Noelle Atwell

More Disabled Veterans Choose UMUC

By Wil McLean
Special to FYI Online

UMUC's expertise in online education and emphasis on ease of access has helped make the University a popular choice among students with special needs.

"Sometimes disability means that an individual has difficulty getting places," said Noelle Atwell, director of Veteran and Disabled Student Affairs. "So, for this reason, online courses are attractive—they seem to be the answer for students with mobility concerns."

For several years, beginning in 1994 when UMUC started offering courses electronically, online enrollments doubled or tripled each year. At the same time, the courses have become especially popular among disabled veterans, with the number of disabled veterans enrolled in online courses increasing 266 percent since 1999.

Vietnam veteran Nathaniel Slayton—who still has a shell fragment lodged in his vertebrae and contracted hepatitis C from blood transfusions when in the military—is only one example. "Slayton began attending UMUC in 1997 and completed his bachelor's degree in information systems and security in May 2001. Because his condition dictates that he rest 10 to 12 hours each day, Slayton was not able to have the traditional classroom experience. He worked at his own pace to complete the online coursework, often studying from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., long after most students would leave the classroom."

"For some reason, that's when I'm most energized," Slayton said. "And I don't know of many traditional college classes [that meet] at that time."

Yet, not all of these disabled veterans and students with special needs are taking online courses because they are homebound.

"I think the majority of our students with disabilities take online courses for the very same reason all our [other] students do," said Atwell. "They have jobs, they have families, or they live too far away to attend class."

No matter what kind of unique challenges one faces, one must still be self-disciplined to take online courses, Atwell said.

UMUC, with its strategic use of the Internet, allows students who once felt isolated to enjoy many of the same benefits as traditional students. However, there are still bugs to be worked out of the online education system.

"Choice of colors, typeface, and layout of Web pages can affect the ease of reading for students with learning disabilities," Atwell said. "Visually impaired students often cannot access text material unless it is available by voicemail or Braille output. Course developers and faculty need to be aware of the overall design of the Web pages because of the tremendous effect the design has on accessibility."

UMUC works with individual students and faculty members to provide the necessary accommodations for a disability and appropriate to the online delivery method, Atwell said.