Disability Support Services Council
April 15th 2014
Spring Meeting Minutes
(ENZIAN: Bavarian Room, Basement Floor)
Meeting was called to order at 10:00am by President Michael Hoel. Michael welcomed those in
attendance and expressed appreciation to the three colleges attending by Go-To-Meeting.
Introductions were kicked off by a comedic video by Tim Hawkins. After which Mike introduced Karen
Fusco as the board appointed President Elect due to Karma Forbes’ voluntary decision to step down
due to medical reasons. Karen will perform duties of President for one-year to finish out Karma’s
position and then Mike will serve a two-year term as past president.
Board members emphasized the importance for active members to step forward and participate in
open board seats presenting professional development opportunities that are afforded when
participating on the board; and increased knowledge of colleagues, which assists with performing the
job. A reminder that during budget cuts it is very important for DSSC to show strong memberships
with a strong election process and partaking. After being strong armed, both Eric Anderson and John
Rajcich shared interest in running for President Elect in the next go around of board elections.
10:15- 12:00 IEP’s and ctcLink Issues
Membership discussion included the following:
Kathy Cook was concerned regarding the recent misinformed information sent out that Everett
College worked with IEP’s from the K-12 system
Suggestions were shared to use Federal Government OCR guidelines with IEP’s
Concern that IEP’s in nature don’t hold a lot of weight in and of themselves but all agreed that
data within certain IEP’s i.e., Psychological-Educational Test data; Summary of Performance;
Present Level of Functioning; and Received Accommodations are good sources of information
with identifying demonstrated performance of functioning i.e., deficits and strengths
Recognizing that IEP’s are K-12’s academic plans for success and that higher ed creates letters of
accommodation that ensure equal access
Reminder DSS professionals can work with the IEP’s school Psychologist for updated summaries
of performance
Share with families the differences between HS and Higher Education
Challenges are anticipated as K-12 graduates students that have never met standards and then
come to Higher Education with same expectation for modification and alteration of course criteria
Running Start students with IEP’s if the college is the designated site for completing courses it
could be identified that the HS be the source for paying for the accommodations…
Side Note: Michael Hoel showed Interagency Agreement on WAPED site with a question
generated from members that DVR has an expired date that needs to be changed.
Reminder that IEP’s come from tests completed by Psychologist and/or Psychiatrist with
recommendations for SDI and accommodations based from significant deficits between cognitive
and achievement testing
11:00am-11:15am Break
Eric Anderson nominated Kerri Holferty as President Elect…
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Discussions resumed with ctcLink information and updates...
Spokane goes live in August 2014
Historical information recapped from Connie Broughton’s presentation back at fall conference.
Where Michael ran through a couple of screen pages for discussions where feedback will be
presented to Connie at WSSSC on 5-2-14
a. Accommodation Request Details Screen is employee designed
b. Accommodation ID is not our DSSC coding
c. Disability Section will be flexible vs. set
Members prefer to only answer two questions coding and if the student is reporting a disability vs.
usage of all other screens and agree ALL need to only answer these two questions. We can’t
have some members filling out all screens and some only answering the two questions…all
agreed to this with no concerns expressed
Members shared concern with “need to know” and all the confidential disability information that
would be entered. Really need to emphasize “restricted permission” …maybe a statement of
concern with the restricted permission on some of the screens
One hope with People Soft is all the possibilities for collecting data that Legacy didn’t allow for
All agreed if the concept with the screens were to make life simpler for DSS professionals it
doesn’t. It was agreed members only want to work with two questions code and disability status
All agreed NOT to enter costs associated with disability on designated screens and agreed any
data collected is about retention and persistence
All members agreed the use of presented multiple screens is inefficient
12:00pm to 1:30pm Lunch Break
1:30pm Business Meeting
Marc Coomer DSSC Board Treasurer first opened discussions on the new Go-To-Meeting (GTM)
remote access method asking for any feedback no concerns were brought forward; at which time, he
presented the Treasures Report which were approved at 1:37pm. Jamie Hatleberg, DSSC Board
Secretary presented winter meeting minutes for review which were also approved at 1:39pm
Elections were held for President Elect (Kerri Holferty at Whatcom and Norma Martinek at Spokane);
Secretary-no nominees so Jamie Hatleberg at Green River Community College agreed to remain in
the position due to no candidates; Member At Large one nominee Angela Merrit at Spokane.
At which point, Michael presented the 2013-2014 Work Plan on GTM for review and updates.
Goal 1: No changes
Goal 2: Tami Jacobs provided update on Letter of Concern (LOC) and the next scheduled meeting on
4-25-14
Goal 3: New shorter survey being implemented with comparative data and student learning outcomes
still being collected. Action item: Mary will send out SLO to all members.
Side note: Michael shared that Warren Brown is leaving the WSSSC DSSC liaison position
DSSC members agreed there were no additional items to bring forward but did discuss ideas for
having new goal items 4& 5 added every year. For example Goal 4: Member Participation at National
conferences/trainings (i.e. Accessing Higher Ground; AHEAD; NASPA; etc…) with “share outs” at
each spring conference; and Goal 5: TransitionTask Force Updates.
2:18pm Break
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2:30pm Election Results
Michael shared election results with a tie for President Elect so voting members voted again with
Kerri Holferty winning the board seat. Jamie Hatleberg will remain as secretary and Angela Merrit will
serve as Member At Large. New Board terms start on 7-1-14
A motion to adjourn the business meeting was accepted at 2:36pm.
2:36pm SBCTC Report (with handout provided)
New announcements shared Director Michelle Andreas went to SPSCC and Scott Copeland
continues to remain as DSSC liaison to SBCTC…a big round of cheers were heard.
Michael asked for a show of hands for attendance at WSSSC Spring Conference with a majority of
members planning to attend.
Warren Brown called in and extended updates and reminders on:
1. Winter Commission Meeting notes sent out on 2-10-14
2. Participate if available at the April 30-May 2nd WSSSC Spring Conference
3. June 26th 2014 CPTC liaison meeting will all councils
4. Accessible Technology Task Force
Michael extended congratulations to Warren’s recent appointment as President at North
Seattle…members sent a round of applause via remote.
Question from members: Will there be a new liaison to DSSC from WSSSC? Warren confirmed there
would be with the new liaison being announced on June 26 th.
2:49 ASL Interpreter Discussions
Conversations were led by all members and included the following highlights:
Has CART affected or impacted interpreter services
Hearing Speech& Deafness appear to be recommending CART vs. interpreting; with concerns
shared that contracting agencies and there other internal services being offered as the
recommended services to students
When interpreters are not available CART is being explored
Could there be a conflict when staffs are the interpreters and they observe student cheating. Do
they report the incident “Or” is their role only to ensure access?
Who is responsible for accommodations when student participates in outside conferences?
Tami Jacobs shared a model that Clark and three other Colleges partner up that allows
interpreters to share schedules between the colleges. For example, an interpreter will have 1-2
classes with Clark and then 3 classes at Lower Columbia. Salaries are consistent between the
colleges and do fluctuate based on interpreter skill sets and certifications/licensures
All agreed when staff members responsible for matching interpreter requests sign themselves this
is really helpful to the position and to the students
ADAR, the state ear marked monies can really help the unfunded mandate
All agreed collected data needs to reflect the service provided not the number of students
4:04pm Hot Topics& Evaluations
A quick announcement was shared that Carol Funk from Skagit and Roxanne Tillman from South
Seattle were both retiring this year.
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At which time, all members extended appreciation for all their service to students with disabilities and
for all their contributions to DSSC/WAPED.
Michael then passed out conference evaluation forms and asked members to please complete for
collection at end of conference.
Hot topics followed and included:
Instructors accommodating on their own vs. navigating students to DSS offices
Field trips with students with disabilities and releases from physicians for participation
OCR grievances regarding extended time with homework
Fragrance free accommodations
3:50pm “Disability Awareness” Records Requests
Jamie Hatleberg led this question as her VPSA asked whether or not other colleges had responded to
the request.
Feedback from members was yes…most colleges did provide information for electronic proof of
recognizing Disability Awareness during the month of October.
Dan Eberle from Bates shared insight into the history on why this request was made. Questions arose
from members on whether or not DSS folks needed to ID who would be tracking all this information;
Do we have best practices that can be shared?
Members felt this type of activity disability awareness should be executed by Student Affairs (Student
Services/Student Programs) not just by DSS services.
Meeting Adjourned at 5:00pm.
Meeting Minutes respectfully submitted by Jamie Hatleberg, Secretary on
6-19-14
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