Episode 4 - ACCESS

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to Kendyl Speaks. I am Brian Stewart, and today Kendyl speaks with Mercy Macrina, Director of Access and Disability Services here at the Kendall campus. Mercy, welcome today. How are you doing? [00:00:17] Speaker B: I'm doing great, thank you, Dr. Stewart. [00:00:20] Speaker A: So tell me a little bit about the role of the Director of Access, if you would. [00:00:24] Speaker B: So my role as director of Access here at the Kendall campus goes back actually 20 something years. I started at the college back in 2000 as the director of access at our Padrome campus. And I transferred over TO Kendall probably 20 years ago and have stayed here ever since. I love this campus. My role as Director of Access is to ensure equal access for students with disabilities to all the programs that the college offers and also to make sure that the students are receiving the accommodations that they're entitled to under the ada. [00:00:57] Speaker A: Excellent. Wonderful. You told us how you got to the Kendall campus, but tell us how you found Miami Dade College. What was your path to the college? [00:01:04] Speaker B: When I was in college, actually, I went to Florida State University and one summer I decided to take some humanities classes over at Tallahassee College. And while I was there, I saw a sign one day outside of one of my humanities classes posted that the Access Disability Services office was in need of note takers for students with disabilities. So I said, I wonder what that means and how can I help? So I hadn't had any prior volunteer experience even. So I walked into the disability office and I became a note taker. And I never met the student I was helping, but I would go weekly, turn in my notes to the disability office, and they somehow would make sure those notes got to the student that was in need. So I did that for a summer term and then I went on to my undergrad. Studies in psychology was my major back then. And then I graduated, came back home to Miami, and I worked a little while in a. In a psychiatric hospital. So I had some exposure to patients with mental health and emotional behavioral issues. And from there I started at the college. There was an opening. Somebody I knew worked at the college, let me know and came and here I am. [00:02:15] Speaker A: Wow, that's a great story. So you basically started as a note taker at the lowest level and kind of found your way to where you are today. I recall when I was teaching math, how important those note takers were. Those students really relied on those. So that's an excellent start. So Mercy, how do students request services and receive support so that they're academically successful? [00:02:36] Speaker B: So all of the students that are enrolled at the college that Are in need of any accommodations, must register through access disability services. We, we do have one located at all eight of our campuses. And they must self identify. So it's a little bit different from what maybe they're used to in high school, in a public school, or any, any K through 12 setting. Once they come to college, they need to self identify, show us documentation, proof of disability, and then on a case by case basis, depending on what the nature of their disability is, we determine eligibility for specific accommodations. Some of the more common accommodations that we typically provide students is additional time for exams, private room setting on exams, recording of class lectures. We also have students that need notetaking services, interpreting services for the deaf or hard of hearing students. And you know, sometimes it's just something as simple as they need large print on exam. [00:03:37] Speaker A: So it's a lot different than in K12 when they make a request here in college. Do parents come? How is it different than K through 12? [00:03:44] Speaker B: So in K through 12, there are some accommodations that continue when they receive. And then there are some accommodations. For example, a paraprofessional, that's someone that attends class with the student. That's something that in the Highest K through 12 setting, they provide that with that here at the college, the student would need to provide that on their own. [00:04:05] Speaker A: Right. [00:04:06] Speaker B: And there's also laws that we are in compliance with at Miami Dade College, one of them being the ADA Americans with Disability Act. That is different from the laws that cover K through 12. [00:04:18] Speaker A: Gotcha. And so are parents a part of that process or they can be parents. [00:04:23] Speaker B: Here as long as they're with the son or daughter when they come here to Miami Dade College, we do have meetings, especially initial meetings with parents and students. And then once the student feels comfortable, they tend to just come by themselves. But a lot of times the parents are present at first. But we do always ask for the student to be present because they're part of the plan that we're creating for them to be successful here at the college. [00:04:48] Speaker A: Yeah, initially want them to feel comfortable. So whoever needs to be with them. And then like you say, you're teaching and learning them to be more independent on that. [00:04:55] Speaker B: Correct. [00:04:55] Speaker A: And so our most popular services would be longer time on tests. [00:05:00] Speaker B: The number one is yes, testing accommodations being additional time on exams. [00:05:05] Speaker A: How do you collaborate with faculty and staff to assure that the accommodations are implemented correctly? [00:05:10] Speaker B: The first step is once we meet with the students and determine what accommodations are eligible for. We provide a letter, a faculty notification form that every student provides to each professor each term. Once the student receives that letter. We never disclose what the disability is, but we do outline on that form what accommodations a student has been approved for based on the documentation they provide us with. Then we do have times that we have faculty that maybe they're unclear or they're not sure how they can accommodate. So they contact Access. We have contact information, name, number, email, anything they need to contact us on that form. And we're kind of like the liaison, and we engage in the interactive dialogue process with our students and our faculty to ensure that the accommodations are being provided and in a timely manner. [00:06:04] Speaker A: How do you coordinate with your colleagues across the district? Do you regularly meet with them and share, you know, challenges and that kind of thing? [00:06:11] Speaker B: We do the Access Director group. We meet bi weekly, so we meet in person. We bring up all types of cases that maybe we need some guidance from each other. We discuss any changes, things that may come up in the community, trends that come up in disability services and post secondary settings. So we do that. We also provide through our CIOL department. We have workshops. We have one coming up in two weeks that's called working effectively with students with disabilities in the classroom. And that's really important because faculty that maybe are new and haven't attended one of these workshops or don't really have a lot of experience on accommodating students with disabilities. We help them and we give them tips and we give them ideas of what to expect from, you know, the students that are providing them their accommodation letters. [00:07:06] Speaker A: What's the most unique request you've ever gotten? [00:07:09] Speaker B: The most unique request? Well, we did have. It was many years ago. We had a blind student that requested a personal GPS system. This was before we had iPhones and Waze and Google Maps and all that. This was, I want to say, about 18, 20 years ago. He wanted us to purchase a very expensive $15,000 GPS system that he can keep and take with him everywhere. So what we did was we found him an escort and someone to walk with him. He got mobility trained on campus, and he was fine. [00:07:41] Speaker A: Now our cell phones can do so many things. [00:07:43] Speaker B: Correct? [00:07:44] Speaker A: That's a cool story. [00:07:45] Speaker B: Yes. [00:07:45] Speaker A: Talk a little bit about what changes you've seen since COVID I know, I know. Covid was a real impact in the classroom, but, you know, in our support services. How has that impacted your services? And what. How are things different now than maybe they were a couple years ago? [00:08:00] Speaker B: So we've seen several changes post Covid. Prior to Covid, most of our classes were held in person or through MDC online So that always existed. But the new modality of MDC Live is something that kind of came after Covid or during COVID We had a lot of challenges because we, we had students that had to take classes via MDC Live and were hard of hearing or deaf or blind students. So we had to kind of navigate how are we going to provide these services in a remote environment. So now that we've developed a system, that's where our group of college wide directors came in. We worked long hours trying to come up with how to accommodate students in a remote environment. And now we've kind of just kept that going. We still have students that choose to come remotely and we've also seen an increase in students with neurodivergent conditions coming in right around the same time that Covid came and went. And we've adapted to the needs of those students. For example, we have a new academy called the Kendall Learning Academy KLA which began last summer. We piloted this cohort style academy last summer. In 2023 we, we selected 15 students for the first cohort, all with neurodivergent conditions. And we placed them in a college credit certificate program, Business Professional Intelligence. And we built the program to be completed in a one year time span. So this summer they completed the program and they're now being placed in paid internships. The purpose of this cohort style academy was one to build community within this group. They take all their classes together for the whole year. And also we have educated employers. We're having a job fair also coming up in a couple weeks on the value of hiring people with neurodivergent conditions and teaching them that they can also be a valuable asset to these organizations. [00:10:05] Speaker A: That's an amazing story. I know a couple of our board members are very keen on that program and so maybe we'll have another program one day on Kindle Learning Academy and talk more about it. [00:10:14] Speaker B: Well, the second thing I wanted to add about the Kendall Learning Academy is that we just started our second cohort this summer B so now in fall term they're on their way to completing the same program, the college credit Certificate in Business Intelligence Professional. And they should be completing the program summer of 2025. And we have a partnership with Commissioner Raquel Regalado and she's assisting us in in the internship placements. [00:10:38] Speaker A: That's a wonderful partnership. So I understand that Kindle has the largest number of students with disability, close to 1600, I believe. [00:10:46] Speaker B: Yes, we're between 15, 1600 and college wide. We're currently serving about 3000. So the Kendall campus serves roughly 50% of the population of students registered with Access College wide. [00:10:59] Speaker A: Wow, that's impressive. And so do many of these students. I know our typical college student may go to multiple campuses. Are these students going to multiple campuses? And if so, is that a challenge to be able to support them at two different locations or more? [00:11:12] Speaker B: Yes, you're right. They are going to multiple campuses. And that's one of the other changes that came post Covid. So they are registered at multiple campuses and we just remind the students. I wouldn't really call it a challenge, but there are steps that students need to take at each campus that they're registered for to, to make sure that faculty at each campus is aware of the needs of each student. [00:11:37] Speaker A: Well, your bi monthly meetings I think are critical because we're so big and we don't want those students lost in the details. You mentioned the American with Disability Act. Talk a little bit about how access ensures compliance with that. [00:11:51] Speaker B: So we first and foremost make sure that no student is discriminated against based on their disability. So we make sure that the students are receiving the accommodations that they're eligible for. They need to, of course, provide us with documentation that we're asking for and making sure that the college is in compliance by providing them exactly that. The accommodations that we've already determined. One of the things that we stress to faculty and staff at the college is they don't need to worry about asking students to provide them with documentation. Everything we do in the accessibility department is confidential. We do not disclose what the disability is to anybody outside of the Access department. And just making sure that they're being provided with what they're eligible for. But we do that work in the Access department. [00:12:42] Speaker A: You made me think about students that maybe attend Miami Dade College and then move on to FIU or somewhere. Is there any kind of help or any kind of connection if they go to another four year institution that we do or do they have to reapply and go through that process with that institution? [00:12:57] Speaker B: They have to go through the process with each institution they transfer to. But we assist them along the way. We make sure that they are meeting all the transfer requirements. If whatever documentation we have that we can provide them copies with to take to the new institution, we do. We are in constant communication with especially FIU because it's local here in Miami. We have relationships with them. A lot of times students go to FIU and they come back to Miami Dade College and they're like, we miss you. We want to come back Here, so. But we do let them know that they will have to start the process because Miami Dade College is not really affiliated the Access departments to another university. [00:13:39] Speaker A: Well, good. That's good. That's a good answer. I know you probably have lots of success stories and lots of experiences, so give me a couple of stories of students that you've worked with and students that have been successful. [00:13:50] Speaker B: So I have one story that comes to mind. I'll use only the first name, of course, for confidentiality purposes, but this is a success story of a student named Charlie. So, Charlie. I met Charlie back in 2003, maybe when I was working at the Homestead Campus Access Disability Services Department. And Charlie was a high school dropout. He's mobility impaired, uses a wheelchair, and he had dropped out of high school. So he had come over to the Homestead campus initially to enroll in the GED program. So. So he was in the program for many years and attempted to pass his GED exam and was unsuccessful for a while. And then a few years later, I came over to Kendall campus, and one day, Charlie walks in to Kendall Access, and I'm like, hey, Charlie, what are you doing here? He's like, I'm still working on my GED. This was back maybe 2006, 2007. So he had already been, I think, enrolled at the College since, like, 2000. And eventually Charlie got his GED in 2015, and he thought he was done, but of course, I wasn't done with him. So he enrolled in. We enrolled him in. I enrolled him in a. A program. And that took him also, you know, a couple of years. But eventually he did get his AA degree. And actually during COVID when we had the only commencement we've had outdoors on the field, the new soccer field that we're building here at Kendall Campus, that's where we housed the only Covid outdoor commencement. And Charlie was part of that experience. So he was our VIP guest. He was so excited. Graduated, transferred to fiu, and he actually came in a couple months ago to Access to let us know he had received his bachelor's degree from fiu and he was so thankful to everything we did. And he. He knew he was like a celebrity here for a while. He. Everyone thought he worked here because he was always in the courtyard, and he was a really cool guy, and he'll probably check in with us forever. [00:15:47] Speaker A: Well, that's a great story. I'd love to meet him when he does come back. Those are the kind of stories that I think help us. Help us do what we do every day. So that's a really great story. So I know students probably a lot of times hesitate to get help. What advice, what suggestions would you give to students who are out there, maybe listening and know they have a disability, but are nervous or apprehensive about coming and meeting with you? What advice would you give to encourage them to come see you? [00:16:16] Speaker B: So a lot of students see college as a fresh start. So maybe they received services in high school and then they get to college and they want to start. They don't want anybody to know. They think that they're going to be discriminated against or be looked differently. So a lot of times they start college and they don't ask for accommodations from their first semester. So my advice is to ask for help, ask for it early. Ask. I hate to see a student come in during finals week and say I need help. I keep running out of time on my exams and they struggle the whole semester instead of receiving the help that they needed from the first day of class. So my advice is to believe in yourself. Ask for help early. We will help them and assist them in the process of registering, making sure that everything remains confidential and just do your best. [00:17:07] Speaker A: That's really good advice. What about giving a shout out to your staff here? Talk a little bit about what your team consists of here and the support network that you have for our students. [00:17:16] Speaker B: I have the best staff at Kendall Campus for sure. That's my first shout out. But our staff consists of a lot of different people with different skills. So we have of course advisement staff which we assist students in course selection, setting up their accommodations. These advisors are the ones that review the documentation case by case. They are the ones that determine eligible services. We also have a full time sign language interpreter. We support our interpreting needs with agency interpreters and our full time staff note takers. We have tutors. We have two tutors dedicated specifically to our KLA Kindle Learning Academy program. They're in the class offering instructional support to our data analytics professors. We also have clerical staff, which is our frontline staff that greet our students and just make our students feel comfortable. And we also have a learning center which is a computer lab located inside the Access department where we have staff that are making sure that students are comfortable, that they are aware of whatever adaptive equipment, software, hardware we have available to students with disabilities and just tutoring them and kind of supporting them academically. [00:18:31] Speaker A: If anyone in our audience wanted to be a note taker or help support you, what would be the process for that? [00:18:38] Speaker B: So we'd Love to meet you. We are always looking for note takers. Actually, I just put out, Yes, I just put out to different groups of people a request for note takers. We accept volunteer note takers. Maybe you can try it out. This is how I started back 25 years ago, but try it out. You could get service learning hours through. I said if you become a volunteer note taker. A lot of our volunteers end up getting hired either as student assistants or just as part time note takers. But yes, we're always looking for note takers. We need tutors always to help our students with disabilities be successful. And periodically check our website under jobs, MDC jobs. Any jobs that are posted will be there. [00:19:21] Speaker A: Very good. What are the most significant challenges you face going forward and how can I help? [00:19:27] Speaker B: So I wouldn't really call it a challenge, but something that's significant and impactful is the Kendall Learning Academy. There's a group of students that are graduating from high school and aren't quite ready for college. That's where KLA comes in. So one of the challenges is that there's a growing number. The word is spreading that the Kendall campus now has this program available. So the program's going to grow. And with that growth, I think we're going to need more support, more space, and just maybe offering more options as what certificates we can offer these students. So it's a good challenge. It's not a problem. It's a good challenge to have. But we're just trying to figure out, moving forward for next year, how are we going to meet the needs of these students that are now learning about this. And we get a lot of requests and emails from parents asking, so what's going to happen next year? Do they have to study data analytics or can it be business or culinary? So we're trying to see how we can expand the program to meet the needs. [00:20:31] Speaker A: So the next step would hopefully to be broaden it to allow students to pick maybe pathways that might interest them. [00:20:38] Speaker B: Correct. [00:20:38] Speaker A: That's good. That's really good. Well, this has been a great conversation. I've learned so much about access and I can tell we're blessed to have some talent here at the campus. The very first podcast we did was with our student government association and they asked if they could ask me any questions. So I'm going to do that for you today. Is there any question you would like to ask me? [00:20:58] Speaker B: Do you have a success story with a student with a disability that you directly impacted? [00:21:04] Speaker A: Well, I have two stories. The first story that comes to Mind, I was teaching a college algebra class, a large class of about 100 students. And there was this student that came into class late one day and they weren't on the roll. And so after class I talked to them and they said, I'm a note taker, just like what you were saying. And so they came to class for a few weeks and after about the second week, they came up and said, I really enjoy your math class. Can I answer questions? Can I talk in class? I said, well, sure, you can talk in class. So that ended up being one of my best students that was there to take notes for a student who wasn't even in class. And so that was one of my favorite stories. Just because it was somewhat. I didn't really understand what the office did. And that demonstrated me how important your office is to helping students. I've had a number of students. I had a student who couldn't write. He had to have help answering questions on a test. And that student ended up being a math major. He started a developmental math class and ended up making it all the way to calculus and on to university. So that was kind of the student that came from what I didn't think could do math all the way to a math teacher. That's really a great question. Well, thank you for being with us here today, Mercy. I want to remind our audience that there will be a workshop on working effectively with students with disability in the classroom. That's in two weeks, right? [00:22:17] Speaker B: That is in two weeks. That's on October 9th. We also have in celebration of Disability History and Awareness Month that actually starts today, October, we have several events. Tomorrow we have a Dining in the Dark Blindness experience lunch which students will have the opportunity to enjoy a meal and complete darkness. We have the workshop for faculty and staff on the 9th. On October 16th, we have the Working Effectively with Students with Disabilities workshop for faculty and staff. On October 9th, we have a resource fair with 30 community organizations already confirmed that provide services to students with disabilities. That's also in building two in the Breezeway, we have our, I believe, seventh annual art exhibit contest where students with disabilities or students in support of people with disabilities can submit artwork. It's a very beautiful event. We have every year we have judges that are going to be determining who are the first, second and third place winners. And our Dean of Students has offered tuition grants for those winners. And then this year we added a brand new event that we've never done. It's Pickleball on Wheels. That's on Wednesday, October 30th, in the evening at 6pm out in the racquetball sports complex, we're going to be having two or three simultaneous pickleball games in a hybrid fashion, which is wheelchair athletes competing against non wheelchair athletes. So it's the first time that we're offering or hosting this event and it's going to be really exciting to see what those in in wheelchairs can do athletically. And these are pros. These are people that play pro pickleball in wheelchairs. [00:24:05] Speaker A: Is a costume required for that October 30th event? [00:24:08] Speaker B: There's no costumes, but we did order some special shirts for our people that will be participating in the pickleball games. [00:24:16] Speaker A: Well, I'm looking forward to the dining in the dark. I've signed up for that. So there's some great events. We appreciate all those great events to honor the Disability Support Month. And, and we want to thank you again for being on Kendyl Speaks today and doing a wonderful job talking about your program. [00:24:31] Speaker B: So you're welcome. Thank you for hosting me. [00:24:33] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a pleasure to have you. I also want to thank Christina Signs, our head writer, Paul Klein, our executive producer, and Alex Bellows, our producer. Thank you for joining us today and goodbye for now.