A Validated Curriculum to Provide Training to Faculty RegardingStudents with Disabilities in Higher Education

The dramatic increase in students with disabilities enrolling at institutions of higher education in recent years (9% of incoming freshmen) has created a need to see that college and university faculty are provided with the knowledge required to enable the success of these students and to comply with federal statutes, such as ADA and Sections 504 and 505 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and with the policies established by their institutions. Exactly what information do faculty need? This study examined the importance and comprehensiveness of the content of a training curriculum for faculty developed at Utah State University as evaluated by a national sample of professionals employed in the disability services offices of colleges and universities throughout the United States. The results indicate that the respondents perceived the curriculum taken as a whole and each of the components as important (mean of 6 on a 7-point scale) and as providing a reasonably comprehensive representation of the essential information (91.8% taken as a whole). (Contains 5 tables.