Are You College Bound?
Souther Tier VESID Staff Corner...
VESID's Eligibility Criteria
Lights, Camera, Action!
Preparation is the Key!
Articulation Agreements
Did You Know?
Contact Information
The Southern Tier VESID office currently assists 427 students with their college programs. For students whose vocational goals require college training, VESID may be able to assist with college costs such as tuition and fees, books, room/board, and transportation costs. VESID reviews the family’s income, and may also look at the family’s living expenses, in determining whether or not they meet the financial qualifications. All students are required to apply for any financial aid they may be eligible for. VESID then assists with costs beyond what financial aid can cover, up to the maximum VESID threshold.
If a family does not meet VESID’s financial cutoffs, there are still college expenses that VESID can assist with regardless of the financial status. These services include notetaker services, readers, and sign-language interpreters, and, beginning in fall 2007, up to $1,100 in required books per year. In addition, VESID’s vocational guidance, counseling and placement services are available to students without regard to their financial circumstances. VESID works closely with campus offices for services to students with disabilities, to insure appropriate accommodations are provided for students to increase the likelihood of the students’ successful completion of their training program.
Upon completion of college training, VESID can assist with the job search process, including resume development, interviewing skills, understanding VESID’s employer incentives, such as tax credits and wage reimbursement programs, and placement follow-up to insure the job is a good match for the individual.
For students who are considering applying to VESID for assistance with college training, the application to VESID must be received no later than April 15th for the fall 2007 college semester.
Edward Patten, who had been with VESID (formerly OVR) for 35 years, retired in March. Ed most recently worked with transitioning students in the Chemung County area.
Katherine Donahue, a Syracuse University graduate, is our newest addition to the counseling team. Kate covers a majority of Delaware County, including many of the schools.
Jack Lance, a counselor with VESID for over 18 years, was recently promoted to Senior Counselor, supervising the Broome and Tioga Counties team of counselors.
Hope was referred to VESID from Owego Free Academy in her junior year of school. Hope has a learning disability which causes her difficulty with math reasoning, reading comprehension, reading decoding, and written expression.
Hope’s grandfather was a photographer, and Hope found she also had a strong interest in cameras as well as video production. While in high school, she completed the Video Production program offered through Broome-Tioga BOCES. After graduation, Hope attended TC3 (Tompkins Cortland Community College), and completed an AAS degree in Broadcasting Production-Television.
Sue Spencer-Kellman, Hope’s VESID Counselor, worked with Hope during her junior and senior years in high school, as well as assisting with financial sponsorship of her program at TC3. Sue states that what impressed her most about Hope was her initiative. This drive was demonstrated through her resourcefulness in finding opportunities to gain experience in the field. For example, while still in high school, Hope worked with a local independent film maker, assisting with the cameras.
During her college training, Hope arranged an internship on the set of a television sitcom, which was filmed in New York City, and she earned six college credits in the process.
The internship was not glamorous, in fact, she did everything from walking the dogs for the show ’s cast members, to set and office production work, however, it gave her the opportunity to be “front and center” in the television the television production process.
After graduating from college, Sue referred Hope to Community Options, to assist with job placement. As luck would have it, Jo DiFulvio, Program Director, had a cousin who managed a production company in Las Vegas. In January 2007, Hope was interviewed and hired at Maps Production, where she began a position operating lighting boards for shows and movies. This is where the glamour began, as Hope’s first job was doing the lighting for The Miss America Pageant!!
Hope loves her work and says she is “busy, busy, busy”! It looks like Hope has a bright future in lighting and production work!
Diane Stachowski is a VESID Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor who works with a transition caseload in the Steuben County area. Her caseload includes students who will be pursuing job placement, some with the assistance of a job coach, as well as students who are pursuing college degrees.
Regardless of what path a student takes upon completion of high school, preparing for the journey that awaits them after graduation is a key factor in insuring a smooth transition to life after high school.
Diane has found that two school districts have done an exceptional job of preparing their college-bound students, particularly those who are referred to VESID.
The Canisteo-Greenwood and Corning-Painted Post High Schools have referred approximately 20 students to VESID in the past few months. To the credit of the Guidance Offices, CSE Chairpersons, and Resource Room Teachers, Diane has found these college-bound students to be extremely well prepared for their initial meetings with VESID. Many of the students have already applied and have been accepted into college, and have completed the financial aid applications!
Diane states this makes her job much easier as she works with each student to develop a plan for VESID services and possible financial support of the college program.
Kudos to Canisteo-Greenwood and Corning-Painted Post!
By Marian Ferguson, VESID Senior Counselor
So. Tier VESID, DCMO SETRC, ONC SETRC, VESID Regional Associate and the Mid -State Transition coordination site representatives have recently met with the Bainbridge-Guilford, Greene, Sidney, Franklin and Morris school districts’ CSE and Transition staff to work on articulation agreements. The agreements project the number of potential referrals for 2 years, how referrals will be made, how documentation will be exchanged and how communication/feedback will be handled. They outline the roles and responsibilities of all parties and includes contact information for school district and VESID administrators.
Meetings to work on the agreements allowed discussion of the current process, identification of barriers and problem solving as a group. Final copies of the agreements will be shared with all parties. The agreements will be reviewed on at least an annual basis. The feedback on the process has been positive. The Syracuse region has been using this process for a few years and has found it to be an effective tool.
The Articulation Agreement was developed at Cornell University by the Mid State Transition team in collaboration with representatives from Syracuse including, VESID Quality Assurance, District Office staff and input from several focus groups of school district personal and VESID counselors. The Mid State Coordination site is developing a web based format for the Articulation Agreement to be used throughout the state.
NYS VESID can pay for job coaching or supported employment services as early as the last semester of the senior year. Coordinating these services during the final months of school helps the student to develop a rapport with the job coach, begin looking at employment options, and experience a smooth transition from school to the work world.
VESID continues to recommend referring students in their junior year for assistance with transition planning.
Broome, Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, Tioga Counties:
NYS VESID
44 Hawley St.
Binghamton, NY 13901
Ph: 1-800-888-5010
607-721-8400
Fax: 607-721-8390
TTY: 607-721-8408
Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Tompkins Counties:
NYS VESID
244 W. Water St.
Elmira, NY 14901
Ph: 1-800-888-5020
607-734-5294
Fax: 607-734-6802
TTY: 607-721-4676
Alternate formats available upon request
Questions or comments:
Contact Dot Marinaccio at
721-8403, 734-5294,
or e-mail dmarinac@mail.nysed.gov
The State Education Department does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, religion, creed, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation in its recruitment, educational programs, services and activities.