It is the beginning of a new academic year at Hofstra
University on New York’s Long Island. New students are here and
others have left for the job market. However, the change in the student
population is not the only difference at the university this year: there
is a new director of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD)—Julie
A. Yindra began her new duties on August 10.
As with any new staff at an institution, Yindra joins Hofstra University
with her own set of experiences and strategies, some of which are to
be devoted to decrease the unemployment rate for Americans with disabilities.
According to Yindra, the number of unemployed Americans with disabilities
is somewhere around 70%, depending upon sources. Yindra wants to use
her new position at Hofstra, a university with a long-standing tradition
when it comes to accessibility, to propel more students with disabilities
into postcollege careers. Her approach, in collaboration with the Hofstra
University Career Center, involves accomplishing this task centering
on a six-part strategy.
First, Yindra wants to promote outreach to potential employers. Second,
she understands the success of Hofstra’s fully accessible environment
and sees the need for ‘Universal Design’ off-campus. Third,
students are encouraged to seek internship and volunteer opportunities
in preparation for postcollege careers. Fourth, Yindra points to a career
counselor from the university’s Career Center who is to serve
as a liaison to SSD. Among other tasks, this liaison, in completing
an internship for her master’s program in rehabilitation counseling,
is to work on the development of workshops to address graduation anxieties
of university seniors. Fifth, a future goal is the formation of an alumni
group of former Hofstra students with disabilities. Last, Yindra wants
to see through the creation of a resource library for SSD students.
“You cannot have more people with disabilities in the workforce
without outreach to potential employers. We want outreach to the local
community,” Yindra says. According to Yindra, individuals with
disabilities are one piece of a greater diversity initiative at companies
as this community continues to grow. In fact, she states, “There
may be many employers who want to hire people with disabilities but
they don’t know what to do. We don’t know where to begin.
They’ll say. ‘What kind of desk, what kind of electronics
are needed?’ Part of that outreach is to help them.”
Educating Employers
Yindra’s experience in nonprofit work such as with the Spina Bifida
Association (SBA) makes her see the importance of various advocacy organizations
in efforts to produce more employees with disabilities into the workforce.
She serves on the board of directors of the SBA.
Outreach to the community of employers is assisted by the promotion
of ‘Universal Design,’ which attempts to change both building
codes and minds so that all environments are accessible to people with
disabilities. This concept further integrates people with disabilities
into their community and eases ‘culture-shock’ when potential
employers are introduced to people with disabilities. “We need
Universal Design so that people don’t even notice us,” declares
Yindra.
Yindra notes the success of her new place of employment at Hofstra with
regard to such design. Hofstra has a history that is traced back to
the 1960s, which places an importance on a barrier-free campus.
Another way to ease the concerns of employers when they think about
hiring people with disabilities is to have the potential employees themselves
involved in volunteer and internship roles. Yindra encourages volunteer
opportunities. “It’s good for the community and it’s
good for you,” she explains. “Volunteering gives you job
skills, gets your foot in the door, and very often these positions lead
to jobs. Volunteering is a way for you to get excited about a career
and that enthusiasm translates into a job or shows itself in a job interview.”
When it comes to internships for students with disabilities, Yindra
recommends these programs as well. “Participate in an internship
as part of your academic experience. An internship teaches you how to
navigate an unfamiliar environment and get through an experience,”
she advises.
Beyond Yindra’s general plans and ideas to decrease the number
of unemployed people with disabilities, she has more university-specific
initiatives that are to be put in place during her time as SSD director
at Hofstra. One of these initiatives involves a closer relationship
between SSD and Hofstra University’s Center via a liaison who
comes in the form of a graduate intern with a background at the career
center. “I’m excited about this project,” states Yindra.
In the Spring, Yindra and the liaison will sponsor programming for Hofstra
students with disabilities. Yindra asks in a rhetorical fashion, “Now
that I’m going to graduate, what are my concerns, what are my
rights, and what are my fears? We, at SSD, want to work with other departments
on campus to promote the employment of our students when they graduate.”
Resource Library And Alumni Association
Additional strategies of Yindra’s for SSD and Hofstra include
the creation of a resource library and an alumni association. Yindra
sees the benefit to have a one-stop center where students are able to
gather information that concerns how to obtain employment after Hofstra.
Moreover, she understands the value of Hofstra alumni with disabilities
in terms of the experience that they can share with regard to the job
hunt and professional world. “Students want to hear from people
who have been there and have done that,” remarks Yindra. “You
want someone to talk with you with a certain life experience. We want
a group of students to get together and bounce off each other and come
through this transition period. There will be lots of programming in
the future.”
According to Yindra, currently SSD is staffed by five full-time positions
and one part-time position and serves approximately 700 students registered
with the office, including over 500 with learning disabilities and/or
ADHD and 75 with mobility disabilities.
Yindra comes to Hofstra’s SSD via an online job-posting service
for institutions of higher education. Yindra’s career in education
includes ten years in higher education and eight years as a classroom
teacher at the middle- and high-school levels. In addition, she earned
a bachelor’s degree in English from Guilford College, a master’s
degree in special education from the University of North Carolina, and
completed coursework toward a doctorate in curriculum and instruction.
Yindra is enthusiastic about working at the university with its tradition
in disability services: “Hofstra has already been innovative.”
She now asks, “What’s going to be on the next cutting edge?”
Andrew A. Levinson is an editorial intern at Equal Opportunity
Publications.
