The Director's column

By the time this second issue of NETAC Networks is published, Year One of NETAC's grant will be history! So much has happened during the first year. We are now fully operational with 13 cooperative agreements signed and implemented; the computer network up and running between and among 13 site coordinators and the NETAC center office; NETAC's Web site progressing nicely with linkages to other regional centers through PEPNet's (Postsecondary Education Programs Network) Web site; and collaboration among other regional and national programs of interest to postsecondary education institutions.

I am pleased to report that two C-print workshops were provided to individuals from seven states at NTID this summer. We are blessed with the fine staff who worked hard to make these workshops a success. Kudos to Pam Giles, C-print project coordinator; Karen Hopkins; and Sherlea Dony!

The site coordinators have kicked off the first year by setting up statewide consortia. Either Karen Hopkins or I participated in most of these initial meetings. You can catch up on the site coordinators' progress and plans in the State Updates article in this issue.

NETAC's second regional consortium meeting was held July 14-15, 1997, in conjunction with the AHEAD conference in Boston, MA. One of the highlights of the conference was the Nominal Group Technique process that allowed us to identify critical issues and needs to be addressed by NETAC in subsequent years. As a result, NETAC's blueprint for the remainder of the grant period was drafted. Of course, the ultimate status of this important planning document is subject to the analysis of the needs assessment survey. A condensed version of NETAC's draft blueprint (aims and objectives) can be found elsewhere in this issue of NETAC Networks.

A brochure describing NETAC and another describing financial aid opportunities have been designed and published. NETAC's Kathleen Smith is to be commended for a job well done! More brochures are forthcoming; be on the lookout for them.

The four regional center directors worked together to develop a response to the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) of the Department of Education for proper and specific language in the newly-adopted IDEA '97 to support the aims and objectives of the four regional technical assistance centers. This law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) included a provision that calls for a generic approach to enhancing postsecondary education opportunities to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing through provision of technical assistance to postsecondary education institutions. At this time we are awaiting the publication of this draft language. Public comments will be further solicited for finalizing the regulations, targeted for implementation in the summer of 1998.

On behalf of PEPNet, NETAC negotiated with the Department of Education and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in finalizing the needs assessment survey that we sent to 10,400 postsecondary education institutions nationwide. (See Jerry Walter's update in this issue.) It is anticipated that the report will be completed and ready for dissemination in December 1997.

NETAC led in the design and development of a marketing plan for exhibiting the PEPNet materials at national conventions and conferences. The conventions/conferences at which PEPNet exhibited include the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD), American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association (ADARA), Conference of American Instructors of the Deaf/Conference of Educators Serving the Deaf (CAID/CEASD), Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc. (SHHH), and National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA). We plan to increase the number of exhibits at other national conventions in Year 2.

NETAC participated in PEPNet's meeting with several national clearinghouses including the National Clearinghouse on Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Disabilities (HEATH), AHEAD, the National Transition Alliance for Youth with Disabilities (NTA), the National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY), Gallaudet University, and NTID. We discussed ways and means for us to share our resources in disseminating information about postsecondary education opportunities for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

NETAC is collaborating with the other regional centers in planning PEPNet's first national symposium on postsecondary education opportunities for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, "Empowerment Through Partnerships: PEPNet '98," to be held in Orlando, Florida, April 29-May 2, 1997. The Postsecondary Education Consortium (PEC) of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is taking the lead in planning and organizing the conference.

NETAC was an active participant in the design and implementation of PEPNet's national teleconference on ADA and Section 504 regulations on May 8, 1997. The Midwest Center for Postsecondary Outreach (MCPO) at St. Paul Technical College assumed the leading role for this major activity. Over 120 institutions participated in this activity with 23 from the Northeast region. A follow-up national teleconference is being planned for March 1998.

As we move forward to Year Two, we are excited about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of us. We anticipate that with our state consortia and regional consortium in place, we'll be able to move forward with a variety of workshops, seminars, and technical assistance in the enhancement of postsecondary education opportunities for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in the Northeast region.