Beyond Compliance: 50th Anniversary of Sec. 504, Part II

This episode is the second part of a special focus of the Georgia Tech Research Podcast on the 50^th anniversary of Section 504, the federal law that became the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The host of this episode, J. Denise Johnson Marshall, ADA Compliance Coordinator at Georgia Institute of Technology, calls this series “a very special podcast for us at Georgia Tech.”

The guests for this episode are representatives from Georgia Tech's Employee Relations Dept., Captioning and Description services, the CARES Employee Resource Group, and the Excel program.

This episode is in conjunction with the creation of a special award at Georgia Tech. 

As a part of Georgia Tech’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Office of Equity and Compliance Programs – ADA Compliance established an award called Advocates for Accessibility.

The Advocates for Accessibility award recognizes individuals who have actively worked to improve accessibility for people with disabilities in the Georgia Tech community.

 

The guests for this episode are representatives from Georgia Tech's Employee Relations Dept., Captioning and Description services, the CARES Employee Resource Group, and the Excel program. Thank you to our guests from Georgia Tech's Employee Relations Dept.(Langston Jackson), Captioning and Description services (Sheryl Ballenger), the CARES Employee Resource Group (Asha Hagood), and the Excel program (Kenneth Surdin), and our host Denise Johnson Marshall.

 

TRANSCRIPT:

Announcer

This is the Georgia Tech Research podcast presented by GTRI.

Join us as we move forward one research story at a time.

 

Announcer

The views represented in these interviews do not reflect the views of the organization. They are anecdotal views of individual experiences.

 

Eric Klein

Welcome to the Georgia Tech Research Podcast presented by GTRI. This podcast highlights research and opportunities around Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech Research Institute. Today's episode titled Beyond Compliance is in recognition of the 50th anniversary of Section 504. This is the Rehabilitation act, which became law in 1973. My name is Eric Klein and today's host is Denise Johnson Marshall.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Welcome to the Beyond Compliance Podcast. I'm your host, Denise Johnson Marshall, Director of Equity and Compliance Programs and also the Institute ADA Coordinator, and I'm part of the Office of Equity and Compliance Programs. Today we'll be highlighting the individuals that are behind some of the services that you may or may not know about at Georgia Tech and GTRI that help to impact the lives of individuals with disabilities. Today you'll hear from employee relations, captioning and description services, the CARES Employee Resource Group, and finally, the Excel program. Let's take a break from this podcast to listen to more about departments that we want you to get to know.

 

Asha Hagood

Get to know CARES ERG the CARES at GTRI Employee Resource Group is an inclusive community for employees who identify with having a visible or invisible disability, caregivers for individuals with disabilities, and allies of the community. Our mission is to create space for issues around accessibility by amplifying the conversation around accessibility inequity and by providing educational opportunities around accessibility compliance. We're seeking to grow our membership and have several cochair positions that could use your ideas and your voice as we gear up to provide information sessions and other fun events. If you're interested and are an employee at GTRI, please reach out via our contact form on Webwise. Cares and other ergs are listed there under the Communities tab.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Now that you know a little bit more, it's time to get back to the podcast. Our first guest for the Beyond Compliance podcast is Langston Jackson. Langston is the HR Compliance Coordinator for Employee Relations on our campus. Welcome, Langston.

 

Langston Jackson

Thank you for having me.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Can you briefly tell us the role of your office and briefly your responsibilities?

 

Langston Jackson

My office has several responsibilities. One of them includes the administration, Americans with disabilities reasonable accommodations process for employees. We administer that. The office is also responsible for coordinating the development of the Institute's Affirmative Action Compliance Program, as well as the administration of the university's impartial board of Review Appeals process and Procedures.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

That's very interesting can you tell us a little bit about what elements of an employee's job responsibilities do you consider when you're considering reasonable accommodations? And also, could you define that a little bit for us? What are reasonable accommodations?

 

Langston Jackson

So under the ADA, a reasonable accommodation is basically a modification or adjustment to the job or the work environment that allows a person with disability to still perform the essential functions of their job. The essential functions are the major components of the job duties. Minimal parts of the job duties are not considered essential functions. It is the functions that take up a large part of the job aspects.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Do you have any examples of that?

 

Langston Jackson

Yes. For example, individual that's a courier, their essential functions may include driving, whereas your most administrative functions would not include that. That would be in office work. Accommodation for a courier would have to take into consideration driving requirements, whereas most individuals, they don't understand that ADA does not contemplate how they get to and from work. So what the ADA does take into consideration is the essential functions that they're taking when they are working.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

So who decides what is essential? What isn't essential? You had an example of a carrier, and it may be essential to be able to get back and forth as far as those other types of tasks. Who decides what is essential?

 

Langston Jackson

What will happen in the accommodations process? My department will send a request for essential functions and job analysis forms to be completed by the employee supervisor. We typically ask that they return those documents to us within five business days. Those forms break down into percentages what the job duties are. We ask that they give us at least four and that the supervisor breaks them down into percentages for us to review and to consider in the accommodations process.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

So what should an employee with a disability expect when they're going through this process?

 

Langston Jackson

It's an interactive process. It requires give and take from the employee, the department, and from our office. We obtain the essential functions in the job analysis forms, and a key component is another form called the medical certification form. That form gives us what the condition is. It gives us an idea if this is a temporary or permanent condition. It lets us know what the limitations are for the individual, and it also gives us recommendations for the accommodation for the employee that will help them best perform the essential functions of their job.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

What type of guidance does your office give to the Georgia Tech larger community, such as maybe supervisors or HR business partners?

 

Langston Jackson

With regards to our interactions to supervisors and the HR business partners, we first and foremost try to make sure that they are aware and are sensitive to the accommodation for the employee. What we like to do with all of them is to ensure that we've gone over the process and the Americans with Disabilities act with them so that they understand certain requirements and certain things that the department will have to supply to the individual. What we often find is that individuals that haven't gone through this process before, we explain everything with regards to the essential functions, the medical certification form, and then we like to go over any questions that they may have. It's really a give and take. At the end of the day, we try to establish that the department can make their recommendations as well, and we're letting them know also what the employee is asking for.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

So what is the best way for an employee to contact you if they just have questions or they want to get the process started?

 

Langston Jackson

Anyone wishing for additional information may contact the office at [email protected]. Again, that's [email protected]. They can contact me directly by email at [email protected].

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

As our listeners may or may not be aware, we are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation act of 1973. With that in mind, are there any final thoughts that you have on your office's mission and goals?

 

Langston Jackson

As we're celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the Rehabilitation act of 1973, we recognize the many strides that have been made and that there are many more that we still can improve upon for employees with disabilities. My office is proud to continue in advancing this work forward and here to assist and guide all employees at Georgia Tech with the provision of reasonable accommodations.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Langston, thank you so much for taking the time out to briefly talk about your office and what you do.

 

Langston Jackson

Thank you all for having me. Thank you for all that you do for the employees here at Georgia Tech.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Let's take a break from this podcast to listen to more about departments that we want you to get to know.

 

Kendra Brown

Get to know the center for Inclusive Design and Innovation the center for Inclusive Design and Innovation, also known as CIDI, is housed within the College of Design at Georgia Tech. The accessibility experts at CIDI have decades of experience in user centered accessibility research and delivery of services to help individuals with disabilities. CIDI's overall mission is to improve the human condition through equal access to technology based and research driven information services and products for individuals with disabilities. With its rich history of providing accessible solutions to an underserved community, CIDI has positioned itself as a leader in accessibility and inclusion. CIDI is committed to promoting technological innovation and addressing unmet needs by providing accessible and inclusive environments for all. Maintaining dynamic partnerships with universities, state agencies, publishers, nonprofit groups, and corporations allow CIDI to continue to expand its expertise and further advocate for accessibility in Georgia, across the country, and internationally. For more information about CIDI, you can visit their website at www.cidi.gatech.edu or you can contact their customer support team by phone at 404-894-7756.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Now that you know a little bit more, it's time to get back to the podcast. Our second guest today is Dr. Sheryl Ballenger. Dr. Ballenger, thank you so much for being a part of our second Beyond Compliance podcast.

 

Sheryl Ballenger

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Dr. Ballenger is the Manager for Deaf and Harder Hearing Services as a part of the center for Inclusive Design and Innovation here at Georgia Tech. Dr. Ballenger, can you briefly tell us about your role within CIDI and your responsibilities?

 

Sheryl Ballenger

Yeah, I'd love to. I am Manager of our captioning and describe media services as part of CIDI. This is a unit that started in 2011 when CIDI was interested in entering into being able to provide services for students who were deaf and hard of hearing. My background being an interpreter for the deaf one point, and also with a degree in deaf Education, made it a good fit for me. We were able to then begin having captioning for classes for students in different colleges across the Board of Regents, as well as captioning videos that were used in educational environments. First series that we actually captioned was a welding series for one of the technical community colleges in Georgia.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

That is very interesting. When we often see captions or audio descriptions, we know that it's there, but we really don't understand what it takes to get there. Can you tell us a little bit about that process?

 

Sheryl Ballenger

Sure. First of all, we're going to look at video captioning or caption Media, whichever way you would like to phrase that. Basically, that involves media access. Most of the media that we do work on is for education purposes, but we also serve nonprofits and other groups that post media to their websites and want those videos captioned. There's also speech to text systems and there's two main ones that are used. The first would be CART. CART, and that stands for communication access, real time translation. This requires a skilled stenographer who's using a stenotype machine and is writing at a near verbatim speed. No matter how fast the speaker is speaking, they're keeping up with them. And then another speech to text system that we use is called either Cprint, the software or Typewell. This type of captioning is meaning for meaning. The Cprint software was developed by National Technical Institute for the Deaf. They developed the Cprint software about 20 years ago or so in a way to make sure that there was a meaningful way for captions to happen for deaf students. The Cprint software actually uses a qwerty keyboard and is something that most people already have skill with to be able to provide once they do CPrint training.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

How do you know what is appropriate to use in which instance

 

Sheryl Ballenger

That's determined by the user. If a student attending college will consult with their disability services office together, they, with their disability services coordinator can work out which would be the best for their use. CART does require near verbatim English skills, so that would be somebody who is a very strong reader and who can read to learn. And that's a different skill than just reading for enjoyment. Reading for learning is difficult for some people and then Cprint because of the way it was created by the technical institute for the deaf, because it's developed for a meaning based representation of what's spoken, is typically more of a form that's understandable by people who don't have the ability to really learn everything from reading and want to see that language put in a way that's more understandable. Transcripts are also available for both services, CART or Cprint, so they also kind of serve as a double accommodation so a student can have real time access with CART or Cprint, plus they get notes afterward that they're able to then use for studying later on. You kind of mentioned audio description. It's not really one of the speech to text systems at all, or captioning, but it is used on videos. Audio description is visual information that describes the action, what's being shown on screen, what graphs may include, that kind of thing.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

So if I'm a department and I have an event and I want to get it captioned, what would be some of the things that I would need to take into consideration? More specifically, what is the difference between closed captioned and open captioned?

 

Sheryl Ballenger

Well, if you're planning an event, first thing you're going to want to do is put out a statement letting your participants know that you're going to have accommodations available. Usually one of those accommodations would be we're going to offer captioning, and when it's an event, it's usually cart because that's more near verbatim and that's what most of the audience is going to prefer not just people who are deaf and hard of hearing. Use cart people who need a little more support to understand what's going on, use Cart as backup for listening once it's determined that Cart is going to be provided as a coordinator or event planner, then you would need to contract with an agency that supplies cart. Once you have contracted with an agency that's going to supply your cart, you're going to need to make sure that the event, whether it's online or in person, has good audio and connectivity for connecting. If it's going to be with a remote service provider. In most cases, that's going to require testing in the beginning just to make sure that you are connecting and that the audio is nice and clear and that the cart captionist is able to understand and hear clearly.

 

Now you asked about open or closed captioning. Those terms refer to the video captioning or caption media. When video captions are created, the choice is closed or open. Closed captioning means that the user will need to turn those captions on or off. If they choose to use them, they'll turn them on. So YouTube provides a way for turning captions on on a video. Televisions and things that people view screens always have a way to turn captions on or off. But in some cases, when you're showing videos that may be projected on a screen that are used for general information purposes, captions for those need to be open. So open captions are always there, they're burned onto the video. Those captions are not chooseable. You can't turn them off or turn them on.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

How much time does it take for audio description and what does your team do.

 

Sheryl Ballenger

Regarding the time of how long it takes to have a video captioned or to set something up, or to have audio description added to your video. Video captioning that is accurate starts with a transcript, a correct transcript with punctuation, correct spelling, speaker identification and sound effects if there are any in the recording. Typically, that takes seven to 14 business days. For us at CIDI, section 508 calls for captions that are accurate and synchronized. That means there can't be anything that's not correct in the captions. For audio description, we start with viewing and writing a script of the action or visuals that may be in a film. The script is revised several times to ensure that it is both succinct and that it conveys the essence of the scene that is appearing on the film. Then placement of the lines in the script is determined. We don't want to make a video become longer or too much longer than what everyone else is going to view? Because that wouldn't be fair. We have to find places to fit the description in in the nonadio segments to make sure that audio described film meets our standards and what we want to see.

As far as good audio description, that typically takes three to six weeks or so depending on the length of the video and the content.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Can you tell us what is the difference between automatic captioning that you may find on a lot of video conferencing platforms versus real time captioning?

 

Sheryl Ballenger

Accuracy is important here. If you were having a low stakes meeting, maybe it's just a small group. The employee is very familiar with everything that's going on in the unit, knows all of the types of systems that are used. This is not a training event. This is just a conversation that's going to happen between employees. Then that might work for using an automatic type captioning service such as something that's included in Zoom. But if you're talking about high stake settings, then the auto generated captions are not appropriate. The problem with auto generated captions is that they do strive for the best guess. If it didn't quite comprehend a word, the system didn't understand the accent of the speaker. It's just going to throw in a word that makes sense in that sentence. But that may not actually be what was spoken and it could actually lead somebody to understand the wrong thing. When we did some tests on some of the auto generated systems that are used in the US, the very best platform scored at 89% accurate. That means that 11% is still inaccurate and it's not fair to the user who's depending on these captions to miss out on 11%.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

What is the best way to learn more about captioning, audio descriptions or just ways to make your content more accessible?

 

Sheryl Ballenger

The best thing you could do is to just use it. When you watch YouTube videos, turn on the captions if you create content of your own and post to YouTube. Google Help has information where you can learn how to caption your own videos and you'll actually be contributing to the media that's more accessible for everyone. When you do that, you can attend movie theaters that offer caption devices. They even have described audio devices that you can check out from the customer service area and listen to during the movie. All television and subscription service broadcasts now have captions. Most of the subscription services also have descriptions added.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Are there any final thoughts that you may have for the Georgia Tech community on your office and your mission?

 

Sheryl Ballenger

Our mission at CIDI is to improve the human condition through equal access to technology based and research driven information services and products for individuals with disabilities. Part of what we do at CIDI is to make sure that we offer many services as well as we conduct research and accessibility. We also house Georgia's Tools for Life program, which is an Assistive Technology act federally funded program. Part of the fun they get to have at work is to use some of these great assistive technology tools that are available and show them to individuals who are interested in learning more about them. Our website is cidi.gatech.edu. That is cidi.gatech.edu.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Dr. Ballinger, thank you so much for being a part of our second Beyond Compliance podcast.

 

Sheryl Ballenger

You are so welcome. I enjoyed being here.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Let's take a break from this podcast to listen to more about departments that we want you to get to know.

 

Kendra Brown

Get to know the Office of Disability Services for Students. The Office of Disability Services, or ODS, collaborates with students, faculty and staff to create a campus environment that is usable, equitable, sustainable, and inclusive of all members of the Georgia Tech community. If students encounter academic, physical, technological or other barriers on campus, the Disability Services team collaborates with the students to find creative solutions and reasonable accommodations. ODS, located in the Smith Gall Student Services Building, also known as the Flag Building Suite 123, is passionate about providing support and resource information for students with disabilities at the institute. For more information, visit our website at disabilitieservices.gatech.edu or email us at [email protected]. That's [email protected].

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Now that you know a little bit more, it's time to get back to the podcast. I'd like to welcome our third guest today to the Beyond Compliance podcast, and it's Asha Hagood. Asha is the Senior Project Support Specialist with GTRI. Welcome, Asha.

 

Asha Hagood

Thank you so much for having me.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Can you tell us a little bit about your role and your responsibilities?

 

Asha Hagood

As you stated, I work as a project Support specialist Senior on the Organizational development team, and I lead the team's quality assurance efforts for all of the content that we push out, and I also do some program management within that role. We administrate some great programs in support of employee growth and development, like the Career Link program, Job Rotation, Toastmasters Club, and we sit within the Employee Experience team under GTHR. We contribute to the organization's strategic vision by providing high quality, impactful learning experiences. Things that we develop are primarily for our GTRI audience, but we also support campus efforts. Additionally, I'm the Executive sponsor or Chair for the CARES ERG. ERGs Being employee resource groups, I stepped into that role in May of this year.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Can you tell me a little bit more about the CARES Employee Resource Group and a little bit about the mission?

 

Asha Hagood

All of the ERGs were established in 2020 in conjunction with a GTRI 2020 Strategic plan. Overall, mission and purpose of all of the ERGs is to facilitate an inclusive work environment, thereby promoting a sense of community and belonging at GTRI, and to create a shared space to strategically impact change. There are a few ERGs cares is one of six ERGs. Apart from functioning as a beacon for employees who require accessibility solutions, as well as for those who are advocates for the accessibility community or caretakers, I like to think that our mission is to cultivate thought leaders in the realm of accessibility and accessibility awareness. We help provide insights to influence decision makers to keep accessibility front of mind One of our members made the point recently that accessibility provisions and mindfulness may seem like an extra step now, but it could and should become a part of your workflow if you create content or manage people.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Can you tell us about some of the resources that you provide to employees with disabilities? What are those specific resources that the ERG provides?

 

Asha Hagood

Our strongest resource right now is ourselves and the lending of our voices for employees who may need them. We're a group of about 25. Some folks might be hesitant to speak up about an accessibility need. They may not want to self-identify or be considered a squeaky wheel, but we'd consider it a win if that hypothetical employee will reach out to cares and ask us what we could do to support them. And that support could look like putting them in touch with resources such as CIDI Centers for Inclusive Design Innovation. They're a tremendous resource. As well as the Georgia Library Service, the GLS is also under the USG umbrella. The GLS serves people who are blind or print impaired. Or I could put them in touch with your office or with Dr. Anne Harris. If they're meeting with resistance or running into brick walls, the support of our group could give them a second wind. CAREs could help move the needle.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

And, Dr. Harris is the compliance advisor who works with our guests that we had on early Langston Jackson.

 

Asha Hagood

Yes, yes, indeed. We've partnered with Dr. Harris on some initiatives, such as the Self Identify campaign. That was an important initiative. The data that bears out from that initiative can help us to launch some programming that would be meaningful to the folks at GTRI.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

In the CARES ERG. Do you have meetings or is all the information just found online.

 

Asha Hagood

We have a monthly meeting with our members, and we discuss different initiatives that we want to roll out, and we do publicize that within some channels at GTRI. We do a notice to remind members to attend the meeting and to also invite others who just may be curious to come on and attend the meeting as well. Aside from just using the group as a resource or a touchstone, we've got a tip sheet up on our WebWise intranet site and we're going to add some other content there soon. And we're also going to host a screening of the critically acclaimed film Crip Camp, so stay tuned for that.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

If I work for GTRI and I'm a manager and I wanted to connect an employee to the group, what would be the best way to do that?

 

Asha Hagood

They can search us up on WebWise. Under the Communities tab, all of the ERGs are listed. We have a contact form there. They could reach out to us via that form, or they could reach directly out to me. Asha Haygood by email or slack.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

That is great. This is definitely a model for the Greater Georgia Tech as well, and it's a great way for us to close out our 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation act of 1973. As our final question, do you have any final thoughts for us? Just about your program, its mission and its goals.

 

Asha Hagood

I would like to note that we are looking to grow our membership, so that is always a goal. Every voice that comes on board contributes to more diverse thought and reinvigorates our mission. So we're looking for some co-chairs in a couple of areas, and they would serve as the primary contact for outreach and maintaining partnerships and also community engagement. And they would serve as the primary contact for communications, marketing and those related activities. That's what I'd love to leave you with. And also, I thank you so much for extending an invitation to come and chat. Conversations like these will help ensure that accessibility is a forethought and not an afterthought, as one of our cares members recently stated.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Thank you. We're happy to have you. And just one final thing, can you just remind all of GTRI again? What is the best way to get the information on this particular ERG or any of the ERGs?

 

Asha Hagood

To get information on any of the ERGs, you would go to the webwise page, and that's GTRI's intranet. Under the Communities tab, all of the ERGs are listed. If you're interested in ours, you would click CARES Erg and that will take you to our page and our resources and my contact information.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Thank you so much. I appreciate your time today.  

Asha Hagood

Thank you so much again Denise for having me.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

let's take a break from this podcast to listen to more about departments that we want you to get to know.

 

Kendra Brown

Get to know the Office of Equity and Compliance Programs the Office of Equity and Compliance Programs is here to educate, identify and illuminate systemic and institutional barriers to equity and inclusion at Georgia Tech while creating a culture beyond compliance. Our office provides support and investigates matters involving accessibility compliance issues. These issues can include physical or digital accessibility barriers on campus, disability, discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. Additionally, we provide resources to pregnant and parenting individuals. As a part of our mission to educate the campus community about our office and the work that we do, we offer a series of trainings and workshops. This is to ensure that our campus partners have the tools to support the institutional strategic plan of expanding access and creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment. We invite you to collaborate with us as we work together to build a better Georgia tech. To learn more or submit a report of compliance issues, visit our website at diversity.gatech.edu/equityandcompliance.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Now that you know a little bit more, it's time to get back to the podcast. I'd like to welcome our fourth guest to the Beyond Compliance podcast. We have Dr. Ken Surin. Ken is the Director of the Excel Program. Welcome, Ken.

 

Ken Surdin

Nice to be here, Denise.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Ken, can you tell us about the area of your role within the CEISMC program and then specifically about your responsibilities?

 

Ken Surdin

Excel at Georgia Tech is a program within CEISMC. It's a four year certificate program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and it falls under the classification of Inclusive post-secondary Education.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

For those who may not be as familiar, can you tell us exactly what is the CEISMC program? Your overarching program that the EXCEL Program is a part of.

 

Ken Surdin

Within Georgia Tech is the center for Education, Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing. EXCEL is part of that program. EXCEL was started in 2014 and we had our first group of students, a group of eight in a cohort, begin in 2015. There's about 260 programs across the country that are IPSY programs. EXCEL is one of about 40 4 year programs that offer Pell Grants, on campus housing, inclusive clubs, internships and is designated as a comprehensive transition program by the Department of Education. I am the founding director of that program going into my 10th year. Like a lot of directors across Georgia Tech, I am writing grants and raising funds for program needs and scholarships so that we can make sure that our program is both equitable and accessible to students that may not otherwise be able to afford college and be able to attend Excel.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Can you tell us a little bit about the history of the Excel program at Georgia Tech, and then also a little bit about some of the other similar programs in higher education that we may have modeled ourselves after or we've exceeded the expectations.

 

Ken Surdin

Great question. Excel was birthed out of the College of Business by Terry Blum, who was the former dean of the College of Business and the founding director of Georgia Tech's Institute for Leadership and Social Impact. Also, Professor Cyrus Auiden from the School of Mechanical Engineering both had a son and a daughter who had an intellectual and developmental disability, and they saw this growing movement across the country of inclusive programs and they thought, Georgia Tech has a standard of excellence. Why not have a program at Georgia Tech that could be as good and hopefully better than any of the other programs that existed out there? They really helped birth the program and then they hired me about a year in advance of having any students on campus to develop all aspects of the program. I had a year to do it and work under the structure of being a pilot program under the provost office. That really is the incubation of EXCEL. Also say that what makes us unique is that most programs like EXCEL across the country are housed within special education centers within a university or college, and they're typically liberal arts institutions.

 

Ken Surdin

Georgia Tech is not a liberal arts institution and the fact that we came out of the College of Business and are now in CEISMC really shows how entrepreneurial the mindset was in creating EXCEL. In fact, all the staff and faculty that are involved with EXCEL have used design thinking to develop the courses, to develop competencies and curriculum and measurement of our outcomes so that we can track individual students progress, students as a cohort's progress, and also our program's progress to make sure that we are constantly under a continuous improvement model. I think that really sets us apart in terms of the programs across the country is the fact that we're tracking what we do, throwing out what doesn't work and improving what does.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

It also sounds like an asset to have that type of thinking with this program. If there is a student out there who wants to work or volunteer for this program, can you tell us how they could do that? And then also, what does the whole selection process look like?

 

Ken Surdin

Absolutely. We have a full-time mentor coordinator. His name is Luke Roman. He's been with the program for six years. He helps recruit students to work with our students as mentors and coaches. He will take a phone call or an email. You can reach out to him. You can reach out through our website and find out more about how to be involved with the program. I'll also add that the feedback from many of our mentors over the last nine years has been that the experience has helped them in their co-ops and their internships and also gain employment after they graduate. They've been told that employers often ask them about their EXCEL experience, and the reason is that employers are looking to hire people that are collaborative, that can work in groups, that can work with people that may see the world differently, and who are able to quickly understand when somebody may not understand something they're saying and pivot and rephrase what it is they say so that they communicate clearly. They believe that working with EXCEL students has taught them how to do that. Another thing I'll add is that Georgia Tech degree seeking students are the hiring managers and employers of the future, and the fact that they're working with our students means that one day they may be in a position to hire them because they're aware of their gifts and their capabilities and their assets can help carve a job that might be appropriate for them.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Sounds like a great asset to be located exactly where we are. Through your ten years of being the director of EXCEL, what would you say are the top three experiences that participants have said have been the best part of their time with the program?

 

Ken Surdin

I would point to students talking about gaining greater independence and independent living skills by living on campus or in many cases, private dorms just off campus, being involved in the community of Georgia Tech, gaining friendships within the program among mentors, improving their social skills, which is an asset for gaining employment, something that we do through an evidence based social skills course that we teach and in which degree seeking students act as mentors. Employment and the opportunities that they gain through their internships on and off campus are something that students get really excited about. And finally, convocation or the graduation ceremony, which is really the cherry on top for all of our students.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

What does EXCEL's Career placement program look like?

 

Ken Surdin

Great question. I'm glad you asked that. We have three full time career advisors staffed at EXCEL faculty and staff. They teach career courses starting the first semester that a student arrives on campus. Students do internships every semester after that at a minimum of seven internships. Give you an example. I had a cohort of eleven students graduate and they had 96 internships between them by the time they graduated. Their students are taking career courses, participating in internships on campus, at Barnes and Noble, at CIDI, at the Dean's office. They're also participating in internships and paid jobs with over 100 employers that we work with, the Center for Disease Controls, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. I've had two students intern there. I've had four students intern at Georgia LEND. I've had students intern at Fulton county government, and on and on and on. I could talk about the internships they're involved in. Another thing I'd like to add that sets Excel apart from many programs is that we actually track our graduate employment outcomes from year to year. 93% of our graduates are currently employed. If you look at Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2022, only 21.3% of people with any disability were employed in America, and it was about 19% for the population that we serve intellectual and developmental disabilities.

 

Ken Surdin

The fact that we're at 93% shows that our students are motivated and capable of working and that opportunities need to be put before them so that they can show those capabilities and be participants in the world of work and their communities at large.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Are there any final thoughts that you want the Georgia Tech community to know about your program and your mission?

 

Ken Surdin

Yeah, sure. Our mission is Excel at Georgia Tech, providing an innovative, inclusive college experience for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, awarding professional education certificates, and preparing students for employment and fulfilling lives. One of the other aspects of the program that's really important, especially when it was being founded, was that Terry Blum and Cyrus Aidun wanted to make sure that the program fit within the strategic mission of Georgia Tech as a whole. Improving the Human condition was front and center, and this program definitely supports Georgia Tech's mission and their values and their ethics. One thing that many programs don't do, that we do is provide a whole year of transition courses to prepare students for life after college that cover seven key areas of transition. So, for example, housing. Where are you going to live? Transportation. How are you going to get back and forth to where you live and to your job? Where are you going to work? Health and wellness, Technology. Just some of those, to name a few. But we work on developing a plan for the students, also working with the families to understand what level of support the students will need when they graduate so that they can succeed in the world after college.

 

Ken Surdin

I often say that we are preparing our students for the world of work and to be full participants in their community. But the world of work and communities are not prepared for our students. If you enter with a disability in our program, you're exiting with a disability from our program. And all the challenges that exist for people with disabilities in the world still exist when you graduate from college. We may be better preparing our students for life after college, but all of those challenges are still there as a nation and a state, and as communities, we still have a long way to go to make sure that these students are successful post-graduation.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

One last time, how can individuals contact you, your office, your program? If they want to know more information.

 

Ken Surdin

You can contact us at [email protected]. That's [email protected].

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Ken, thank you so much for your time today. It was great to hear about the program and its continued growth.

 

Ken Surdin

Denise, it was an absolute pleasure to be on this podcast and I wish you all the best and hope that you keep doing it.

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Thank you. Let's take a break from this podcast to listen to more about departments that we want you to get to know.

 

Kendra Brown

Get to know GT Human Resources employee relations at Georgia Tech individuals with disabilities have an equal opportunity to pursue education or employment and to have access to campus programs, activities and services. If you are an employee or visitor and you have a disability and need assistance, we are here to help. The purpose of Georgia Tech Human Resources Employee relations is to one, coordinate, facilitate, and monitor the interactive reasonable accommodation process, or RA plan, which may assist qualified employees in performing the essential functions of their position and two, coordinate Georgia Tech compliance with the employment requirements of the Americans with Disabilities act, or ADA, and with other related laws, policies and procedures and three, ensure qualified persons with disabilities have full and equal access to all terms and conditions of employment, regardless of disability and four, educate staff on their rights and responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities act and provide technical assistance as needed. For more information, please visit our website at ohr.gatech.edu/disabilityservices or email us at [email protected]. That's [email protected].

 

Denise Johnson Marshall

Now that you know a little bit more, it's time to get back to the podcast. Thank you for joining us for our Beyond Compliance podcast. This is the end of our series of the 50th anniversary of the Rehabilitation act of 1973. Join us for future broadcasts on beyond compliance.

 

Announcer

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