RESEARCH PROJECTS
College STAR Workforce Readiness Study
Our current study on students’ perceptions about the transition to the workforce continues. Over 80 students who receive academic support from 8 different programs across the nation participated in the research, many from Arizona and the SALT Center. We are working on a manuscript to highlight our initial results and have follow-up studies in the development stage. We plan to explore, in more depth, several aspects of why (or why not) an individual might choose to disclose their disability in the workplace. From the experiences of both alumni and current college students, we hope to learn more about the decision-making process regarding disclosure in employment settings as well as the process through which individuals make a disclosure and what impact they feel their decision has had on their workforce experience.
Self-Authorship Study
In collaboration with University of British Columbia doctoral candidate, I-Chen Wu, we are exploring the development of selfauthorship in students in relation to their engagement with the SALT Center’s support services. Marcia Baxter Magolda defines self-authorship as, “The internal capacity to define one’s own beliefs, identity, and social relations.” This has several implications for decision-making related to all areas of life, from choice of major, career, and even interpersonal relationships. Over 40 students enrolled in the SALT Center completed a pre-test / posttest survey, and we are excited to learn how our support services may influence the development of self-authorship.
OUTREACH
THE BARTLETT ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER The University of Arizona’s burgeoning Student Success District recently saw the addition of a newly constructed four-story building just south of Bear Down Gym called the Bartlett Academic Success Center. This state-of-the-art building is the new home of various student support and engagement programs as well as a new satellite location for the SALT Center. Sharing a building with campus partners committed to academic success will afford our students greater opportunities to collaborate and engage with these offerings and help meet their academic, social, and personal needs. The space is flexible and allows for different configurations to encourage learning in different ways for a variety of subject areas and learning styles. It’s hard to contain our excitement about the possibilities that lie ahead! Thank you to long-time supporters of the SALT Center, Patricia and Bruce Bartlett, for making this dream a reality!
Promoting Self-Advocacy: Building Essential Skills for the Transition to College Claudia Sandoval and I gave this presentation at the annual conference of the Association of Educational Therapists and at the College STAR Conference in October 2020.
Post-Secondary Options for Students with LD/ADHD/ASD
I participated in this panel discussion with representatives from other college support programs at the Independent Education Consultants Association fall conference. We addressed the changes we had to make to support students in the virtual environment due to COVID-19. This group delivered a similar presentation at the Learning Disabilities Association of America annual conference, expanding the reach to parents and other educators. S A LT C E N T E R J O U R N A L | 7
