Hildebrandt selected for Partners in Policymaking Academy
October 13, 2006
KOKOMO, Ind.—Indiana University Kokomo staff member Carolyn Hildebrandt of Kewanna has received a scholarship to participate in the Partners in Policymaking Academy Class of 2007. Partners in Policymaking is a leadership training program designed to teach best practices and improve participants’ advocacy skills on behalf of people with disabilities.
Hildebrandt works for the campus Office of University Division as an academic advisor and coordinator of disability services. “As our population of disabled students grows I feel we should be informed and ready to provide the best service possible so that these students can have complete access to an education,” Hildebrandt said. Her office identifies and documents students who face physical and cognitive barriers to learning, and offers resources to help level those barriers, such as classroom note takers or scribes, textbooks in electronic forms, software to modify computer operations, and extra time for taking tests.
From October through March 2007, Hildebrandt will participate in some 128 hours of training in monthly Partners in Policymaking Academy sessions held in Indianapolis. Sessions in Community Inclusion, Education, Federal Legislation in Assistive Technology, and Indiana Service System should be particularly useful to her work at IU Kokomo, she said. “The other topics will help me in understanding the ‘whole picture,’ but these seem to specifically apply to our immediate issues in serving students.
University Division Director Gerry Stroman called Hildebrandt’s appointment “an excellent opportunity for IU Kokomo to participate in statewide policy making about disability services and for our office to keep up to date on services and technologies available to assist disabled students. It is also great for us to network with other colleagues from multiple settings who deal with persons with disabilities.”
Hildebrandt is active in University Division’s other main functions—advising undecided students, assisting with orientations and convocation, conducting workshops and study labs for students, and providing orientation to new faculty regarding disability services on campus.
The Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities will invest about $5,000 for each of the 40 Hoosiers accepted into the 2007 program. Since its creation in 1987, Partners in Policymaking programs have been implemented in 46 states, the Northern Mariana Islands, Netherlands, Virgin Islands, and the United Kingdom. More than 13,000 program graduates are part of a growing national and international network of community leaders serving on policy making committees, commissions, and boards at all levels of government.
