To: Dr.

Lee
From: Jenna Johnson
Alyssa Sventeckis
Subject: Proposal for Additions to USIs Disability Resource Department

Background:
Though USI currently has a Disability Resource Center, the department is dedicated to assisting
students with their academic needs. This aid includes accommodations for test-taking, assistive
technology for classrooms, priority seating in classrooms, and assistance with note-taking.
Though these things are valuable tools for students, we believe that in order for students to have
a truly enriched college experience, they need tools not only for a successful scholastic
experience, but also a rewarding social and psychological experience. For students with
disabilities, this can be difficult; living with a physical or mental disability can be an alienating
experience as there is still a stigma attached to the idea of a person being disabled. It is
because of this that we propose additions to USIs disability resource program, in the hopes that
it will create a more positive experience not only for the students, but for the university as well.
Readers:
Our main reader will be the Director of University Division, Michael Broshears. Our secondary
readers will mainly be people from University Division, which includes University Division
Advising, Academic Skills, Disability Resources, Career Counseling, and Student Support
Services. We will need to convince them that true success in college is about more than just
academic success and that their current resources are too heavily focused on helping students
achieve academic success.
Goals:
We are presenting five possible additions to the disability resource program. These additions
will focus on giving students a more fulfilling social experience, helping students to expand or
maintain a feeling of independence while attending classes, and nurturing students psychical
and mental health. More specifically, we would like to add the following resources:
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An online forum that would allow students to anonymously chat with others dealing with
the same challenges as well as sharing personal success stories.
Events focused on positive improvements to the community that would enable students to
not only meet others with similar situations, but also give everyone involved a sense of
accomplishment and unity. These activities could include projects like Habitat for
Humanity, working with Evansvilles homeless population, or volunteering as a group at
an animal shelter.
Modes of transportation that would allow students to be more involved in campus
activities, such as groups or clubs that might sponsor off-campus events.

Counseling services more tailored to assisting students with disabilities, as they can often
present unique daily challenges that can be overwhelming to some.
Academic resources more specifically suited to each individual student, as disabilities
present themselves in very specific ways. This could include tutoring aimed specifically
at helping students with disabilities.

We strongly believe that the addition of these suggestions would have a strong positive impact
for everyone involved. The students would have a more well-rounded and positive college
experience and USI would be seen as a university that cares very deeply for all of their students
and their personal well-being.
Time and Resources:
We will have approximately six weeks to compose our report, which is enough time to create an
effective communication. Our resources will include students on campus as well as secondary
sources from scholars who have studied students with disabilities in college. In preparation for
this project, we wish to create a survey to be distributed to students currently using disability
resources so that we may better understand their needs. The results of this will help us to narrow
our project objectives to better suit the needs of the universitys disabled students.