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Program helps KU prepare students with intellectual disability thrive among peers
LAWRENCE — When COVID-19 prompted the closure of the University of Kansas campus, Dana Lattin had faith that students in KU Transition to Postsecondary Education, or TPE, could adapt to their new online experiences. That’s because TPE is based on developing problem solving, creativity and resiliency, she said. Established with a five-year grant to the KU Life Span Institute that expires this year, TPE offers students with intellectual disability a combination of academic, career development and student life experiences that builds their community participation and prepares them for employment.
Ten KU students receive Undergraduate Research Awards for summer
LAWRENCE — This summer, 10 KU students will receive Undergraduate Research Awards (UGRAs). UGRA recipients are awarded a $1,000 scholarship as they work on mentored research and creative projects. Award recipients include students from Lawrence, Olathe, Overland Park, Topeka and Wichita.
KU Law student places as finalist in two national writing competitions
LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas law student was recently selected as the first runner-up in a national writing competition for her paper on how restrictive voter ID laws make it harder for transgender individuals to vote. Third-year law student Ellen Bertels, of Wichita, finished second in the 2020 Michael Greenberg Student Writing Competition, which recognizes outstanding law student scholarship on the legal issues affecting LGBTQ individuals. Bertels, who is a graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, was also selected as a finalist in the American Constitution Society’s Constance Baker Motley National Student Writing Competition. Her paper, “Isolation in the Free State: How Kansas Due Process Law Can Protect LGBTQ People from Solitary Confinement,” discussed constitutional challenges to solitary confinement.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Jen Humphrey, Life Span Institute, 785-864-6621, [email protected], @kulifespan
Program helps KU prepare students with intellectual disability thrive among peers
LAWRENCE — When COVID-19 prompted the closure of the University of Kansas campus, Dana Lattin had faith that students in KU Transition to Postsecondary Education, or TPE, could adapt to their new online experiences.
That’s because TPE is based on developing problem solving, creativity and resiliency, she said. Established with a five-year grant to the KU Life Span Institute in 2015, TPE offers students with intellectual disability a combination of academic, career development and student life experiences that builds their community participation and prepares them for employment.
“The assumption is that students with intellectual disability would suffer or struggle as everything moved online,” said Lattin, research project director and the administrator for TPE. “And like any college student, they struggled with some things. On others, they soared.”
Those students included Carleigh La Voy, a first-year student who dealt with the disappointment of canceled choir performances and the closure of her favorite place on campus, the Spencer Museum of Art, where she had an internship. But by the end of the spring semester, she had adapted like so many other students to managing coursework on Blackboard, learning and socializing over Zoom, and conversation apps such as GroupMe.
La Voy offered a final class presentation about her future goals to instructors and several family members over Zoom.
“It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be because it wasn’t face to face, so not as intimidating,” she said.
TPE students such as La Voy enroll in undergraduate KU courses, participate in student clubs and activities, can live in KU student housing and gain career experience through internships. They graduate in two years with a Transition to Postsecondary Education Certificate from the KU School of Education. It’s one of 48 federally grant-funded TPSIDs, or Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disability, that have been introduced at universities across the country in the past 10 years.
Engagement has been key to keeping TPE students involved and accountable, Lattin said. Once campus had closed, a request went out over the app GroupMe used by the students and staff for everyone to post a photo of their new home study space. Another day, everyone had to post a meme of how they were feeling. They continued to meet for study sessions with peer academic coaches, who are other KU undergraduate students, but instead of meeting at Watson or Anschutz libraries, they met on Zoom.
Some students excelled at adapting their internships to the new environment.
In the spring 2020 semester, TPE student Madison Peavey, of Leawood, had been interning in the classrooms of KU’s Language Acquisition Preschool, or LAP, in the Dole Human Development Center. When the preschool closed in response to the statewide stay-at-home orders, she found a way to convert what she had learned in class and at the preschool to select books for children, read them aloud and record the sessions on Zoom for children. One book she selected was “The Book of Hugs,” by Dave Ross.
“I loved that Madison wanted to help when we started doing weekly recordings for the LAP children,” said Ana Paula Mumy, KU clinical assistant professor and director of Language Acquisition Preschool. “She pulled together what she saw modeled in LAP and what she had learned in her coursework about how to engage young children in shared reading experiences. It was encouraging to see her asking some dialogic reading questions throughout the virtual reading as though the children were right there with her.”
Jacob Hammer, who like Peavey graduated with the TPE certificate this spring, moved online with his internship, too.
While he had been working on editing video projects at the School of Business with video producer Michael Brock early in the semester, the pandemic forced Hammer to work at home remotely with video editing and effects software to produce content for the school’s graduation video and other projects.
Hammer said he had not pictured himself going to college when he was a student at Free State High School, but he knew he would need more skills if he were to pursue his goal to work in television, filmmaking or video.
“I didn’t think I could be a full-time student at a university,” he said. “If someone has a disability and I knew them and they were worried about being a full-time student, I would tell them about TPE. It’s something you can put on your resume and help you get a full-time job because you have college experience.”
Karrie Shogren, director of the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities at the Life Span Institute and the primary investigator leading the grant that funds TPE, sees admitting students with intellectual disability as a benefit to all students and instructors, not just those who participate in the program.
“If you know how to engage students who have significant support needs, it helps you improve the way you support all of your students on campus,” said Shogren, who is a professor in the KU Department of Special Education. “We live in a diverse society, and we all know the power of interacting with people who have different experiences. A big part of the program is impacting all students, faculty and staff in the KU community.”
As the grant funding TPE nears its end, Lattin is hopeful that private foundation funding or other grants she is applying for can keep it going. Eleven students have been admitted for the fall 2020 semester, the largest cohort of TPE students yet.
La Voy, for one, can’t wait to be back on campus. She misses singing in choir class, Jayhawk Boulevard and socializing with friends in the crowded Wescoe Hall cafeteria.
“I have grown closer with my family,” she said, “but some days I’m ready to get back. I can’t wait. I love campus. The people, the buildings. I love it.”
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Contact: Nicole Perry, Center for Undergraduate Research, 785-864-3391, [email protected], @ugresearch
Ten KU students receive Undergraduate Research Awards for summer
LAWRENCE — This summer, 10 KU students will receive Undergraduate Research Awards (UGRAs). UGRA recipients are awarded a $1,000 scholarship as they work on mentored research and creative projects.
“The students who applied for summer Undergraduate Research Awards turned in their proposals amidst the rapid transition to online classes in the spring,” said Alison Olcott, director of the Center for Undergraduate Research and associate professor of geology. “I am so impressed with our students’ ability to adapt their plans and move forward with the important questions they are posing in their research.”
Students apply for UGRAs by writing a four-page research proposal under the guidance of a mentor. Faculty reviewers evaluate the applications based on the merit of the applicant’s proposal, the applicant’s academic record and a recommendation from the mentor.
The Center for Undergraduate Research will begin taking applications for the Spring 2021 UGRA competition during the fall semester. More information can be found online.
Students receiving awards for summer 2020 are listed below in alphabetical order along with academic level, hometown, project title, mentor and mentor’s department:
Jasmin Albert, a senior from Overland Park: “Influence of tail-associated environmental fluctuations on species coexistence and biodiversity via the storage effect,” mentored by Daniel Reuman, professor of ecology & evolutionary biology and senior scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey.
Zoe Su-Huey Chan, a junior from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: “Do non-native plants benefit from native soil biota during environmental stresses?” mentored by Benjamin Sikes, associate professor of ecology & evolutionary biology.
Emma Cosner, a junior from Lawrence: “Examining the influence of Xantphos, a donor-acceptor phosphine ligand, on H2 evolution by organometallic rhodium complexes,” mentored by James Blakemore, assistant professor of chemistry.
Emily Doffing, a senior from Wichita: “Trends in adolescents’ responses to passive and active suicidal ideation,” mentored by Barbara Kerr, Williamson Family Distinguished Professor of Counseling Psychology.
Zai Erb, a sophomore from Lawrence: “Examining geographical spatial synchrony with respect to topography,” mentored by Daniel Reuman, professor of ecology & evolutionary biology and senior scientist at the Kansas Biological Survey.
Cheyenne Loo, a senior from Olathe: “Hijacking the enemy comms: eavesdropping and quorum sensing in bacterial competition,” mentored by Josephine Chandler, associate professor of molecular biosciences.
Rachel Manweiler, a junior from Lawrence: “Quantifying the differences in Apyrene and Eupyrene sperm in two lineages of Plodia Interpunctella,” mentored by James Walters, associate professor of ecology & evolutionary biology.
Tristan Myers, a senior from Topeka: “Paramagnetic species as a factor in TD-NMR analysis of polymer suspension systems,” mentored by Alan Allgeier, associate professor of chemical & petroleum engineering.
James Ross, a senior from Overland Park: “PFASs compounds as in vivo selective pressures: The use of direct selection to induce a bioremediate adaptation in pure cultures of bacterium Azospira oryzae,” mentored by Justin Hutchison, assistant professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering.
Trong Minh Vu, a sophomore from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: “Application of Phage-Proteins to Remove Pathogenic Bacteria in Drinking Water Treatment,” mentored by Justin Hutchison, assistant professor of civil, environmental & architectural engineering.
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Contact: Ashley Golledge, School of Law, [email protected], @kulawschool
KU Law student places as finalist in two national writing competitions
LAWRENCE — A University of Kansas law student was recently selected as the first runner-up in a national writing competition for her paper on how restrictive voter ID laws make it harder for transgender individuals to vote.
Third-year law student Ellen Bertels, of Wichita, finished second in the 2020 Michael Greenberg Student Writing Competition, which recognizes outstanding law student scholarship on the legal issues affecting LGBTQ individuals. The competition is sponsored by the Tulane Journal of Law & Sexuality: A Review of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Law and the National LGBT Bar Association.
Bertels’ paper, “Strengthening the Trans Franchise,” will be considered for publication in the 2021 issue of the Tulane Journal of Law & Sexuality. The paper investigated the substantial barriers created for transgender people who do not have identification that reflect their gender identity.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about ID documents for transgender people and how difficult those processes can be,” Bertels said. “Voter ID laws can unwittingly make it difficult for transgender people to vote because they may not have updated IDs with their name, gender marker or photo ID.”
Earlier in the spring semester, Bertels was selected as a finalist in the American Constitution Society’s Constance Baker Motley National Student Writing Competition. Her paper, “Isolation in the Free State: How Kansas Due Process Law Can Protect LGBTQ People from Solitary Confinement,” discussed constitutional challenges to solitary confinement. The competition is sponsored by the American Constitution Society (ACS) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s ACS chapter.
Kyle Velte, associate professor of law, supervised Bertels’ research for both papers.
“Professor Velte truly has been such an incredible mentor,” Bertels said. “None of this would have happened without her guidance, incredibly thorough feedback and constant support for the work that I want to do.”
Velte said that Bertels is “a super-star student and activist, as well as an impressive emerging scholar.”
“Legal scholarship has an impact on the most important legal and social issues that confront our nation,” Velte said. “Ellen’s thoughtful, thorough and persuasive articles will have a positive impact on the important and pressing project of achieving full equality for all LGBTQ people.”
In addition to writing scholarship about topics affecting the LGBTQ community, Bertels did multiple presentations this spring about gender marker and name changes in Kansas. Bertels and fellow third-year law student Delaney Hiegert presented about the emerging topic to attorneys as well as transgender and nonbinary individuals seeking affirming gender marker and name changes.
Bertels decided to study public interest law at KU after earning undergraduate degrees in English and Italian from KU.
At KU Law, Bertels is the president of the Public Interest Law Society, the vice president of KU’s chapter of the American Constitution Society, a staff editor for the Kansas Law Review, a student ambassador and a member of both Women in Law and OUTLaws & Allies.
This summer, Bertels is working remotely for the New York-based Brennan Center for Justice on voting rights and election security. Bertels hopes to practice in public interest law upon graduation from law school.
“Litigation and appellate work are definitely part of the career path that I want to pursue, no matter what form my career takes,” Bertels said.
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