By Katie Ottaggio, Engagement Operations Manager, College Success Program
Each month the College Success Program (CSP) hosts a webinar on a topic of interest to high school and college students who are blind or who have low vision, their parents, and the professionals who work with them. On December 13, 2021, the CSP hosted a webinar called “Envision the Future of CSP: A Partnership Between CSP and Envision, Inc.” CSP Mentor, Dezman Jackson, the moderator for this webinar, spoke directly with Mary K. Alexander, Senior Director for Vocational Rehabilitation and Programs, and Director of the College Success Program, Karyn Page, VP, Innovation at Envision, Mika Pyyhkala, Director of Digital Accessibility, BVI Workforce Innovation Center, and Hannah Christenson, Envision’s Director of Community Programs, as they discussed the recent acquisition of the CSP by Envision and what this means for students who are blind and low vision, and the people who work with them.
In case you missed it, below are the top takeaways from this enlightening discussion. You can also access this webinar in its entirety by visiting the CSP YouTube channel.
Let’s start first with a history of the CSP…
Mary Alexander, Director of the College Success Program shared the interesting story of how the CSP came about. The CSP began as a program within Learning Ally, a nonprofit education organization, and was created in partnership with the Lavelle Fund for the Blind who provided the funding to conduct research in 2013 into the experiences of college students who are blind or have low vision. The research followed approximately 20 students and interviewed them along with with parents, families, teachers and professors. This broad and in-depth research identified a few key findings:
- Students must arrive at college prepared to direct their own learning. They need to understand how they learn, why their visual impairment requires them to work and learn a certain way, and how to communicate with college staff including professors and those in the disability service offices.
- Students are at risk of becoming socially separated from their peers and isolated in the classroom, diminishing the quality of their educational experience.
- Students must embrace technology as having a critical role in their success, both in learning and keeping up with sighted peers. They must know what types of technology to use at what time.
These findings are the foundation on which the CSP is built. All CSP program elements – Mentors, resources, events – circle back to these findings. The CSP supports students’ needs around this research in a virtual way, allowing the students access to the program when they need it.
The CSP has continued to operate under funding provided by the Lavelle Fund for the Blind, Reader’s Digest Partners for Sight, and several other private foundations and state agencies.
What else should I know about the College Success Program?
The CSP is available at no cost to students and can be found online at www.collegesuccessbvi.org. All program resources are available to anyone however, registering to become a member in the program allows students to go deeper. CSP members can request a Mentor, attend weekly Meetups, and have access to Learning Ally’s audiobook library.
CSP Mentorship – How not to reinvent the wheel
Having Mentors available to students has always been a priority of the CSP. The CSP Mentors are one of the most important, and certainly most valuable, pieces of the program. Students that have connected with a CSP Mentor have found it extremely beneficial and have seen a significant difference in their education because of it. The CSP is fortunate to have a group of Mentors who have graduated from college and, like our members, are blind or have low vision. Students who request a Mentor will be matched with one based on things like visual impairment, field of study, and outside interests. You can learn more about CSP’s mentorship and the CSP Mentors here.
The acquisition of the CSP by Envision
The CSP was fortunate to be recently acquired by Envision, the second largest agency that provides jobs for people who are blind or have low vision. The CSP is a part of Envision’s Workforce Innovation Center (WIC), and helps provide a bridge for the people looking for jobs (i.e., blind and low vision college students) to the people offering the jobs (i.e., Envision and other organizations looking to employ those who are blind or have low vision).
But who is Envision?
Envision started in Wichita, Kansas almost 90 years ago in 1933 by a group of businesspeople looking to provide employment services for individuals who are blind or low vision, and this is the work Envision continues to do today. Envision started out making a simple manufactured item – brooms. It expanded to things like pillowcases and other items that helped the U.S. during WWI and WWII. Additional services and products that continue to be offered and produced through Envision today include plastic bags, printing, and sewing. As Envision expanded its products and services, it also expanded geographically with offices and manufacturing facilities in both Wichita and Dallas, Texas, as well as 16 base supply stores in 10 different states. Envision employs over 500 people, about 200 of which are blind or have low vision. Envision is also an Ability One services contractor.
Per Envision’s Vice President of Innovation, Karyn Page, Envision has “services for those from birth to the wisest people on the planet” as Envision also offers an early childhood center that integrates blind and low vision children with those who are typically sighted, programs for middle and high school students, vision rehabilitation services, adult day programs, and even an art gallery. Karyn’s role at Envision is to make sure there are professional career paths for those in the blind and low vision community, and that can take many forms. Envision’s Workforce Innovation Center (WIC) currently has call center jobs available and are in development with Wichita State University Technical College for developing careers utilizing culinary skills. The WIC is also looking into placement as a service. This would mean Envision could place people into certain jobs based on that person’s skill set and the hiring company’s needs.
What does the Envision and CSP partnership look like in the future?
One of the main reasons the partnership between Envision and the CSP is so important is the opportunities it will provide to students after their college graduation. There are many job placement opportunities in the works that are so badly needed to help with the continuum of students from college to the workforce. Students shouldn’t just feel great that they graduated, and they have a college degree. Envision and the CSP want students to also feel great because they got a great job and are paid a good wage that allows them to have an independent and fulfilling life.
The CSP is always looking to do more, and better, and one of the things currently in the works is a program aimed at younger students. This future program will include a focus on parents and TVIs, giving them the support and resources to help make more of an impact on students before they get to college and provide them with the best preparation as possible.
Additionally, the CSP and Envision will provide a direct link to a career path for both members and CSP Mentors, who could be potential candidates for placement in employment within Envision as well as other organizations. For example, Karyn was recently approached by an acquaintance who has an opening coming up in their organization and is looking to hire someone with low vision to fill the position. Envision, specifically Karyn’s team at the WIC, is working to develop more scenarios like this to create career paths not only inside but outside of the blind and visually impaired industry network. The WIC and CSP will be working together to uncover and develop what this process will look like so that these job opportunities can get in front of the people who need them. And feedback on this topic is always welcome! If you have thoughts or ideas on what you’re looking for, what you’d like to see with regards to job placement, career paths, and work opportunities, or just want to be a part of this process, let us know!
Tell me more about the WIC.
Mika Pyyhkala, Director of Digital Accessibility at the WIC, shared exactly what the WIC is and what it does. He gave some insights into the programs at the WIC, the types of initiatives it supports, and ways to get involved.
The key mission and goal of the WIC is finding, creating and providing professional job opportunities for people who are blind and visually impaired. For 90 years Envision has focused on manufacturing jobs but there is a desire and need to expand out from that and create professional job paths and positions both internal to Envision and external. Envision has done will manufacturing and selling products, but the WIC is diving deeper into the selling of services and business insights. There are a multitude of ways this is done that engages both employers and potential employees and allows the WIC to function like a startup within Envision by operating a few different businesses including:
- A contact center. Individuals who are blind or low vision are hired for positions making inbound and outbound calls. Employees in the contact center work on many different contracts. For example, one call center employee may provide technical support for a specific company while another conducts a public health survey for a large government agency.
- Digital accessibility services. As anyone in the blind community is aware, there is always a need for more digital accessibility. Digital Accessibility Analysts within the WIC who are blind or visually impaired and have certifications such as the CPACC Certification (Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies) and JAWS Certification (Job Access With Speech), are aiming to help alleviate that. For example, someone may approach the WIC about a specific website or app that needs digital accessibility work. The WIC will then go to that company and try to help them make it more accessible. There is often a better outcome in situations like this when the WIC can say there is a specific customer or stakeholder who is unable to use the website or app.
- Job placement. In addition to job placement within Envision, the WIC is actively looking to place people outside of the organization. There is currently a program that places employees into federal agencies and the WIC is in talks with several companies in financial services, IT security, and others about placement for blind and low vision employees as well.
- Policy advocacy. The WIC also does a great deal of work in engagement and policy advocacy. According to Mika, the WIC is “trying to make the world more accessible through policies in Washington and throughout the states.”
- The Accessible Toolkit podcast. The WIC currently has a podcast called The Accessible Toolkit. A recently popular episode took a deep dive into Uber’s features with iOS and Voiceover. For those that typically don’t delve into the deep specifics of an app, these podcast episodes are beneficial as they look at every little option and explain them. This podcast episode on Uber’s features also helps with the WIC advocacy with Uber for better accessibility.
Throughout all of this, the WIC is continually looking into creating additional businesses that can primarily hire people who are blind and visually impaired.
What is one thing that is a crucial skill for individuals who are blind or have low vision to develop in terms of employment?
When asked this question, Mika from the WIC had a great response…”Tech skills are kind of a given, but I would also say that people who are blind or who have other disabilities are kind of innate problem solvers. You know, we’re natural at solving problems. And just being able to have self-advocacy is probably a really important skill. Being able to identify what you need and then being able to get it whether it be from your university or your employer or some other organization. Knowing how to do that and how to advocate for that.”
Where can I learn more about jobs at Envision?
To explore the job opportunities available at Envision, visit www.envisionus.com/job-opportunities. For positions at any of the Envision locations, relocation services are provided as well as orientation, mobility and navigation services, making the positions available to anyone across the country and ensuring that all Envision employees are comfortable and confident in their positions.
Are there programs for K-12 students? Yes – Level Up!
When Envision sees a need, they quickly go about determining how to meet that need. This was the case with the Level Up program. Bonnie Cochran, Manager of Community Programs at Envision, was approached by some teachers who said that their students who were blind and visually impaired couldn’t access all their materials in the classroom. This was in 2006, so not everyone had a smartphone right in their pocket which meant that they had to get their material transcribed. That could sometimes take a long time, and in some cases the final product wasn’t the exact material that was needed. In response to this, Envision developed Level Up, an assistive technology (AT) program where students were encouraged to develop their AT skills. It began as an AT camp in 2006 with four high school seniors and has grown each year after. What was once a day program with a small group of students is now a national week-long program with students attending from across the United States. During this program, attending students get to learn from assistive technology professionals as well as each other. Inspirational speakers are also a big part of the programs. Recently, Jessica Loomer, an Accessibility Specialist at Spectrum Communications, came and presented as a keynote speaker but also did a campus run with students to encourage physical activity.
The Level up programs are all residential, with students staying on college campuses. This allows the students to learn the independence of staying in a dorm room, how to navigate the campus by going to and from their classes, even what it’s like to eat in the campus diner where they have the real experience of having to get their own food. The programs really try to home in on social and wayfinding skills, in additional to the assistive technology skills. A typical day at the camp includes technology labs in the morning where students choose from things like computer essentials to cyber security and STEAM workshops in the afternoon that include things like robotics, coding, mechanical engineering, performing arts, and culinary arts. For older students, there is also a focus on skills in leadership, success, and interviewing.
As Level Up has grown, the number of programs within it has also expanded so that there are programs for all grade levels as well as a mentor program to help students with their schoolwork. Students and teachers also stay connected with monthly chats and newsletters.
With the addition of the CSP to envision, the students who are in the Level Up program will now have a way to continue their success into their college journey.
Registration for Level Up 2022 is now open! Visit www.envisionus.com/youth-programs/level-up to learn more about the program and to register!
For questions on anything from the College Success Program to job placement and internships, from Level Up to digital accessibility, reach out to us at csp@envisionus.com. We’ll ensure that your question gets to the right person and that you get the answers you’re looking for.
Like this article? Check out these others:
WEBINAR – Envision the Future of CSP: A Partnership Between CSP and Envision, Inc.
Webinar Recap – A CSP Sit Down with Envision’s CEO Michael Monteferrante
Envision’s College Success Program (CSP), a part of the William L. Hudson BVI Workforce Innovation Center, is committed to serving college and transitioning high school students who are blind or low vision. The CSP is a virtual program that provides a holistic support system and engages students through online resources, events, mentorship, and more, all at no cost to them. Contact the CSP at csp@envisionus.com.