Co-Operative Career Experience Certificate Program accepting students for fall 2023
The UIC Certificate in Co-Operative Career Experience (Co-Op Program) is accepting applications for admission for the Fall 2023 semester. It represents the third cohort for a program eager to change the post-secondary landscape for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities and/or autism.
Applications are officially due on February 17, 2023, and Co-Op staff are providing supports for those interested. Announcement of a Community Webinar is on its way and virtual drop-in hours with Program Coordinator and Academic Advisor, Litany Esguerra, will be held on February 1, 8, and 15.
Housed within the renowned Department of Disability and Human Development (DHD), the Co-Op Program is grant-funded by the Model Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSID) program from the Department of Education. Headed by DHD Department Head Dr Tamar Heller, TPSIDs like the Co-Op Program help expand access to high-quality education by innovating how inclusive educational environments function and ensuring disability rights are prioritized.
This mandate has enhanced the curricular offerings at DHD, providing Co-Op students with courses like Radical Inclusion, where the history of disability policy meets contemporary issues in forming a new kind of advocacy and awareness. Other coursework sets aside time for supportive environments for students to explore career paths of their own choosing.
"An opportunity to accept our third cohort of students is an opportunity for us to grow into our vision of inclusive higher education at UIC," notes Esguerra. "We hope that the UIC Co-Op Program is an exciting option for people with I/DD to access post—secondary education and a college experience—an option that has been missing in our city and within our classrooms."
For full-time applicants, the Co-Op Program is a two-year certificate program. Learn more about the program and access the online application by clicking here.