FAYETTEVILLE -- The classes will be different. But a new program, set to begin this fall for students with intellectual disabilities, aims to offer a full college experience at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, said Tom Smith, a UA professor of special education.
"We want them to participate in all aspects of community life," said Smith, a driving force behind a program he described as unique for the state.
Even nationally, "the majority of universities do not have any program like this," Smith said. He said he expects UA to have six to eight students enroll each year in the nondegree program, although it may have fewer students enroll this fall.
One prospective student is Mary Borman, an 18-year-old at Fayetteville High School who has Down syndrome, said her father, Terry Borman.
"All of my daughter's siblings, they went to college," Borman said. "And we wanted her to have a similar experience and a similar chance to better herself."
Mary swims with the school team, and she's on pace to graduate from high school, he said. She's also worked after school at a grocery store and a bed-and-breakfast, he added, and she has been honored by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton for advocacy work related to the National Down Syndrome Society.
But even with her accomplishments, Borman said his family has "very few choices" for continuing Mary's education. One option the family considered is what's known as Project Search, a program offered through Fayetteville-based Life Styles, an organization that provides training for adults with disabilities.
Project Search offers learning opportunities at Washington Regional Medical Center, Borman said.
However, he said, the program ultimately is limited in its scope. He compared the training to a fully-contained "box."
"At the university, they put you in a box, but there's no top on it. So you can go as high as you can push it," Borman said.
In 2008, Life Styles began partnering with UA for another postsecondary program for young adults called Launch. On a semester schedule, students spend time on campus attending courses taught by Life Styles staff members while also taking part in various campus activities.
Lindsay Broshears, director of adult development for Life Styles, said about 10 students enroll in the program each fall semester.
Elsewhere in the state, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Easter Seals Arkansas this year began a new postsecondary program for adults ages 18-30 who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Classes are focused on developing work skills, and the two-semester program will also involve campus internships.
Elaine Eubank, chief executive officer for Easter Seals Arkansas, said the program benefits UALR students who are studying special education, giving them "a chance to have some actual experience working with the population that they are studying to serve."
For participants taking classes, it's a chance for a college experience, she said.
"It means the world to the students to be able to go to college like their brothers and sisters went to college," Eubank said.
But they do not live on the UALR campus.
Smith said students in the new UA-Fayetteville program will be able to live in a college residence hall if they choose.
Enrollees will be just out of high school or perhaps just a few years older, Smith said. An admissions process has yet to be established.
"If they're going to be living in a dormitory, they have to have a certain level of independence," Smith said. But the program would also offer plenty of support through residential staffing and beyond, he said.
"We would pair them up with mentors," Smith said of students in the program. Extra support would be provided on nights and weekends.
Smith said he's interested in creating opportunities for the students in the program to also participate in fraternities and sororities if they wish.
Academically, completing the requirements for a college degree is unlikely for someone with an intellectual disability, Smith said. He said it was uncertain what sort of formal recognition would be provided for those who complete the new UA program.
A former dean of UA's College of Education and Health Professions, Smith said he helped establish a similar program in the 1990s at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
At UA-Fayetteville, he credited several others with helping develop plans for the initiative, including former special education teacher Sandy Steinmetz, spouse of Chancellor Joe Steinmetz, the top campus leader since the beginning of 2016.
For now, many questions remain about the program. Smith said he expects it to be a four-year program, but it could be shorter. The program has yet to hire a director, although Smith said he's begun reviewing applicants.
Among areas yet to be developed are the program's curriculum.
While enrollees might take a limited number of courses with other UA students, other courses will be developed especially for the group, Smith said. The program aims to prepare enrollees for independent living and employment, Smith said, with the second half of the program to involve "a lot of internships."
Of the potential enrollees, "for the most part, they would not be successful in traditional college courses," Smith said.
New ways of thinking, however, allow for the possibility of the students fitting in at the UA campus.
"The whole field of disability has been focusing on inclusion for the last 10 or 20 years," Smith said. The new UA program fits in with that philosophy, he said.
Program fees have not yet been established, but families might expect to pay about $5,000 per semester on top of typical tuition and fees, Smith said.
"The program will eventually have to pay for itself," Smith said, with another goal to create an endowment that would provide scholarship support for students.
Borman summed up his reaction to learning about the UA program in one word: "Finally."
"It's never going to be a huge moneymaking proposition, but it's going to be a huge life-changing event for anybody that attends," he said.
Metro on 02/07/2017