Support Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students and the Role of Deaf Professionals in Higher Education.

Johnson County Community College conducted a study in 1997 to obtain information about available support services for deaf and hard of hearing students at postsecondary institutions, and to gather information on the role of deaf professionals at postsecondary institutions. Surveys were mailed to 650 participants obtained from the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) mailing list, and the College and Career Programs for Deaf students. A total of 248 usable surveys were returned. This report contains information on full- and part-time employees, involvement in decision making, recruitment of deaf employees, providers of students services, student enrollment, grant support programs, interpreters for campus events, profile of participating institutions, and two-/four-year institutions. Major findings indicate that, on average, responding institutions had 4 full-time deaf or hard of hearing employees and an additional 3 part-time employees, which represents a small proportion of the average number of total employees per institution (1270 full-time and 752 part-time). In each of four job categories, faculty had the highest representation of deaf employees, averaging 2.3 per institution, followed by service/maintenance employees (mean=1.4), office/technical employees (mean=1.2), and administrative employees (mean=0.9). The average enrollment of deaf or hard of hearing credit students is 19.8 students. One-fifth of the institutions offer no sign language classes, while 58% offer such courses for credit and 41% offer noncredit classes. Tabled results and the questionnaire are appended. (AS)