3/1/12 Meeting at d'Autremont Hall

We will be meeting at d'Autremont Hall (the dining facility) at PSR on March 1st, 2012.  We will gather around 5-5:30 pm and talk while we enjoy dinner.  The purpose of this meeting is to further discuss what we want out of a disability student group and how it should function.  Minutes will be posted below.  Please feel free to add your input if you were unable to make the meeting.  All GTU students are welcome.  Please email us if you have any questions: disabledinseminary@gmail.com.


Dinner is $9 if you do not have a meal plan.  If you don't wish to eat, feel free to join us and just tell the cashier that you attending a meeting but not eating.  Menu information for the dining hall is available here: http://www.psr.edu/weekly-menus

MEETING MINUTES

Attended: Katie Koumatos, Jill Hutton, Chris Hockley, Kevin Dodson

GOVERNING
We established that the best way to organize the Disability Alliance is to create a Governing Board.  Chris, Kevin and Katie all volunteered to serve on the Board.  The board has more spots open so if people are interested in taking a leadership role in this group, please talk to one of the board members or email disabledinseminary@gmail.com

WHAT WE WANT FROM THE DA
Meeting participants echoed the desire and need for community and support that previous people had mentioned as well as offered new suggestions about things we could get from the group and do with the group, including:

• I want to know what my accommodation options are.
• I want to find a way to address the stigma on campus around psychiatric disabilities
• I want to know more about the psychiatric testing that is required for ordination and discuss how this testing is graded in light of students with psychiatric disabilities

WHAT DO WE WANT TO DO WITH THE DA
The discussion of what we want out of the group grew into a list of things we could do with the organization.

• Engage the Field Ed Office on campus to discuss accommodations for placement
• Develop a Peer Mentor Program for incoming disabled students
• Develop a program that offers students with writing related disabilities access to tutors the way that International students have a writing center.  Perhaps writing tutors could be hired as work study jobs to support students?
• Look into options for financial support for LD testing in the community.  Can we look into some grant writing?
• Ask for updated lists of therapists in the area and get better information about the therapy options through the Kaiser Insurance that many students have.
• Reach out to the HIV community at the GTU to see if they want to engage with us (as people living with chronic diseases are classified as disabled and have many of the same needs for accommodations as we do).
• Look into finding support/mentors in different denominations for disabled students as they go through the ordination process.

WHEN DO WE WANT TO MEET?

The group agreed that the time (5:30-7pm on Thursday nights) was a good one for everyone involved.  We also decided that we would meet weekly, which gives us a chance to touch base and keep our momentum going while allowing for a member to miss an occasional meeting without losing too much interaction with the group.

We have also decided to meet in the small dining room with the "Meeting in Progress" notice up, but to not have a sign that says who we are.  While it is wonderful to be visibly present in the community, some of our most vulnerable community members are not quite ready to be completely out and open.  As we will make plenty of opportunities to be visible in the community, we decided it would be best to limit the barriers that exist for someone to join us for a meeting.

NEXT MEETING: Thursday, March 8 @ 5:30pm in d'Autremont Hall

Note: Erin has also joined the DA Board.