Jack Bernard, Chair;
Douglas K. White, Vice-Chair,
Mary Green (Welcome, Mary!),
Sarah Hein (Welcome, Sarah!),
Carole Dubritsky, Sam
Goodin, Jay Sennett, Paul
Guttman, Daniel Heumann,
Donney Moroney, Jim Knox,
Anna Ercoli Schnitzer
(Minutes).
Jack
brought meeting to order,
introductions were made
around the table, and,
although there was no
official agenda, Jack
made several announcements:
1) The January meeting
will be on the 10th of
January and we will start
to discuss Investing in
Ability events at that
meeting.
2) Thanks to Anthony Walesby
(and to Carole D) of the
Office for Institutional
Equity, the Council has
been given another $5,000
for the coming year. We
used the last funding
to support a number of
excellent projects, e.g., Danny's
participation in stem
cell conference, Finding
Voice (120 students) which
had been unfunded, etc. We
also received generous
support from other units,
and although publicity
seemed to have less presence
on campus, our IA events
were well attended this
past year. Discussion
ensued about needing classes
in conjunct8ion with our
activities, i.e., "a captive
audience," For
this purpose, we should
contact instructors before
the end of winter term. Also,
since this is the 30th
anniversity of the Center
for Independent Living,
perhaps we can have a
closer connection with
that group for publicity
and planning. Also,
UMInDS now has a growing
program with internships
for the U.N.
Doug announced that the
LSA student government
under the encouragement
and guidance of Justin
Benson had unanimously
passed a resolution on
behalf of students with
disabilities; therefore,
we have the option of
cooperating and collaborating
with the student body
on behalf of disability
issues now.
Danny announced that there
is now a UM Student Society
for Stem Cell Research,
the 23rd chapter of this
group, which will hold
a big meeting in January
and can possibly interact
with the Council for IA
events in the future. Council
members will be informed
of the date/place of meeting
by Danny and are welcome
to attend.
Jack: More investment
by more people creates
momentum and spreads the
word. We have
50 CfDC members but need
more to attend various
IA events; if each person
attends only one event,
that would be very helpful,
so "step up," says Jack!
Jack is already working
to have President Coleman
present the Neubacher
Award next year. The
Michigan Daily did not
cover this event this
past year, unfortunately,
so we still have to work
on getting publicity in
that newspaper.
Doug said that we will
have a captioned Neubacher
presentation (after checking
with Carey to be sure
it is okay) for the CfDC
web site. The Coehlo
speech transcript should
be ready for the web site
at some point, also.
Jack remarked that perhaps
IA events should be spread
fout reather than being
concentrated in the one
week in October, although
that would impact publicity
and financial issues.
Grants and funding were
discussed. Ann Arbor
Community Foundation,
UM Development Office,
or a national organization
perhaps? Danny suggested
that we should definitely
try to involve the medical
center next year, especially
since we collaborated
so well for "Murderball" and
the stem cell speech. Diversity
Initiative was mentioned
and discussion ensued
about disability not having
a very big voice nor lobby
in issues of diversity. Sam
will obtain numbers of
those with disabilities
who apply to UM.
Jack would like to have
information about disability
right up front in matters
of admissions and in job
offers. We should
target ads in publications
geared toward those with
disabilities, in the future,
for purposes of recruitment.
We should use the Council
for bounce ideas off one
another, to push
forward, and to support
our individual causes.
Carole works on a yearly
affirmative action plan;
however, disabilities
do not happen to be included
in our state's guidelines. There
is no requirement to disclose
unless accommodation is
needed. Carole
is concerned with the
accessibility of application
forms and programs, i.e.,
the nitty gritty, right
now.
Sam and Carole described
the VOICES presentation
that they held, along
with Sue Bade, for the
subcommittee on career
development. Barriers
were discussed, as well
as centralized funding
for accommodations (deans/directors
were present), taking
the syllabus back to the
faculty, and transitional
counseling for staff members
who can no longer work
in their old positions.
Donney mentioned inaccessible
places with regard to
our culture and described
student tours that were
not disability-friendly.
Jay talked about the power
of department managers
and how there is no centralization
and no one is accountable--when
there is an accessibility
issue.
Sarah mentioned her idea
of having all students
take a required class
on disabilities to increase
sensitivity for this topic. Faculty
members also have to be
sensitized to these issues.
Jay and others discussed
having public relations/marketing
provide tag lines ("leg
up" example was given--past
student with an artificial
leg made it up).
Although there are many
hidden disabilities, the
visual adaptations for
mobility impairments set
the tone in small ways
and can serve as a bridge
to others by raising awareness.
Jack concluded by saying: "Find
the disability issue that
makes you passionate and
bring it to the Council."