The Access Plus Program, along with the Office of Alumni Relations, launched a crowd-funding campaign on April 11. The campaign will last for the whole month of April, which is Autism Awareness Month, starting off with a webinar about autism, presented by Maribel Del Río-Roberts, associate professor in the Department of Human Services.
The campaign is to raise money for scholarship funds that will help students in the program.
“The funds give the possibility for internships for the students in the program. [It gives] them a little bit more work experience when they leave the university,” Del Río-Roberts said.
The Access Plus Program is an on-campus support program for undergraduate students at Nova Southeastern University.
Along with the tuition, students accepted into the program pay $9,090 per semester. The program does have small scholarship funds that come from campaigns along with the scholarship NSU offers upon enrollment.
There are other ways students enrolled in this program can pay, like registering for the Florida Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, applying for outside scholarships, getting private loans or recruiting donors.
“The price was established when the program was first introduced to the university, and it is so much because it is an intensive support that not all students are eligible for,” Del Río-Roberts said.
This program is overseen by the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education & School of Criminal Justice. Students need to be accepted into NSU on their own academic merits to be able to be accepted into the Access Plus Program.
“Just because the student has autism spectrum disorder doesn’t mean that the academic requirement [is] lowered in any way,” Del Río-Roberts said.
“They have to have the GPA to be accepted on their own, and they have to be able to keep up with their coursework as any other student.”
Students who have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum can apply and interview to be accepted into the program.
The Access Plus Program focuses more on social support. If students want academic support, they have to go to disability services to get extra time during assignments or tests.
The program offers social support, like study hall from 2 to 6 p.m. on Monday through Friday in the Alvin Sherman Library. The program also offers students peer and support mentors to help them.
“In addition to that, we offer some social coaching that helps with difficulty making friends or joining organizations, and we have a psycho-educational group for stress management or career development,” Del Río-Roberts said.
Mentors are usually graduate students in psychology, and they help students with organization, time management, planning and advocacy. Mentors are interviewed and hired through Federal Work-Study. Peer mentors are matched with students based on personality, but accessibility in their schedule is the most important thing.
“Peer mentors help students who can’t advocate, ask and get stressed to do things for themselves,” Del Río-Roberts said.
Students must attend study hall and ask for support when they need it.
“As long as the student is motivated to participate, they show an effort, attend and are receptive to feedback and support, we at the Access Plus Program will be there for them,” Del Río-Roberts said.
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