It’s a new school year, and that means new students – and this time, it’s more new students than HDI has ever seen before.
HDI is still offering its classes for the year, but enrollment has drastically increased, even tripling in some of the programs.
“This year, just like last year, we’ll have classes in three distinct academic programs,” said HDI Training Director Dr. Rachel Womack. “This year, I’m probably most excited about our really large cohort of Universal Design certificate students. It’s 27. It’s the biggest that we’ve ever had.”
The three programs that HDI offers to students are the LEND program, which is on the final year of its grant cycle, the Graduate Certificate in Developmental Disability program, and the Undergraduate Certificate in Universal Design. These programs start on the 28th and 29th.
The LEND program, which stands for Leadership Excellence in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities. The goal of this program is to create a space for multidisciplinary education in working with people with a variety of neurodevelopmental disabilities. The students will work not only with faculty, but also with subject matter experts including family members and self-advocates. This year, the program is welcoming a wider variety of students than ever before.
“In that program, we have lots of different disciplines represented, including social work, psychology, speech language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy,” Womack said. “This year we have biomechanics for the first time, which I think is actually a really natural fit. So we were thrilled to have that student apply. We also have school psychology represented in the program for the first time.”
From there, the students will be placed in practicum courses that allow them to put what they’ve learned to use in the field – from healthcare and psychology to education to a number of other possibilities, they have a significant number of options available to them.
The Graduate Certificate in Developmental Disabilities is similar – Womack described it as being like an abbreviated version of the LEND program. Students still engage in some of the same interdisciplinary coursework and do have the opportunity to complete a shortened practicum. This certificate program includes its own leadership course, which ensures that students have the opportunity to really hone their leadership skills in the area of developmental disabilities.
“We try to bake that leadership experience into both of those programs,” Womack said.
The third of these programs is the Undergraduate Certificate in Universal Design, which has this year tripled its enrollment from nine students to 27. Womack attributes the spike in interest to a stronger relationship with the College of Design and the School of Interiors, which serves as the academic home for the program.
Womack is thrilled not only with the sudden swell of enthusiasm that has led to students already getting into active discussions, but with how many different disciplines are represented within the new cohorts. She predicts it will lead to a fantastic year.
“That’s kind of a unique thing about our HDI courses is that, they’re elective for everybody. And so we tend to get really passionate, really motivated students who are here because they want to be,” Womack said. “We have so many perspectives represented.”
