Disability Services Practices:

Library Resources

The following items have been shared with you by GU/TRIO professionals who used them successfully in their programs. You are invited to do the same. Take five minutes to share a document that you use in your program. It could be an activity, form, or program handbook. If we all share a little, this will become a more powerful online program manual for the community. Send to edpractices@eoa.org and share the same on the national and program-specific listservs. The newest items are listed at the top.

Vanessa Souriya-Mniraid, Director, Disability Support Services, Wichita State University (KS). TRIO Disability Support Services workshops typically include in-person workshops with invited presenters from collaborative partners on campus such as Financial Aid Office, Student Money Management, Counseling and Prevention Services and Career Development.

  • Zoom Meetings. Due to COVID-19, the WSU community transitioned to online learning. To prevent disruption in services, TRIO DSS provides workshops through <Zoom> to maintain consistency with in-person workshops and the program’s study skills website <Webnode> for students who prefer this method of workshops to complete their study skills and financial literacy requirements. Students are required to complete the pre and post-surveys after each workshop.

  • Study Skills Website The <Webnode> platform was chosen to host the study skills website because it is one of many free platforms available and had the best layout and editability compared to other free platforms such as Wix. The Study Skills Coordinator worked with the director of the TRIO DSS program to identify sections that should be listed on the study skills website that would meet grant requirements and student needs. Together, they decided to include life skills, study skills, financial literacy, and technology tabs, each section having informational videos. With the shift to fully online due to COVID-19, the Study Skills Coordinator has added additional sections to the website, such as “Online Learning Resources,” to help students navigate the transition to online learning.

  • YouTube Videos: Criteria for selection and accessibility Most of the videos on the study skills site are linked from YouTube. Videos must meet certain criteria, such as having the option for closed captioning, to be included on the website due to accessibility. Videos may range from three minutes to an hour based on the depth level of the content. For example, some videos introduce concepts at the highest level by presenting terminology, while follow-up videos provide a more in-depth explanation of the terminology and concepts. The variance in video length allows students with varying availabilities the time to complete a workshop and come away with a new piece of knowledge. New videos and online resources are being consistently and frequently added due to the new influx of demand for the study skills website.

  • Future Use of Blackboard Platform TRIO DSS is also working toward developing “TRIO DSS Online” through <BlackBoard>, which will offer another host for workshop modules, request a tutor, and communicate with staff and other DSS students.