BGU Inaugurates Support Center for Students with Disabilities
BGU Inaugurates Support Center for Students with Disabilities
November 18, 2013
Medical Research, Negev Development & Community Programs
BGU President Prof. Rivka Carmi and National Insurance Institute of Israel Director-General Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef recently inaugurated the Student Support Center, a unique support center for students with disabilities. The Center was established with a 1.5 million shekel grant from the Institute.
The first of its kind in an Israeli university, the Student Support Center will offer ongoing support for students with special needs such as learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, and physical and emotional disabilities.
The Center will help the students acclimate to their studies at the University, both emotionally and socially. View a video about BGU’s Student Support Center >>
“The Center offers personal tutoring, courses, workshops, personal targeted emotional support, a resource library of technologies that aid learning, mentors, a program to prevent dropping out, and career counseling services in their last year of school before entering the job market,” says Merav Yosef-Solomon, chief of administration in the Office of the Dean of Students.
“The goal is for the Center to make learning at BGU more accessible to special needs students. It will also serve as an incentive to attract more students with special needs and to increase their number among the student population,” adds Yosef-Solomon.
Prof. Rivka Carmi notes, “This is a project that fits us like a glove. To be the first in such an initiative is extremely important and even eminent. We want to give true equal opportunity. We have also embarked on a process of making our buildings more accessible, with the Student Support Center slated to be first.”
“This is a revolution. It is the realization of a vision. Twenty years ago no one would have even talked about this, let alone created such a center. This is the beginning of a long-term collaboration,” says Prof Mor-Yosef.
The Center’s staff includes coordinators such as psychologists, a social worker and an expert in learning processes. The coordinators build a personalized work plan with the individual student, which include meetings with a therapist, social or learning mentors, workshops, and employment counseling.
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