptive Technology Center for New Jersey Colleges at
The College of New Jersey: The Adaptive Technology Center
is working to increase collaboration and support among disability
service providers at institutions of higher education throughout New
Jersey with the following activities: updating the NJ Higher Education
Disability Support Directory, posting the directory online, and developing
and hosting the New Jersey Disability Support Services Listserv.
Camden County College: The Mid-Atlantic Postsecondary
Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing was featured on the front page
of the national journal Disability Compliance in Higher Education
in an article titled “How to Develop a Successful Note-taking
Center.” The article, which featured the note-taking program
developed at Camden County College, is available free on the PEPNet
web site: www.pepnet.org. PEPNet, the Postsecondary Education Programs
Network, is a national collaboration of four Regional Postsecondary
Education Centers for Individuals who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
Bergen County College: To kick off Disability Awareness
Week in late February, Bergen County College mounted a production
of Mark Medoff’s play, Children of a Lesser God. The lead role
of Sarah was played by Meral Aydin, a student of the Center for Collegiate
Deaf Education; several other cast members are also CCDE students.
Two of the performances were sign-language interpreted for the deaf.
Cumberland County College: Cumberland County College
also featured a production of Children of a Lesser God this winter,
and several Project Assist students served as sign language interpreters
for the play.
New Jersey City University: In November, Project
Mentor sponsored its 11th Annual Mini-Conference on Higher Education
Opportunities for Students with Learning Disabilities. This turned
out to be NJCU’s most successful conference to date –
over 250 people attended, including many area high school students.
Most exciting, the keynote speaker was LeDerick Horne, a recent graduate
of NJCU and Project Mentor, an alumna of Project Connections at Middlesex
County College, and the author of the cover story in this issue of
TECH-NJ.
Middlesex County College: Project Connections Annual
Transition Workshop for High School Providers was a huge success in
October, with over 120 guidance counselors, transition coordinators,
child study team personnel, and high school teachers in attendance.
On March 8, the project sponsored its Annual Disability Awareness
Day which featured a presentation by LeDerick Horne, an alum of Project
Connections (and NJCU and the author of the cover story in this issue
of TECH-NJ).
Fairleigh Dickinson University: The Regional Center
at FDU successfully launched its Newark Mentoring Project with the
Science and Technology High School in Newark. In collaboration with
the high school’s transition coordinator, FDU is working to
develop learning disabled high school students’ interest in
science and technology by bringing them on campus on Saturdays for
study skills workshops and hands-on, inquiry-based activities with
science and engineering faculty.
Ocean County College: Project Academic Skills Support
has sponsored several successful workshops for faculty, staff, and
transition personnel: A Fall Breakfast for High School Educators;
a Faculty Development Workshop that featured the national expert,
Loring Brinckerhoff; and a presentation by Laurie DiGalbo, Bureau
of Rehabilitation Services, State of Connecticut, on issues in serving
college students with psychiatric disabilities.
Ocean County College was selected by the State of New Jersey, Department
of Education, Office of Specialized Populations for an on-site review
regarding compliance with applicable federal laws. The evaluation
team visited the campus to not only inspect all buildings and facilities
for accessibility, but also to interview administrators, faculty,
and students regarding accessibility of all programs. The visiting
team found that the college was not only in full compliance with all
federal laws, but that the Disability Resource Center/ P.A.S.S. Program
was an exemplary program that should be replicated at other colleges.
