RCPD Featured in New Student Orientation SOS Podcast with Special Guest, Hannah Huey-Jones, RCPD Ability Access Specialist

Narrator: 0:08

You're listening to the Spartan Orientation station on Impact 89. The podcasts by students for students. Now, this week's episode.

Abigail: 0:18

Hello everyone. Welcome to the NSO Spartan Orientation Station. On today's episode, we are discussing the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities also known as the RCPD. They provide resources and accommodations for students here at MSU. Their mission is to maximize the ability and opportunity for full participation by persons with disabilities. My name is Abigail Arsenault. I'm a rising senior here with a major in social work and a minor in justice, law and public policy.

Lauren: 0:46

Please welcome Hannah Huey-Jones from the RCPD office who is here to answer all of your questions about RCPD. Hannah is an Abilities Access Specialist serving individuals with chronic health disabilities. Welcome to the SOS podcast, Hannah. My name is Lauren Calhoun. I'm a recent graduate in the College of Social Science with my major in psychology and a minor in law, justice, and public policy. I'm a transfer student here to MSU. And I'm a part of the Transfer Student Advisory Board and a student coordinator in NSO.

Abigail: 1:19

And just to start off, can you just begin by introducing yourself and explaining what your role is within the RCPD?

Hannah 1:26:

Sure, yeah. My name is Hannah Huey-Jones. I'm an Access Specialist with a Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities. So, specialists at the RCPD help students and employees through the process of affiliating with our office, including reviewing their medical documentation, completing what's called a needs assessment with them, where we determine which accommodations a person needs in order to access the university equitably. Then we also serve as an ongoing resource for students who are affiliated with us as well as for faculty who need support, implementing accommodations. And then we also provide student programming and training for faculty and staff on request.

Lauren: 2:04

All right, so the next question is, how do we get accommodated with RCPD? Is it a difficult process?

Hannah 2:12:

So, in general, anybody who has who has had to seek disability related services will probably tell you that the process is rarely quick and easy, but our office makes every attempt to make it a pretty smooth process. If someone needs accommodations, they will go to our website, which is just rcpd.msu.edu. And they'll select “Get Started” to see the steps. So first, they create an account with us. Once they do that, they'll receive an automated email from a specialist who specializes in their condition, and then that's prompting them to submit documentation of their condition. Once our office receives the documentation, a specialist will review it to make sure it meets the requirements that we have that support the existence of a disability. And if it does, then we reach out to schedule a needs assessment where we'll talk with the student about their needs, about the way their disability impacts their experience in academic settings, and housing, dining, transportation, whatever areas of life are impacted. And then we discuss how we can accommodate to provide equitable access. Sometimes students come in knowing exactly what they need to ask for. Sometimes they have no idea what they can ask for. So, the specialist helps them think through the potential barriers and brainstorm accommodations. And at the end of that meeting, we typically have a Letter of Accommodation or a VISA for the student.

Abigail 3:23

Yeah, and just going off of that, if you could explain specifically what a VISA is. Do they expire? And just some of the details of what that is.

Hannah 3:32

Yeah. So, VISA stands for Verified Individualized Services and Accommodations, and it's a Letter of Accommodation. That letter is the student's way to communicate their accommodations to instructors. So, it doesn't include any diagnosis information, doesn't include anything about the impacts that the person experiences, just the accommodations that they're entitled to. And then there's also a similar document for temporary conditions. That's called a VISTA, which is just Verified Individualized Services and Temporary Adjustments. VISAs are valid as long as you're impacted, or as long as you're at MSU, and VISTAs have an end date, which is usually about a semester or six months at the most.

Lauren: 4:08

So how are accommodations kind of, like, decided for each individual student?

Hannah: 4:14

Yeah, so we look at the information that's shared by the healthcare professional. So that medical documentation that we require in that second step of registration, someone who's treating them for this condition has to fill out information, they need to share a diagnosis, they need to share the impacts the way that the that the person is impacted, not just academically again throughout life. So we go through the information that's shared by the healthcare professional, but our biggest source of information is the student's own report of their experience. Sometimes people have accommodations from previous schools. Those are nice to know as well. So yeah, this is all like an interactive individualized process. So, like, during my needs assessment, I have a list of different areas to explore with students. What about testing? What's your experience with getting notes in class? When, when someone's just lecturing you, do you get everything you think you're supposed to get? Or how do you do with getting reading assignments done? And we try to come up with lots of questions to spark students thinking about what they might need. And then there are some situations like clinical experiences, labs, student teaching, where it's like not a classroom setting, where the specialists will work more with the instructors as well in order to figure out the specifics of what might be needed in that specific course for the student to have access.

Abigail 5:33

Right. And so, are all professors aware of student's accommodations? Or do the students need to show professors their accommodation? And what's that process like?

Hannah: 5:46

Yeah, so this is actually a big difference for students who are coming in from high school. In high school, the school is in charge of communicating accommodations to everyone who needs to know. In college, the student is totally in charge of sharing their accommodations with their instructors. So, we always tell students at the beginning of every semester, every class that you want to use your accommodations for, because you're not required to use them ever. But you need to contact the professor, you share your VISA with them, and then you also have some kind of meeting with them to talk about what the accommodations are, what exactly it's going to mean for that particular class, they can make a plan for how communication is going to happen, if there is any clarification so that the instructor knows how to implement the accommodations, and all that can happen at the beginning of the semester, or as soon as they get their VISA, and not in the moment when they're trying to use the accommodation.

Lauren 6:42

Alright, thank you. And I heard you mentioned about kind of, like, high school, like, previous experience with processes like this. So, if I had a disability accommodation program in my high school, would it automatically transfer, like, the records, would they automatically transfer to MSU? Or would I have to go through that process again, here at MSU, in order to get accommodations?

Hannah 7:03

You do have to go through it again. It's two sort of separate systems all through K-12. If you change schools, and you have one of these plans, they, the school will send it to your new school, and they'll take care of it. But here, it's a whole new process. So you need to, yeah, again, provide those medical documents that may not even have been needed at the K-12 level. It's helpful to share that IEP or that 504, or whatever it is with us, because then that kind of gives us an idea of what you've been working with, what's been in place for you this whole time. But we still do have to go through the whole process of getting that documentation, doing our needs assessment. And also, you do not need to have gotten accommodations previously in order to get accommodations here. So, it's, yeah, totally different.

Abigail 7:51

Yeah, that's, that's really good to know. And am I still able to apply for accommodations if I am not a US citizen?

Hannah 8:00

Yes. So this is actually, yes, don't get confused by the term VISA. It's just an acronym and has nothing to do with nationality, legal residency status, credit cards, anything like that. We also provide accommodations for students, regardless of nationality or citizenship.

Lauren 8:18

That's perfect. Good to know that, you know, MSU is supporting all types of students here. So are there-- if there are any circumstances-- Well, like if a student’s circumstances changed during the school year, would they still be able to apply for accommodations even though it's during school year, not, you know, starting from the beginning?

Hannah 8:39

Yes, we affiliate students throughout the year; disability is fluid, so it changes and sometimes someone who was not disabled is just becomes disabled. And so, yes, we can affiliate students throughout the year, whenever the person does get their affiliate, their accommodation letter, we just say, share it with your instructors as soon as possible. Instructors can't implement any accommodations retroactively. So, if you get it in March, you can't apply it to something that happened in January, but they will apply it as soon as they get the accommodation letter. So yes, absolutely. Don't wait till the next semester.

Abigail 9:14

Yeah, that's also a really good thing to know. And so, and I guess, this is kind of the same thing with that, like, a temporary accommodation. So does the accommodation only last for that semester?

Hannah 9:28

Typically, it kind of depends on when in the semester it happens, and what the condition is. But yes, we can’t do them more than six months for the temporary ones. So typically, it’s about a semester. And hopefully, common reason we will do something temporary are injuries that will hopefully heal within that time. Or sometimes if someone has insufficient documentation of their condition, either they’re in the process of getting more paperwork, they’re waiting to see specialists, they’re somewhere in that diagnosis process. It can be a long process to get all of that. And so sometimes if we have some documentation that might not meet our high standards, but, but is there, we can provide some temporary adjustments, while that's waiting to come through. So sometimes people will start as temporary and then we'll end up making them permanent once they can get all that together.

Lauren 10:23

All right, thank you. So as far as clubs and organizations go, are there any clubs or organizations or other on campus opportunities that are specifically for students that work with RCPD?

Hannah 10:38

So, there are a couple that are, like programs that are that are specifically for students who are affiliated with us. We have community groups that are just like peers who--we had a group for folks with ADHD, one for graduate, one for undergraduate. And then we also had one for folks with chronic health concerns. And they're just community groups that are, like, have a sponsor who works in our office, but it's really just students talking to each other, you know, finding someone else who's going through their same life experience or a related experience in a way that maybe their friends and roommates are not. So those community groups are through us. We also have some programming like the Bond Program that is specifically for students who are registered with us, and it's for autistic folks. It's a lot of social stuff, a lot of just kind of community building stuff. But then we do also, our office has sponsors for the Council for Students with Disabilities, that is sponsored by staff in our office, but it's open to anyone who's interested in pursuing accessibility. They do not need to be disabled to be a part of this group. There's other RSOs that are not associated with us, but, like, the Graduate Student Accessibility and Support Network is also a great resource. There's, there's several that exist as resources for folks who work with us that are not actually associated with our office. And then we do--we collaborate with CAPs, the Counseling and Psychiatric Services on campus, for a program called PEER that's about emotional resiliency. And that one is open to anybody. So there, yeah, there's, there's some of both.

Abigail 12:29

Oh, yeah, that's, that's awesome. And for anything that we've talked about today, or any further questions or information, how can a student contact the RCPD?

Hannah 12:40

Yeah, so our website has a form to contact the front desk just at our rcpd.msu.edu/form/contact. Or you can call our office, we apparently got 517-884-RCPD as our phone number. So super easy to remember.

Abigail 12:57

Yeah.

Lauren 12:59

All right, and then just kind of, to kind of get an overview of, you know, your job and the RCPD office, just what's your favorite part of working with students and just being a Spartan here at MSU?

Hannah 13:12

I think that my favorite part, a lot of students, like, especially incoming students, they're kind of nervous coming in, because they don't really understand how the process is going to be different to get accommodations in, in college. And that not only are they thinking about, like, transitioning to college, just like everyone else does the academics, the housing, the social aspect, dining on campus, like, doing laundry on your own. But then you're on top of that, you're also worrying about, like, whether my access needs will be respected and, and what if I will have a chance to have equal access here. So being able to, like, get them through that first needs assessment, you know, answering the questions that I can, getting their accommodations down on paper, so they feel that like something real is, is happening here. And then just giving them, like, one adult person on campus that they know, like, I'm rooting for them. I know their name. I don't necessarily have, like, hundreds and hundreds of students that I work with. So yeah, I think that's it's good to be like a person who can provide some of that stability and support for folks who are in a big transition.

Abigail 14:20

Yeah. Right. And like you said, just being an advocate for those students here. And we were looking at your bio on the RCPD website, and you had answered some of those questions. And I had saw that, that you were just very passionate about the work that you do, and just helping those who need it. And like I said, and like you had mentioned, just being an advocate and I think that's a really important part of Michigan State. So I think that's really awesome.

Lauren 14:47

Yeah, I can definitely say like, I was somebody who used the RCPD office for accommodations, you know, in my undergrad. That's weird to say now, but I didn't even know about them when I first transferred here, and I found out because I went to, like, a CAPS appointment. And all of my, like, worries were always surrounding, like, my test taking spaces and you know, even during the COVID time, like, my housing was an issue for me.

Hannah 15:13

Sure, yeah.

Lauren 15:13

And RCPD, like, definitely helped me in both of those areas, got my accommodations for me. And even though I didn't need them, like, for the entire time I was here, it definitely helped me, like, in those, like, moments where I did need them.

Hannah 15:27

Yeah, I actually want to say one more thing that's different from, like, K-12 that I really love is that--I just came from the K-12; I was I was special education teacher. And so, I remember every year you have to go back in and, and have a new meeting and talk about what accommodations, and see if they're still good. And in this process, you do it once and if they work, you don't have to come back. So it's, like, we, like, that just extra barrier, extra work that folks with disabilities are always having to do to get the, the access that they need. That's one less thing, hopefully, that we can take care of for you. So yeah.

Abigail 16:07

Right. And thank you so much for joining us today, and our next episode is about the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center.

Narrator 16:14

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Spartan Orientation Station on Impact 89 FM. Let us know what you think by connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at msu_nso.