Supported Employment in College
This self-paced online course provides higher education professionals with tools and knowledge on evidence-based employment practices that are designed to increase paid employment opportunities for college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This course includes video lectures, and readings and resources that build skills in developing and supporting paid employment opportunities while in college.
Learning Objectives
After taking this course, students will be able to:
- Discuss the quality standards and indicators for career-related activities in inclusive postsecondary education programs and supported employment.
- Describe the importance of getting to know the student seeking employment.
- Identify the process for getting to know the student using a person-centered planning approach to develop an employment profile.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the need for a marketing plan, the role of networking, and the strategies for conducting job development.
- Describe customized employment and how it can be used on a college campus for paid employment.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the process of customizing paid campus employment.
- Discuss the various jobsite training strategies (e.g., natural cues, workplace supports, instructional strategies, assistive technology) and their applications.
- Describe strategies and processes to help students transition from college to their careers.
- Discuss the importance of collecting follow-up information to inform practices.
Course Lessons
The course is self-paced and divided into six lessons. Each lesson consists of several activities for you to complete, including viewing video lectures, reviewing resources, and taking a quiz. All activities, except the Expanding Your Knowledge activities, must be completed in order to receive your certificate of completion and/or CRCs.
Video lectures: Each lesson contains several video lectures. If you prefer, you can watch the video on YouTube, or review the transcript. We have found that some participants like to print out the transcript and watch the video in order to help facilitate note-taking.
Resources: Next in the lesson, you'll find the required materials to read. You are required to read or view all of the items in this section. These selected materials are intended to complement the lectures and provide you with "takeaways" to use within your educational practice and share with colleagues.
Expanding Your Knowledge: Each lesson will have an activity that will allow for real-world practice of the content covered for that lesson. These activities are optional.
Quiz: Each lesson will end with a 10-question quiz. The questions on the quizzes will ask you to apply what you have learned. This may include true and false questions or multiple choices that ask you to demonstrate that you have reviewed the audio lectures and readings. If you are Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and would like to receive CRC credits for the course, you must answer all questions correctly on all six lessons' quizzes in order to earn those credits. You have unlimited attempts at each quiz.
Lesson Listing
Lesson 1: Quality Indicators and Values
Lesson 2: Getting to Know Your Student
Lesson 3: Campus Job Development
Lesson 4: Customized Employment
Lesson 5: Jobsite Training
Lesson 6: Preparing for Post-Graduation Success and Follow-Up
What Do You Need to Participate in the Course?
To participate, you will need a computer with Internet access, the ability to view videos online, and speakers or headphones in order to listen to the videos. Each video is captioned, and transcripts are provided. For those interested in facilitating the course in group settings, we provide The Supported Employment in College Facilitator's Guide .
Accessibility
The VCU Transition RRTC is committed to making course content accessible to individuals with disabilities. While we strive to maintain high accessibility standards in all RRTC materials and resources, some external resources found in this course may not fully meet these standards. We are committed to providing inclusive and accessible content to the best of our ability. If you encounter any accessibility barriers with external resources or need specific accommodations, please contact us rrtc@vcu.edu. We will make efforts to address and improve the accessibility of the content.
Funding
The contents of this course were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90RTEM0002). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this course do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.