Posts filed under: higher education

Feb. 9
Media Workers with Disabilities Needed for Research Study

Melissa Sgroi, chair of the Communications Department at Misericordia University is doing a study on media workers with disabilities and is seeking media professionals with disabilities of any type who took at least one journalism or communications course in college (no degree required). They must have had a disability as a student and are now working in some facet of the media -- TV, radio, PR, graphic design, advertising, etc.

The study is important because there is no literature addressing media professionals with disabilities who made the transition from college to work (and very little about students in journalism/mass communications education). Sgroi believes the results will shed light on their experiences and thus help educators and others improve these experiences in the future.

Full announcement below

Melissa Sgroi, a doctoral candidate at Wilkes University who is also a communications educator and former print and broadcast journalist, is conducting a research study titled “The Essence of the College-to-Career Experience of Media Professionals with Disabilities.” The study seeks to describe the experience of media professionals with disabilities who took course work in journalism or mass communications in higher education and successfully made the transition from college to the media workplace. A degree is not required.

Media professionals with disabilities are invited to share their perceptions of their experiences in college and their careers. This knowledge and insight may help educators, media professionals, and industry leaders improve the educational and workplace experiences of both students and workers. You must be willing to participate in an hour-long interview and submit a media product that you feel in some way represents your experiences. Some information in the interview may be considered sensitive or personal in nature. All information will be kept strictly confidential and your name will not be used in results or reports.

To qualify, you will:

  • Be a full-time, part-time, freelance, contract, retired, or currently unemployed worker in any business or non-profit organization in which your work directly contributes to the creation of media products.
  • Have a disability.
  • Have taken journalism or mass communications course work in postsecondary education at a two or four-year degree-granting institution in the U.S. A major or degree is not required.
  • Have had a disability as a postsecondary student.
  • Be a legally independent resident of the United States.
  • Be at least 21 years of age.

All participants will receive lunch at a restaurant of their choice with a maximum value of $20. Please contact Melissa Sgroi at melissa.sgroi@wilkes.edu or (570) 674-6744 to receive more information.


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Filed Under: education, higher education, inclusion, media

Oct. 17, 2011
Downtown Devil
Student doesn't let blindness hold her back from pursuing her dreams
A girl sits on a couch, laughing and smiling frequently. Her colorful, bright dress matches her vibrant personality. A black Labrador, Olivia, is sprawled on the carpet contentedly. She’s never too far away from her owner, criminal justice sophomore Katherine Chavez.

In conversation, Katherine has a peculiar tendency to look above the head of whomever she’s speaking with, like she expects the person to be taller than he or she really is. It’s a rough subject to bring up, as if calling attention to the elephant in the room. But why does she do that?

The answer: Katherine can’t see.
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Filed Under: education, employment, higher education, profile, relationships

May 14, 2011
The Palm Beach (Fla.) Post
Journalism major spotlights disability challenges at FAU
Joanne Marszal was born four months premature and suffers from cerebral palsy. She's been confined to a wheelchair for all of her 23 years.
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Filed Under: education, higher education, physical accessibility

May 5, 2011
The Washington Post
Deaf college football fan sues University of Kentucky, wants captions on scoreboard
A deaf University of Kentucky football season ticket holder is suing the school, seeking to force the Wildcats to put closed-captioning on the scoreboards at Commonwealth Stadium.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), education, hearing impaired, higher education, public policy

April 11, 2011
University of Buffalo (N.Y.) Spectrum
A Shameful Low in Higher Education
Eight years ago, the University at Buffalo agreed to make this campus accessible to the roughly 500 disabled students who attend every year. Today, almost a decade later, UB has failed to follow through on that promise.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), education, higher education, public policy, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 508

April 10, 2011
The Oklahoman
Oklahoma colleges improve accessibility, services for students with disabilities
A woman smacked Steve Stokes in the head with her purse, knocking him out of his wheelchair. She told him he shouldn't be out in public, that he belonged in a nursing home. Stokes was a college student in the late 1960s, a time when disabled people often were treated as outcasts. Accessibility on college campuses virtually was nonexistent.
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Filed Under: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), education, higher education, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, public policy, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 508

March 28, 2011
Arizona Republic (Phoenix)
Storytellers: On motorized chair, with the heart of a competitor
All of his life, Tony Jackson loved sports. He liked the idea that two people, or two teams, would face each other and do their best. One would win, and one would lose. The drama appealed to him.
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Filed Under: adaptive sports, education, higher education, physical disability, profile, recreation

March 22, 2011
CNN
One-legged wrestler wins NCAA title
Arizona State senior Anthony Robles clinched the NCAA wrestling championship in his weight class.
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Filed Under: education, higher education, recreation

Feb. 16, 2011
ESPN.com
Michael Lizarraga inspires 14-year-old
He received the e-mail only a few weeks ago, but already Christopher Caulfield has big plans for the missive.
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Filed Under: education, hearing impaired, higher education, inclusion, K-12, recreation

Feb. 13, 2011
ProPublica
Education Department Bureaucracy Keeps Disabled Borrowers in Debt
Tina Brooks can't sit or stand for more than half an hour before the pain in her lower back becomes intolerable. She suffers severe headaches and memory loss, and she has lost most of the vision in her left eye. Five doctors and a judge from the Social Security Administration have all determined that she is fully disabled and unable to work.
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Filed Under: education, higher education, public policy

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