FOUNDATION FOR SCIENCE AND DISABILITY

Annual Meeting

11:30 AM-1:30 PM, Friday, February 18, 2011

Salon F, Washington Convention Center

801 Mount Vernon, Pl, NW

Washington, DC 20001

Call to Order/Introduction:

Attending were: Erica Penn, Promita Chakraborty, Yoshiko Miwa, Leticia Velazquez, Kathy McCreedy, Catherine Will, Betty Kain, Jean Morrell, Virginia Stern, Winnie Rodriguez, and Richard Mankin, who presided and took notes on the meeting activities.

 The attendees introduced themselves. For the new attendees, there was a discussion of the history and mission of the Foundation for Science and Disability. There was discussion of the workshop “Perspectives on Employment for or from Persons with Disabilities,” held earlier in the day at the AAAS annual meeting, and the Problem Solvers Workshop for Engineers with Disabilities held in 2010 

Minutes:

The minutes of last year’s annual meeting in San Diego were discussed and approved. It was noted that a copy of the 2010 Annual Meeting minutes is posted at http://www.ars.usda.gov/sp2UserFiles/person/3559/annmeetminute10.html.

Treasurer report:

The treasurer report was discussed in part.  However, because Angela Foreman, Treasurer was unable to attend, the full report is not yet ready.
Note: (7/13/11):  the treasurer report is now attached.
 

Student Science Grant Committee report-2011:

The committee reviewed 8 completed applications. Six other individuals applied but did not fulfill all requirements. Lisa Newhouse Dunning, a graduate student in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, was awarded a $1000 grant for work on her thesis, entitled “The impact of assisted living facility’s activities on cognitive decline”. Her work involves development and assessment of interventions to reduce cognitive decline in residents of assisted living facilities.

Old and New Business:

Previous year activities were discussed, including the new FaceBook page, additions to the Foundation for Science and Disability web site (stemd.org), and the annual newsletter. Promita has volunteered to assist Erica in further development of the Foundation’s FaceBook page. Richard volunteered to look into the possibility of developing a LinkedIn page.

There was discussion of the possibilities of expanding the activities of the Foundation or of merging with other organizations that might be developed. This led to a more general conversation, not only of Foundation for Science and Disability activities, but also of EntryPoint and other organizations of relevance to students or scientists with disabilities.  The conversation continued after the meeting ended, and several topics were suggested by Kathy McCreedy and others for possible follow-up, including:

1.  Most of the information about the EntryPoint program is written from the perspective of the potential intern.  However, recruiters and businesses would benefit from increased availability of marketing materials to better describe the EntryPoint internship program within a business context.  The costs of participation and the costs per intern should be clearly specified in these materials.

2.  Consider approaches to position the Resource Directory of Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities and the EntryPoint database to increase employment and networking opportunities beyond internships. Many will be looking for better careers throughout their lives.

3. A Professional Association of Scientists with Disabilities – This seems a critical need, particularly because there are so few current opportunities for scientists to interact and network. If a grant is funded to develop a professional association of scientists with disabilities, it would be quite valuable to include benchmarking of how a similar organization, Society Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), has organized its efforts to achieve its goals.

4. There is potential to increase the collaboration between AccessSTEM and recruiters of students and graduates with disabilities for internships and full-time employment. Given the relatively small numbers of candidates with disabilities in STEM fields, a collaborative approach will maximize the use of existing resources and result in better outcomes for all.

 A few upcoming opportunities to discuss with others include:

 1.  AHEAD Meeting (Association of Higher Education and Disabilities) - July 11-16, Seattle – Kathy McCreedy is the co-chair of the Career SIG and this topic could be a focus of the SIG meeting, especially with promotion prior to the meeting to increase participation.

 2.  US Business Leadership Network (US BLN) -  Oct. 17-19, Louisville KY. The BLN conference brings corporate, government, disability-owned businesses and BLN affiliates together to create workplaces, marketplaces, and supply chains where people with disabilities are fully included as professionals, customers and entrepreneurs.

 We anticipate there will be further discussions about these possibilities during the next year.

 The presidential gavel was passed to Erica Penn.

The meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM.

 Submitted by Richard Mankin, March 6, 2011.