Form 15 UCEDD: Telephone Interview with Current and Graduated St

TELEPHONE INTERVIEW WITH CURRENT AND GRADUATED STUDENTS

[Interviewer]: Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. My name is [interviewer’s name], and I work for _______________, a private research company in ___________________.

The Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) is conducting an independent evaluation of Developmental Disabilities Network programs and collaboration among them. The purpose of this evaluation is to examine the impact of the Developmental Disabilities (DD) Network programs on the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families. The DD Council that contacted you to participate in this evaluation is one of ____ DD Councils in ____ states that have been randomly selected to participate in the evaluation.

The purpose of this interview is to learn about your experiences at the University of _______________ with regard to your disability-related education and training. We are talking with current and former students and people who attended continuing education classes. We would like to learn about your experiences and how these experiences affected your job or personal life after you graduated or completed the course(s) you took. We expect the interview to take between half an hour and 45 minutes.

Before we begin, we would like to ask your permission to record this interview so that we do not miss any of your comments. This is for Westat’s use only. It will not be made available to anyone else. Do we have your permission to record?

Program of study

1. Let’s begin by having you talk about the type of disability-related training or education you received through the University of _______________. How did disability factor into your studies at the [NAME OF UNIVERSITY]?

Probe:

• Graduate or student in a professional program (e.g., medicine, nutrition, physiotherapy), focusing on disability

• Undergraduate in a disabilities studies program

• Undergraduate taking a non-disability-related program; at least one course had disability-related content

• Continuing education student

• Other _____________________________________________________________________

2. What [disability-related] program/courses were you involved in at the [NAME OF UNIVERSITY]?

Probe:

• Name/type of program

• Program/course objectives

• Nature of content from some of the classes

• Relationship to disability

University Centers of Excellence on Developmental Disabilities often talk about the interdisciplinary education their students receive. Interdisciplinary is defined as “interaction among multiple disciplines on a common problem.”

2. In what ways was your disability-related education and training at the University of ____________ interdisciplinary?

1. Did the classes you took incorporate material from more than one discipline? Provide examples.

2. Was the approach geared toward discussing issues or problems from the perspective of more than one discipline? Provide examples.

3. Please describe the way material from multiple disciplines was integrated into your classes. Provide examples.

6. In what ways did the UCEDD expose you to traditionally unserved and underserved populations or communities (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities, people who understand little or no English, people who live in remote or rural communities, or low income communities)?

1. What types of opportunities were offered to work with or interact with traditionally unserved or underserved populations or communities? Please describe.

2. What kinds of practical experiences did you participate in? Please describe.

Satisfaction

2. Does (did) the UCEDD program have system in which students could rate their courses or the teaching faculty? Please describe.

Probe:

1. What elements of the course are (were) rated (e.g., usefulness of materials, availability of professors, effectiveness of lectures)?

2. Overall, how satisfied were you with the course(s) or program that taught you disability-related material? Please explain.

Highly satisfied Satisfied Somewhat satisfied

7. Overall, how useful do you think the contents of the disability-related program (classes, courses) were ? Please explain.

Very useful Useful Not very useful

Now we’d like to get an idea of how you’ve been able to use your experiences gained through your involvement with disability-related courses developed through the UCEDD.

8. Does (did) the UCEDD provide offer any assistance in meeting your disability-related career goals? Please describe.

Probe:

• Mentoring program

• Method for sharing job opportunities with students

• Other_____________________________________________________________________

Impact of experience with the UCEDD

9. In what ways have you applied your experience with the [UCEED NAME] in your professional life?

1. Did you obtain a position that benefits people with developmental disabilities? Please describe.

2. If yes, how does this position improve the quality of life for people with developmental disabilities or family members? Please describe.

3. Have you been able to apply skills from different disciplines in order to solve problems at work? Please give examples.

4. Did you gain a greater understanding of research and research methodology? Please explain.

5. Did you alter your practices or services based on your experiences with the UCEDD? Please explain.

6. Did you gain a greater understanding of disability-related concepts as a result of your experiences with the UCEDD? Please explain.

1. Other ____________________________________________________________________

Is there anything else about your experiences in the UCEDD teaching program that you would like to tell us about? Do you have any questions yourself?

We’d like to thank you for taking the time to participate in this discussion.