CEOSE Mini-Symposium on
Institutions Serving Persons with
Disabilities in STEM
T. Alan Hurwitz
Vice President of RIT for NTID
CEO and Dean of NTID
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NTID – A National Treasure
ƒ Created by Public Law 89-36
ƒ Began operations in 1968
ƒ A College of Rochester Institute of Technology
ƒ Direct instruction (AAS) plus support (BS/MS)
ƒ Extensive Services
– 122 Sign Language Interpreters
– 55 C-Print Captionists
– 300-400 Notetakers
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NTID – Students Served
ƒ All 50 states
ƒ 12,000 since 1968
ƒ 1,343 students in 2007-2008 (up 7.4%)
– 1,184 d/hh students
– 159 hearing students
ƒ RIT has 15,000 total students
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Impact: Student Success
ƒ Graduation Rates
– 49% Associate
– Compares to 25% at other 2-year colleges
– 70% Baccalaureate
– Compares to 64% for RIT hearing students
ƒ Placement Rate
– 95% of graduate (BLS methodology)
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Impact: Earnings (Median)
$50,000
Baccalaureate
$45,000
$40,000
$35,000
$30,000
$25,000
Associate
$12,020
Withdrawn
$4,762
Not Admitted
$20,000
$15,000
$10,000
$5,000
$-
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Samples of STEM Majors at NTID
ƒ Computer & Info
Studies
ƒ Engineering Studies
ƒ Lab Science
Technology
ƒ MS in Secondary
Education
(Math/Science
Scholarships)
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STEM Majors in Other RIT Colleges
ƒ Applied Science &
Technology
ƒ Computing &
Information Sciences
ƒ Engineering
ƒ Science
ƒ Arts & Imaging
Science
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STEM Outreach: Pre-College Students
ƒ Explore Your Future
ƒ MATHCOUNTS
ƒ National Science Fair
ƒ Steps to Success
ƒ TechGirlZ
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STEM Outreach: Post-College Adults
Deaf Initiative In Technology (DiiT)
ƒ Provided training for adults, faculty updates,
revised curriculum
ƒ NSF funded for two three-year cycles (total $1.3 M)
ƒ 60 workshops 400-500 attendees to date
ƒ Ideal NSF project:
– Startup funds from NSF
– Now integrated into NTID
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Deaf Initiative In Technology (DiiT)
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STEM Outreach: Project Fast Forward
ƒ Increase d/hh students pursuing
post-secondary education in computer fields
ƒ Dual credit for information technology courses
offered in high school
ƒ NTID trains high school teachers
ƒ NSF funded three-year grant award
for $749,337
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Project Fast Forward
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Other NSF Support for NTID STEM
ƒ “Speech to text systems: comparative
analysis...”(Lalley)
ƒ “Supporting d/hh students in STEM… with
remote speech-to-text services” (Stinson)
ƒ “Create a cyber-community to advance d/hh
individuals in STEM” (Clymer symposium)
ƒ Examples of other NSF support:
– Cyberinfrastructure (proposal pending)
– Four funded projects on interpreting research
(Marschark)
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NSF Should Continue
ƒ Inclusive efforts
ƒ Inclusion of “underrepresented”
ƒ NSF visits to d/hh campuses
ƒ Planning grants
ƒ Funding for deaf-related programs
ƒ Disabled funding support (interpreters)
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NSF Could Address
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“Sustainability” fund out-years after grants end
Share STEM opportunities with Deans
Better pre-college preparation (Fast Forward)
Critical STEM areas at NTID
– Transfer/articulation
– Outreach to Jr/Sr high schools
– Future careers
ƒ Fund Advanced Technology Education (ATE)
center on deafness at NTID
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NTID – A National Treasure
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