COSD 2011 Annual Conference Summary
12th Annual National Conference Summary
The COSD 12th Annual National Conference was held at the Hyatt Morristown in Morristown, New Jersey on November 3rd, 2011. In attendance were approximately 80 representatives from university Career Services and Disability Services offices, national employers, US Government agencies and private sector agencies.
The sponsors included Cisco, DiversityInc., Lockheed Martin, Merck, Verizon, and Walmart at the Platinum Level. Silver level sponsors included AT&T, Ernst & Young, NBCUniversal, Northrop Grumman, and Symplicity. Dow, Nordstrom, P&G, Microsoft, and Shell were all Bronze Level sponsors. The following is a summary of the day’s events at the Conference:
Student Led Discussion Groups (SLDGs) - After a brief welcome by Alan Muir, Executive Director, the program began with Breakout Session 1, the Student Led Discussion Groups.
The objective of the SLDGs was to provide a safe place to share questions and answers and provide an understanding to perspectives of students with disabilities, higher education professionals and employers. The theme of this segment was “Authentic Answers to Unspoken Questions” focused upon our overarching conference theme of “Exploring Disability Inclusive Diversity”. The attendees were divided into two groups and each had 3-4 students or recent graduates, either attending higher education or living in the area to be panelists with COSD facilitators. The students were selected because of outstanding application essays and resumes for the Full Access Student Summit held the two subsequent days after the conference. Our facilitators for the Student Led Discussion Groups were Ronnie Porter from Northeastern University and Karen Quammen from Project SEARCH.
To begin the discussions in each group, there were several questions asked of each of the students and corresponding questions to employers in the audience. In both sessions the questions for the students and audience members were the same. In one session, moderated by Ronnie Porter, the students responded in the following way:
What does diversity mean to you?
* It’s about tolerance and understanding
* How you understand that person
* Be conscientious on a deeper level
* It’s a very exciting word
* A way to embrace everybody
How do you think that disability falls into the diversity category?
* One student looks at herself as-
o First a woman
o Then black
o Then a minority and then
o A person with a disability
* You must either reject or respect the disability
* A disability is an identifying feature that falls into the diversity category because each person is special/ they are unique.
When searching or applying for a job, what are the most important factors you consider about a company and their diversity statements?
* Companies have to be understanding. I look for benefits and for companies that would support me when I have an episode and have to be out of the office
* We just want a chance to offer our skills
What can employers and higher education professionals do to make you more comfortable discussing disability as diversity?
* I’m comfortable speaking about my disability
* The best thing a company can do is treat us as people who are unique but not different.
* Company has to consider our needs and disabilities
The questions for employers in the audience included:
What can candidates or students do to proactively contribute to making diversity inclusive of disability?
* We as companies need to make our websites and marketing material include more about how we include people with disabilities
* Most people are sensitive to the needs to further our efforts in this area
* But we think people with disabilities need to focus on their abilities.
* Companies are looking for behavioral traits
* Student comment: You shouldn’t feel that world owes you something because you are disabled, that’s immature thinking.
* The burden of disclosure is on the person with a disability
* Student comment: When you disclose, it’s like coming out of the closet. Disclosing can become tiring because you always have to be doing it.
* Student comment: I have a job coach I can access, the student who in the end is the one to disclose and self-advocate
* Student comment: There is no right time to disclose. Just because you have a disability you’re not entitled to a job. Just like when you get your degree, you’re not entitled to a job.
Plenary Session – Disability Inclusive Diversity Roundtable Employer Discussion -
The representatives participating on the Roundtable were Gioia Pisano of Ernst & Young, Betsy Dixon of AT&T and Kelly Edwards of NBCUniversal. Gioia began by mentioning that E&Y hires 5,000 students and graduates from campuses for full-time and internship positions, on an overall basis. Primary focus is on a number of target schools. They also talk with high schools to identify high quality talent and encourage those students to attend a targeted higher education institution. E&Y has a very serious focus in Diversity and Inclusive hiring that includes disability, including establishing “accessibility champions” in different aspects of the businesses within E&Y. A toolkit for managers has also been created by Lori Golden, who leads the disability recruiting and retention efforts. Lori is also the “go-to” person for managers with questions or concerns, as well as employees requesting accommodations. One of the public-facing initiatives was to have key personnel in recruiting to have their business cards with Braille.
Betsy discussed AT&T’s “group strategy” that integrates recruiting of people with disabilities and veterans into the overall diversity recruitment strategy. AT&T partnered with Employment Assistance Referral Network (EARN) to ensure their online application process was accessible. On the website, AT&T also displays videos that “a day in the life at AT&T” and includes employees with disabilities. AT&T also closely worked with the Veterans Administration to translate job functions and titles to reflect necessary skills that may more closely align with military classifications for an easier transition. AT&T has many employee resource groups (ERGs) and its IDEAL group is focused on disability. IDEAL has become a network, unto itself, across the country with chapters in every major footprint area of the company. IDEAL has also conducted webcasts with managers across the company to push education and awareness of disability. Lastly, ATT has created a disability-friendly environment where products are designed with accessibility in mind and now, that is translating to the rest of the company for hiring.
Kelly discussed initiatives undertaken by NBCUniversal and clearly stated that the company is new in the disability space, but has been learning a great deal from partners, such as COSD and realizing there is so much more to do. There are initiatives within specific business lines or locations of the company and there will be an effort to coordinate these efforts. Wounded Warriors Career Fairs and events around Veterans Day have been large public events for which NBCUniversal has been a leader and this effort came out of the Veterans Resource Group. Community outreach through the theme parks has been long-standing and well noted. Other outreach is underway to specific groups. Additionally, on-air programming has been a focus of diversity and disability, including the encouragement of casting directors to be more open to casting people with disabilities. A new initiative is underway, in partnership with the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), to a writers’ program to include talented writers with disabilities.
Lunch and Dr. Robert Greenberg Award for Innovation Presentation –
The fifth annual Dr. Robert Greenberg Award for Innovation was presented to Susan TePaske and Heather Wagner of the Student Disability Services at the University of Memphis for the long-standing commitment to providing a continuum of services to college students with disabilities and includes an integral connection to Career Services on campus. They also now offer two different career-oriented programs. One of them, Sophomore Success involved 14 students who sought an opportunity to explore future career options and gain current academic support. All students completed an online career readiness program, which gave these students an opportunity to thoroughly process career goals, limitations, and access. The participants had grade point averages .33 points higher than other Sophomores who were registered with disability services and did not take part of in the program. The second program was a pilot known Career Tracks. It was implemented this past Spring, with 21 student who are registered with the students disability services. Career Tracks included the completion of Focus Two, weekly career coaching, and a scholarship for access and diversity through the University of Memphis, which allowed each student earn a $1500 stipend. Also Included in the program were mock interviews, resume completion, and career fair exploration. Career Tracks participants took on average 3.4 more course credits and had a grade point afternoon that was .33 points higher.
Breakout Session 2
2.1 The Collaboration Model on Campus – A Roundtable of Higher Education Professionals – The roundtable included representatives Disability Services and Career Services of New Jersey Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and University of Rhode Island, discussing their initiatives in the area of using a collaborative model between their offices on campus to improve the career development success for students with disabilities. NJIT and URI welcomed the Workforce Recruitment Program and implemented a more formalized of preparation of students for these on-campus interviews. This approach has expanded to a wider variety of employers. At Northeastern, the effort was to coordinate their two offices, along with the Co-Op Office, in a holistic manner that counseled, coached and prepared students. This working group also increased the knowledge base about disability and career employment among all professionals on campus. COSD’s N-the-Know Webcast Series was one of those educational tools.
2.2 USBLN Presentation – Jill Houghton, Executive Director of the USBLN included a description of the USBLN organization, goals, principles and mission, highlighting partnerships with many disability related organizations including COSD. Jill discussed the focus the USBLN has on youth and working through its Student Advisory Council. Also, she highlighted the commitment of many employers looking to recruit college students and recent graduates with disabilities.
2.3 Aspergers Syndrome – Marcia Scheiner and Michael John Carley of ASTEP focused on the employment challenges for college students diagnosed within Autism Spectrum Disorder, such as Aspergers Syndrome. They also included suggested techniques of interview preparation for students and tips for employers to adequately judge the qualifications of an individual with this type of disability. Michael and Marcia highlighted statistics of the population, diagnosed, undiagnosed, disclosed or not disclosed. They also discussed some of the key accommodations when recruiting and working with a person with Aspergers Syndrome including clear communication, detailed job descriptions, flexible work hours and using mentorship to teach social rules for the specific work environment mentorship. Suggestions for modifying recruiting included conducting real-world tests to allow the person to demonstrate their skills rather than a verbal interview.
Breakout Session 3
3.1 Productivity Tools in the Workplace – Anne Hirsh, Co-Director on the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) provided a description of JAN and its various teams of experts to answer questions about work-related accommodations. These teams include specialties in physical disabilities and accessibility; cognitive / neurological issues including Autism Spectrum Disorders, PTSD and any other psychiatric diagnoses; sensory disabilities relating to sight, hearing and touch. JAN users include professionals from academia, rehabilitation, employers, individual applicants or family members, inquiring about what technology and techniques are available for accommodations. Anne discussed the most typically requested accommodations in real-world scenarios.
3.2 Disclosure/Requesting Accommodations and Career Counseling for College Students with Disabilities – Myranda Bertrand began with the results of a study she conducted during the Workforce Recruitment Program day at the University of Tennessee. The students responded to a number of topics including interviewing, the use of Career Services, diversity, mentoring, and a discussion of what it means to have a disability and be a student in a job search. Crystal Gilreath discussed disability disclosure and requesting workplace accommodations. She presented the Disclosure Process including timing, deciding whether to disclose or not and preparation of a disclosure script. Crystal stressed how important it is for students have knowledge of accommodations to inform the employer. As a result, the student is more prepared and is more impressive to the employer.
Plenary Session – Returning Veterans with Disabilities and Career Employment – Richard Franco, Senior Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Manager at the U. S. Veterans Administration began with an overview of the services of his office under the new GI Bill for post-9/11 veterans and focusing on those returning veterans with disabilities. VR&E provides services, technology and physical accommodations needed for a person to seek and maintain a career in the workforce. Outreach is made to service members before their separation occurs and evaluations are done to determine the degree of disability followed by interviews with the veteran to determine their civilian career goals. For veterans attempting to go back to a prior civilian job, VR&E assists in any needed accommodations to allow that veteran to successfully perform. For those who do qualify with a 20% disability or higher, the benefits are extensive for education, career training and health. Mr. Franco also cited specific campuses partnering with VR&E for their student veterans. He also highlighted the job board with about 95,000 veterans and 2,000 employers seeking each other.
Dinner and Keynote Speaker – John Robinson, President and CEO of Our Ability, Inc. began by discussing his background and his disability. With his PBS documentary, “Get Off Your Knees,” and a growing lecture schedule, he saw the need for mentorship of young people with disabilities. Sharing many stories John demonstrated he had many mentors that shaped where he is today. He now wants to provide that opportunity to others. His website, www.ourability.com, uses video interviews to highlight people with disabilities and get them connected to young people nationwide in a mentoring relationship. COSD will be partnering with Our Ability going forward, so please check out the website.
After thanking John Robinson and all conference sponsors, and providing a brief preview of the Employer Community Meeting and Full Access Student Summit scheduled for the following day, Alan Muir adjourned the Conference.
Thanks to the great work of all of our staff, volunteers and sponsors, the Conference was a huge success with Evaluations reflecting 100% of 40 respondents rating the Conference in the Very Good to Excellent range.
Please join us in Los Angeles for our 13th Annual National Conference in early November, 2012 and check back at www.cosdonline.org for more details.