This past January, the Kessler Foundation awarded San Diego State Research Foundation a $437,888 grant for the “Bridging the Gap from College to Careers” program, which provides career opportunities for graduates with disabilities. The grant is to be used from January 2014 to December 2015.
Kessler Foundation Project Officer and Senior Vice President Elaine Katz said the program’s goal is to use mentorship, skill building and internships to aid students with disabilities in their post-graduation job hunt.
The Kessler Foundation, which is based out of New Jersey, is a nonprofit organization focusing on improving cognition, mobility and long-term outcomes such as employment, Katz said.
“The proposal was given to San Diego State University since it expended ideas in the field to help college students with disabilities become employed,” Katz said. “It was a well thought-out project that seemed to make a difference in the lives of students with disabilities.”
SDSU was chosen out of 200 organizations across the country and was awarded the grant through a national Kessler Foundation competition for the 2013 Signature Employment Grants.
“I think because SDSU is really focused on outcomes we want all our students to be employed including our students with disabilities,” Chair and professor of the Department of Administration, Rehabilitation, and Postsecondary Education Caren Sax said. “We cannot assume students are going after going after the careers they want and we want to make sure graduates use degrees and pursue career goals.”
Shawn Fiala, a second-year graduate student in the rehabilitation counseling program, said SDSU is collaborating with PolicyWorks, University of California, Berkeley and California State University Fullerton to create a new approach.
“We have developed a unique, person-centered approach to be delivered in a university and community mode,” Fiala said.
SDSU plans to use the grant to provide in Fall 2014 a “Professional Development and Disability” course.
“This course will be a comprehensive program to help four-year college students with disabilities acquire the skills, experience and self-marketing ability to identify, compete for and secure career-path employment,” Fiala said.
PolicyWorks will provide peer mentoring, career mentoring and placement assistance. Additionally, the Department of Rehabilitation will give students the opportunity to get internships through their Workability IV program as well, Fiala said.
PolicyWorks is an organization out of Florida that helps to support independence for people with disabilities, Sax said.
Students who have disabilities tend to face challenges in the work force, including a lack of experience and knowledge about the work environment and workplace accommodations, Fiala said.
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