There’s a new SCOUT at Fresno State, and it’s ready to help students with disabilities get to and from their classes, appointments and activities on campus.
A Student Campus Community Transportation Services vehicle – SCOUT for short – begins operations today, (March 26) at California State University, Fresno. It will be operated by the Department of Parking and Transportation, which paid $14,000 to purchase it, in collaboration with the office of Services for Students with Disabilities program.
“Students whose disabilities make it more difficult to get from class to class will now to be able to travel quickly from one side of the campus to the other,” said Carole Snee, director of Services for Students with Disabilities. “Several students have been eager for the service to begin and expressed their interest throughout the planning process.”
The vehicle, twice the size of current campus “escort” vehicles, will accommodate five students on bench seats and one wheelchair, plus the driver. Valerie Valverde of Campus Recreational Services and six students from the Student Scholar Grant and Community Service programs were certified in Defensive Driving and received extensive training in assisting the disabled from Toni Tyner of the Physical Therapy Department, Snee said.
Use of the SCOUT is offered to students who are authorized as eligible by Snee’s office. So far, eight students with disabilities have made arrangements for regular pickups and drop-offs according to their needs. Though the vehicles are primarily for student use, efforts will be made to assist faculty and staff with disabilities if the SCOUT is available, Snee said.
She also noted that the new service is a joint effort: “We’ve teamed Parking and Transportation, headed by Gary Beddingfield; Services for Students with Disabilities, Student Life and the student drivers – all to emphasize student-to-student service opportunities on campus.”
The new vehicle is one of several forms of assistance offered by Services for Students with Disabilities, which works to ensure educational opportunity for the disabled. The office provides reading services, note-taking and interpreting services, counseling, registration assistance, workshops, specialized software and an adaptive equipment lab. It also arranges various accommodations students need during testing, such as extended time, private and quiet rooms, readers and scribes and test enlargement.
For information about the SCOUT and Services for Students with Disabilities, call 278-2811.
Research and writing assistance provided by Michelle Vieira, University Relations student intern.
