The following is a list of staff and service providers who work for the Office to provide accommodations to individuals with disabilities at Teachers College:
Coordinates all work-study students for qualified students (blind, visually and hearing impaired, or learning disabled). The Coordinator hires readers (On-Call staff and Student Employees) and provides training, workshops and feedback evaluations for all work-study positions.
The Program Director of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing services acts as an advocate and liaison within TC to ensure that Deaf and Hard- of-Hearing persons have equal access to the University. In addition, he coordinates interpreter services and oversees all support services offered to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students. Support services include, but are not limited to: note-taking, oral and signed language interpreting, computer aided real-time captioning, audio loop systems, FM systems, tutoring, academic counseling, support and advocacy, information and referral, and for qualified students, special testing accommodations.
The Adaptive Technology Specialist maintains a lab of adaptive hardware and software and is available to work with individuals registered with the office as they learn the appropriate technology. This person also works to maintain an accessible website.
Office Support Staff are student employees who provide assistance, answer phones, assist staff with copying, filing, typing, as well as the ordering and purchasing of supplies. These individuals are also trained to assist with finding substitutes for service providers in emergency or last minute situations.
Sign language interpreters work variable schedules, with no guaranteed hours. Interpreters provide interpreting services for classes, meetings, and workshops or events offered by TC. Interpreters are hired by the Program Director of DHHS, and must be RID certified. In addition, interpreters can provide supervisory or mentoring opportunities for current ASL/ interpreting students or newly graduated interpreters.
These CART operators provides real time captioning services to students who are deaf or hard of hearing for classes, meetings and workshops or events offered by TC.
This role is typically fulfilled by the Assistant to the Director or delegated to a work study employee. This person coordinates requests for alternative formatted instructional materials, including large print, electronic text, Braille and audio versions of the materials.
Text editors are part of the alternative format text conversion process. They proofread the newly scanned text to check for errors in the scanning process. Editors compare a copy of the original print material with the electronic version to ensure accuracy.
This role is typically fulfilled by the Assistant to the Director or delegated to a work study employee. Each semester, students registered with the Office submit exam accommodation requests. The exam accommodations service coordinator takes each request and begins the process by preparing a letter to the appropriate professor to notify him/ her of the student's registration with the Office and the accommodations for which the student is eligible. The coordinator will secure an alternate location, a proctor and when necessary, a computer. The coordinator confirms arrangements with the student, proctor and professor. The coordinator ensures that the exam is received from the professor and returned in a timely manner.
Proctors are work-study students or student employees who are hired to monitor a student during a prearranged extended testing, distraction reduced session.
Note-takers are typically students in the same course as the individual with note taking accommodations. Individuals who have note taking as an accommodation are encouraged to identify an individual in the class who can take notes on a professional level. The professional relationship that is established between the student and note taker ensures the student that should the notes not be up to par, a new note taker can be secured. While students are encouraged to identify their own note taker, a student registered with the Office may not feel comfortable identifying him or herself in class. In those instances, the Office may contact the professor on the student's behalf to enlist the professor's assistance in securing a note taker on an anonymous basis. The Office then serves as the repository for the notes.
When a student needs a textbook for a TC course, the Office checks with Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D) and American Printing House for the Blind (APH) to find out if the book is already available in audio format. If the book is not available through either of these, OASID enlists the services of a reader. The reader records the textbooks onto cassette tapes. The textbooks are provided to the readers by OASID following the students' course syllabus. Four-track tape recorders, cassette tapes and textbooks are provided to the reader by OASID. Some students with hearing loss do request and benefit from these services.
Research assistants typically assist students by facilitating the retrieval of research materials from the library. Some research assistants also serve as readers for students with print disabilities and may read the materials to students in person or via tape. Similarly, some research assistants serve as scribes for specific students. The main focus is to provide equal access to library and other research materials for students with a variety of disabilities. The specific roles can best be defined through a conversation between the service provider, the student and with a representative from our office.
The role of post production captioning is typically fulfilled by work study students. These students work with the Assistant to the Director and the Program Director of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services to identify videotapes that need to be captioned to create equal access to the instructional material to be used in conjunction with a TC offered course. These individuals are trained on the captioning system.