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app State University Takes Inclusive Education to the Next Level

New certificate program in General Education Studies launches for app with intellectual disabilities; applications for fall 2024 are now open

Posted in: Education, Homepage News

Two app are sitting in an outdoor courtyard, smiling and working on a laptop.
Minal Rosenblum, right, reviews a website portfolio she is creating with Megan Akdemir of the times this fall they have spent together at campus activities, having lunch and attending class.

Minal Rosenblum bonds with friends over photography and Taylor Swift. She teaches yoga on campus to preschoolers at the Ben Samuels Children’s Center and is an artist who creates note cards featuring watercolor flowers, decoupage and marbled paper. She’s also an advocate for inclusion and people with disabilities. At the Disability Pride Parade held last May in the Township of app, Rosenblum, who has Down syndrome, told the crowd, “I am disabled but I am not special. Please don’t call me that.”

Attending college is a goal for this self-described “strong woman,” and next fall she hopes to have the opportunity to earn college credits as part of the first cohort of a new Certificate in General Education Studies, which will expand the opportunities for app with intellectual disabilities on the app State University campus. “It’s important to include more people in the college,” she says. “My fingers are crossed.”

Nationally, only about 2% of app with intellectual disabilities have the opportunity to attend a college or university. Programs are growing, and in New Jersey, app State University, with its new certificate program, is among and universities in New Jersey that offer app with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to earn credits and learn inclusively in higher education settings.

Currently, Rosenblum is part of the University’s Increasing Access to College (IAC) project, a transition program for local high school app and young adults to introduce them to the college experience. Peer mentors from the teacher education program accompany the app to class and activities. “I would say 100% confidently that this program adds value to the campus,” says Megan Akdemir, a senior Mathematics major on track to earn the five-year Master of Arts in Teaching.

“Having this peer relationship with Minal has helped me, and I’m sure her also, develop a friendship where we realize that there’s so many things that make us different, but there are a lot of things that we really enjoy and have shared similarities,” Akdemir says.

A professor points to a computer screen while helping a student.
During an Advanced Inclusive Methods class, Professor Susan Baglieri assists Christiana Quinatoa, an IAC student who comes to app with the Bloomfield School District’s Vocational Education and Special Training (VEST) program.

The work of building an inclusive campus began seven years ago with professors Jessica Bacon and Susan Baglieri, faculty members in the Department of Teaching and Learning, teaming as project coordinators of the IAC project. A $250,000 grant in 2021 from the Lacey Family Inclusive Education Fund led to a partnership to create the new certificate program to further develop skills for self-advocacy, intellectual pursuit and employment for young adults.

“People with disabilities should have the same opportunities as everyone else to grow, learn and forge a successful path for themselves,” says Wendy Lacey, owner of Cornerstone app, a business promoting community inclusion. “This certificate program will give them the chance to build their future. We have so much confidence in the professors and administrators who are bringing this program to life. It sends a big message about the value system of the University.”

Wendy and Andrew Lacey joined the families attending a launch event in October for the Certificate in General Education Studies. “When we arrived, we were delighted to see a room full of families in attendance. Families like our own, who have aspirations and dreams for our loved ones who have disabilities,” Wendy Lacey said. “It was inspiring, and honestly, we felt very emotional.”

The Lacey family.
Wendy and Andrew Lacey with their children, from left, Derek, Evelyn, Abigail and Paige, share a commitment to strengthen inclusion in the community. (Photo taken in 2021 when the family provided a grant for the inclusion program.)

The event included an overview of the two-year commuter program, including the academic, supportive framework, and recreational components for app aged 18-25. Program curriculum includes courses in the liberal arts and sciences followed by study in a self-selected area of concentration and supported work experience related to the app’ ambitions in career or continuing education. Tracks include: Education, Service and Society; Management and Technology; Health, Wellness and Sciences; and Arts, Culture and Design.

“I think the entire campus community benefits from the inclusion of app with intellectual disabilities at app,” says certificate program Director Kathryn Leonard. “The Certificate in General Education Studies offers opportunities for all app app to benefit from interdependence, engage with diverse perspectives and lived experiences, and develop a meaningful understanding of disability justice.”

Two app work on a laptop in a classroom, with two more app at a computer behind them.
Amir Colbert, left, who is in Bloomfield School District’s VEST program, and Madison Miqueli, a senior Health and Physical Education major in the University’s five-year MAT program, design a website.

“Being inclusive is something that should absolutely be everywhere, but unfortunately, is not,” says Christine Tanko, a senior Music Education major on the five-year track to also earn her Master of Arts in Teaching. “We have facilities and resources on this campus that can support multiple types of learners.”

That includes the University’s ADP Center for Learning Technologies, where on a recent Friday the Advanced Inclusive Methods class met with their IAC peers to begin building website portfolios. The project will include “about” pages on their partnerships, the social and recreational activities they have participated in together, and their academic classes.

In addition to attending that class together, Tanko has a regular weekly lunch date with Rosenblum, bonding over hobbies like photography and their families. “We’ve been getting to know each other slowly,” says Tanko. “Every week we connect a little bit more.”

About 10 app will be accepted as part of the first cohort in the Certificate in General Education Studies program, and Rosenblum says she’s already completed her application.

“I made that choice on my own,” she says, noting her positive IAC experience. “I want to go to college and I want to go here especially because my mom [Teaching and Learning Professor Priya Lalvani] and dad [Norman Rosenblum, an adjunct in Art and Design] work here. I want to be the next person in our family who comes to app. With all these possibilities, it’s amazing.”

Student raises her fist in the air while standing at a microphone, while people behind her applaud.
Minal Rosenblum speaks at the app Township’s Disability Pride Parade and Rally, sponsored by the app Friday Group (a support and social action group for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities); the app State University Disability Caucus; and the People with Disabilities Advisory Committee to the Township of app. (Photo courtesy Norman Rosenblum)

The Certificate in General Education Studies program is currently recruiting app for its inaugural class, which will start in fall 2024. are open. An will be offered at 6:30 p.m. Monday, November 13. 

Story by Staff Writer Marilyn Joyce Lehren. Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters.

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