As of June 30, 2005, ETSU will be losing a major program out of Disability Services, the Learning Empowerment for Academic Performance program.
LEAP, which is losing its grant from the Tennessee Vocational Rehabilitation Services, is designed to help students with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder and other disabilities.
LEAP has been receiving the grant for over 10 years. Vocational Rehabilitation Services has been phasing out their funding for the last three years.
Coordinator Martha Edde-Adams said this year LEAP is receiving about one-third of what they were getting four years ago, a drop from $200,000 to $69,000.
At the state level, Vocational Rehabilitation Services looked at their funding and decided to go to direct services, instead of through sources like the university’s Office of Disability Services.
Students will meet with their vocational counselor, who then decides how much money the student needs. This money helps pay for tuition, books and other school essentials.
Linda Gibson, director of disability services, said LEAP offers academic counseling, workshops, social activities and one-on-one support for the students.
LEAP is “especially helpful for those who are making a transition into higher education,” she said.
Though the program is being cut, Disability Services will still offer many of the activities that LEAP did.
“There will still be the same activities – tutoring, academic and individual support, and helping the students work with their vocational counselor,” Gibson said.
One of the major changes is in the way tutoring will be done. All the money that was available for tutors through LEAP will be gone.
Gibson said disability services will be referring students to campus tutors, but that the students will still be getting “outstanding quality services.”
LEAP had consistency in their tutors, matching one student with one tutor, and provided tutoring for developmental classes, which most of the campus labs do not, Edde-Adams said. Of the 250 to 300 students listed in LEAP, 40 to 50 of them took advantage of the tutoring.
There is no guarantee that the graduate students that worked with LEAP will be returning next year, since there will be no money to pay them. “We’re hoping the university will pick them up,” Edde-Adams said.
“There’s no way for us to maintain the level of service disability services has had without grad students. We’ll figure out a way to do it, but it’ll be different.
“The university has been very supportive of Disability Services,” Edde-Adams said. “They’ll do what’s right by the students.”
ETSU has decided not to help with the funding for vocational services and the LEAP program, nor are there any private donations.
“Hopefully Vocational Rehabilitation will realize how powerful programs like LEAP are and offer us some new opportunity for funding,” Gibson said.

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