Posted June 25, 2015

Program helps students with disabilities find jobs

Kevin Cook
Director of Disability Resources and Services Aaron Spector announces the launch of the new Career Gateway program at Temple to a group of supporters.

A new program at Temple is geared toward helping students and recent graduates with disabilities gain employment.

Temple’s Office of Disability Resources and Services (DRS), in partnership with Temple’s Career Center, has launched the Career Gateway program. Through mentoring, workshops and other opportunities, it is designed to help participants gain full-time, part-time, volunteer and internship positions.

“The launch of the Career Gateway program shows how DRS has expanded its reach to help students,” said Aaron Spector, director of DRS at Temple. “It’s an exciting time for us and for students, with more opportunities available than ever before to get them real-world ready.”

Led by Renee Kirby, associate director of DRS, Career Gateway also incorporates the Federal Workforce Recruitment Program (FWRP), a national, long-standing, government-sponsored initiative that connects undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities with full-time, paid summer internships at federal employers nationwide, including the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Temple has participated in this program for many years.

The Career Gateway kickoff was held at the program’s new space in Ritter Annex on Temple’s Main Campus. The space is decorated with an installation of historic photographs highlighting 38 years of disability services at Temple. Joining students, alumni and DRS leaders for the dedication were representatives from the DOD, the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on People with Disabilities and Temple’s Career Center.

The launch of Career Gateway also coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“The entire country is celebrating 25 years of this legislation, which gave full access to individuals with disabilities,” Spector said. “Today we are celebrating the launch of our new program, along with our vision and values of our history that show how we have evolved.”

Michael Cowley, troop support and equal employment opportunity specialist at the DOD’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), has been instrumental in connecting Temple students with disabilities with internship and full-time employment at the DLA.

“This [FWRP] program has raised the awareness of managers to appoint students with disabilities and is recognized for being a model of recruiting these students,” he said. “I’m happy to say that I’ve hired many for full-time positions.”

Marina Krug, Fox ’09, is one example. Krug obtained a summer internship with the DLA in Washington, D.C., through FWRP in 2008. Today she is employed full time with the agency as disability program coordinator for DLA Troop Support in Philadelphia.

In her current position, Krug serves as the subject-matter expert on everything pertaining to reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. She is one of more than 30 Temple alumni who have received internships that led to full-time positions with the DLA.

Krug’s experience has come full circle, as she has also recruited Temple students for the DLA’s internship program. “My internship led me to a job I love,” she said. “One of my favorite parts is helping the next generation of students like me succeed.”

—Erica Brooke Fajge

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