New degree program
To help people with cognitive disabilities find employment, Lone Star College-Tomball is starting a new degree program.
To help some of the 67,000 people in Montgomery and Harris counties with cognitive disabilities find employment, Lone Star College-Tomball is starting a new degree program.
The new Occupational and Life Skills associate degree is a four-year program that will begin this fall with a 12-student cohort.
“Students begin as a group and end as a group to help motivate each other,” said Anne Perucca, program director. “A new cohort will be added each year.”
The program focuses on teaching students selfdetermination and helps students make their own choices on what career they want to pursue, Perucca said.
“One of the goals is to assist the students in determining their own career path,” Perucca said. “They develop that over time. They run it through the filter of what am I good at, their strengths and their needs and their passions.”
The program will teach social skills infused within the curriculum. And soft skills needed to be effective in the workplace, including problem-solving skills.
The students will also learn computer fundamentals, learning strategies, communication in the workplace and critical thinking.
“Students are taught to critically analyze and problem solve and trust their own ability to do that,” Perucca said.
Program history
The program is replicated after a similar program that started 14 years ago at Bellevue College in Bellevue, Washington. Lone Star College administrators were impressed by the high employment rates of the Bellevue graduates.
“They have an 85 percent employment rate with their graduates,” Perucca said. “The national rate is under 24 percent. To have employment rates that high is amazing.”
One student in the Bellevue program enjoyed computers and numbers and worked as an intern at Boeing. He later was hired by the company and does data quality checks there.
Another Bellevue student knew she loved theater and has narrowed her career path down to becoming a makeup artist in a local theater.
This is the first such associate degree in Texas. It is a pilot program for Lone Star College.
Lone Star College’s intention is to eventually replicate the program at its other campuses.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to reach out to students with cognitive disabilities, and their parents, to help them overcome employment barriers and find living wage jobs,” said Lee Ann Nutt, president of Lone Star College-Tomball. “There are currently only two other colleges in the country offering this type of program. Lone Star College will be the first in Texas to offer this new degree.”
Business partnerships
All students will participate in an internship as part of the program. To do that, Lone Star CollegeTomball is working to partner with the business community in the region.
“Partnering with the business community is a critical piece of OLS,” Perucca said. “We will be forming relationships with as many businesses as possible.”
The college will be seeking business partners to come into the classroom to do presentations and help with mock interviews, in addition to potential internships or jobs that they can offer students.
“The program allows the students to steer themselves into a work that’s meaningful for them and see themselves as a contributing citizen,” Perucca said. “Students are encouraged to explore their passions and think for themselves.”