FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University Career Development Center, Center for Students with Disabilities and University Health Center will sponsor Career Planning for Students with Disabilities from 9-11:30 a.m., Friday, Nov. 22, in the Reynolds Center Auditorium on the University of Arkansas campus. There will be a repeat session from 2:30-5 p.m. that afternoon.

The conference’s featured speaker will be Alan D. Muir, executive director of Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities at the University of Tennessee, a national consortium of universities and employers focused on the promotion of career employment for college graduates with disabilities.

University of Arkansas administrators, faculty, staff and students, area employers and area professionals who work with individuals with disabilities in career planning roles are encouraged to attend.

Muir joined the University of Tennessee in 1998 and as coordinator of disability services, he co-founded and was chair of COSD. With U.S. Department of Labor funding received in August 2001, he became executive director. COSD is composed of more than 100 members with an even split between universities and employers, including U.S. Government agencies. He has presented various elements of the topic of disability and employment at national, regional and state conferences, as well as universities across the country. Muir's previous career was as a Chase Manhattan Bank commercial lending officer and commercial credit-training specialist for 16 years on Long Island, NY.

The objectives of the conference for teachers, advisors, counselors and employers is to increase understanding and knowledge of professionalism in working with individuals with disabilities; to increase understanding of laws related to employment of individuals with disabilities; to learn advising/counseling techniques for helping students with disabilities with the career-planning process; and to learn advising/counseling/training methods for helping students with disabilities with the job search process.

The objectives of the conference for students is to increase understanding of the importance of career planning, i.e., building a resume, developing work-related skills, etc.; to help students learn to identify accommodations needed to perform jobs related to their areas of career interest and to begin to explore their feelings about disclosure; to provide models of how, when and if to disclose need for accommodations; and to help students better understand the importance of self-advocacy and when and how to ask for assistance or information.

To make a reservation for this conference, contact Barbara Batson at bbatson@uark.edu.

Please provide your name, contact information and which session, morning or afternoon, you wish to attend.