Felver, John R., Jr.

Kasinski, Nancy J

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An Innovative Approach To Housing Hearing Impaired Students On A College Campus

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JADARA 
Volume 14 Number 4 Article 4 
4-1981 
An Innovative Approach To Housing Hearing Impaired Students 
On A College Campus 
Nancy J. Kasinski 
John R. Felver Jr. 
Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara 
 Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons 
Recommended Citation 
Kasinski, N. J., & Felver, J. R. (1981). An Innovative Approach To Housing Hearing Impaired Students On A 
College Campus. JADARA, 14(4). Retrieved from https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara/vol14/iss4/4 
AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO HOUSING
HEARING IMPAIRED STUDENTS ON
A COLLEGE CAMPUS
Nancy J. Kasinski and
John R. Felver, Jr.
As opportunities Increase for qualified
hearing impaired students to enter programs
of higher education, administrators face the
question of appropriate housing for such stu
dents. Safety and convenience mandate facili
ties equipped with visual fire alarms and
visual doorbell lights in rooms of hearing
impaired individuals, but adapting all resi
dence hall rooms on a campus would be both
impractical and financially prohibitive. The
desire for a "deaf community" might suggest
housing all hearing impaired students to
gether, but the idea of segregation defeats
the purpose of many hearing impaired stu
dents who choose to attend an institution
of higher education with the intention of
interacting with hearing students.
Northern Illinois University (NIU) has
developed what might be considered a prac
tical and productive solution to the housing
of hearing impaired students. A Hearing Im
paired Interest Floor has been created and
is offered to both hearing impaired students
and hearing students who have an interest
in living with hearing impaired individuals.
Definition and Description
The Hearing Impaired Interest Floor is
a cooperative endeavor between the Office of
Ser\aces for the Hearing Impaired and the
Office of Student Housing Services to create
and offer to interested students a unique
learning experience utilizing as a catalyst a
residence hall floor. It is believed that this
learning experience cannot be obtained in
either the traditional academic curriculum
or the typical on- or off-campus living en
vironment. Such a joint venture strives to
integrate the student's formal in-class scholar
ship with his/her informal out-of-the-class-
room learning.
The general concept of the Program is de
lineated as follows: The Hearing Impaired In
terest Floor is a co-ed floor designed for those
students who are hearing impaired or for those
who are majoring in areas that relate to hearing
impairment. Examples would include such ma
jors as counseling the hearing impaired, audio-
logy, speech pathology, and teacher training of
hearing impaired children or the multiply handi
capped. The goals of the floor are to bring
together those students who have common
interests, to provide special recreational and
social events including captioned films, to pro
vide educational programs that pertain to hear
ing impairment, and to stimulate interaction
l)etween those students who are hearing im
paired and those who are preparing for careers
in working with deaf and hard of hearing in
dividuals. Such activities will enhance personal
and educational growth and will create a better
understanding of all members involved with this
floor. All students will have access to staff who
are knowledgeable of hearing impairment and
special ecjuipment such as visual doorbells, vis
ual fire alarm systems, amplified headsets for
telephones, and an MCM.
A Resident Assistant is selected by the
Office of Services for the Hearing Impaired
and the Office of Student Housing Services
for employment on the floor. As the student
personnel staff member living on a residence
hall floor, the Resident Assistant helps estab
lish a living environment conducive to learn
ing, assists students in their adjustment to
the University, develops educational and
social-recreational programs, advises floor of
ficers, and assists in the enforcement of
Ms. Kasinski is Coordinator, Services for the Higher Education of the Hearing Impaired and Mr. Felver
is Associate Director, Housing Services, Northern Illinois University, De Kalb, Illinois.
Vol. 14 No. 4 April 1981
1
Kasinski and Felver: An Innovative Approach To Housing Hearing Impaired Students On A
Published by WestCollections: digitalcommons@wcsu, 2018
AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO HOUSING HEARING IMPAIRED STUDENTS
ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS
standards necessary for group living. At the
the present time, the job description and
responsibilities of the Resident Assistant at
NIU requires a person with normal, or near-
normal hearing. The Resident Assistant is
responsible for hall-wide duties where he/she
must interact with hearing students. Impor
tant duties such as checking on the audio
pre-alarm fire alarms, floor noise control, and
making emergency telephone calls require
good hearing.
Ideally, the student selected possesses
adequate sign language skills and is majoring
in an area related to hearing impairment. An
individual without adequate sign language
skills is expected to develop minimum skills
through classes and/or contact with the deaf
community during the summer prior to the
appointment and build on them throughout
the term of employment.
Staff members of the Office of Services
for the Hearing Impaired conduct an in-
service training program for all staff mem
bers of the residence hall in which the Hear
ing Impaired Interest Floor is located. This
training occurs prior to the opening of the
residence hall in the fall and consists of a
brief orientation to hearing impairment, a
discussion of the goals of the special interest
floor, and an overview of special needs or
problems that may arise. Information is dis
tributed about special services for hearing
impaired students and resources available at^
the University. An effort is made to reduce
any awkwardness that might occur in the
staff members' first contacts with hearing
impaired students.
Development and Effects
Publicity and active recruiting of students
have been important factors in the develop
ment of the floor. An attempt is made to
contact as many students as possible includ
ing Currently enrolled, re-entering, transfer,
new freshman, and graduate students. Upon
admission to the University all students re
ceive information from the Office of Student
Housing Services delineating the various
housing options available on campus includ
ing the above description of the Hearing
Impaired Interest Floor. In addition, all
newly admitted students who declare as
their major Education for the Hearing Im
paired or Communication Disorders receive
correspondence from the Office of Services
for the Heai'ing Impaired explaining the op
tion and the reasons why it would be to the
student's benefit to reside on such a floor.
Students in these majors who are already en
rolled at N^U, but do not live on the floor,
receive information in their major classes.
"Word of mouth" from current residents is
also an important recruiting tool.
Entering students who inform the Uni
versity of their hearing impairment are noti
fied of the floor by the Office of Student
Housing Services and the Office of Services
for the Hearing Impaired. While not all hear
ing impaired students opt for the Hearing
Impaired Interest Floor, the majority elect
to participate in the program.
The Hearing Impaired Interest Floor was
created in the Fall of 1978. It was hoped that
floor would attract hearing impaired students
and various hearing students, particularly
those majoring in deaf education and com
munication disorders. In its initial year of
existence thirty-three students signed up for
the floor; six hearing impaired college stu
dents, nine hearing impaired college prepara
tory students, thirteen deaf education ma
jors, three speech pathology and audiology
majors, and two graduate students majoring
in counselor training with the hearing im
paired. The remaining sixteen spaces on the
floor were assigned by the Office of Student
Housing Services to other college students.
Five additional students, either hearing im
paired or interested in hearing impairment,
moved on to the floor at the beginning of
the Spring Semester.
Effective with the 1979-80 academic year,
the Hearing Impaired Interest Floor was per
manently moved to a different residence hall
to accommodate multiply handicapped stu
dents, a lai'ger number of students interested
in living on the floor, and summer school
students.
Although several floor members chose to
remain in the original residence hall rather
Vol. 14 No. 4 April 1981
2
JADARA, Vol. 14, No. 4 [2018], Art. 4
https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara/vol14/iss4/4
AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO HOUSING HEARING IMPAIRED STUDENTS
ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS
than move, forty students signed up for the
floor. As wsis the case with the first year of
the program, five additional students, either
hearing impaired or interested in hearing im
pairment, moved on to the floor at the start
of the Spring Semester. A high student return
rate along with new students requesting the
floor, resulted in a waiting list to obtain
a room on the Hearing Impaired Interest
Floor for the 1980-81 academic year.
The growth of the program can be at
tributed to a variety of factors. Evaluation
forms that have been completed by the resi
dents indicate they chose to live on the Hear
ing Impaired Interest Floor to accommodate
their hearing impairment, to improve their
knowledge of hearing impairment, and/or to
meet others with similar interests. The stu
dents reported that the experience of living
on the floor has met their expectations in
these areas.
A variety of floor activities including so
cial, academic, and service-oriented have pro
vided impetus for the development of cama
raderie by the residents. Members of the floor
have been active participants in diverse all-
hall activities such as blood-drives, recrea
tional tournaments, and homecoming projects.
The floor has offered a variety of activi
ties to stimulate knowledge of hearing im
pairment. Hearing impaired students teach
non-credit sign language classes to residents.
Faculty members from related departments
have given presentations to students on per
tinent topics such as "Early Detection of
Hearing Loss", and have been available for
special academic advising nights before each
semester's class registration. A field trip to
a residential school for the hearing impaired
provided an opportunity for exposure to an
environment not encountered previously by
many of the floor members. A well-attended
panel discussion by hearing impaired stu
dents on "What It's Like to be Deaf at NIU"
proved to be a discussion stimulator that
resulted in better understanding between
floor residents.
An added attraction of the floor has been
the unity which has developed as a result
of the interactions among the residents. Stu
dents have stated that residents appear to be
much more willing to help each other and
to do things together than on other "regular"
residence hall floors. One resident summed
up this feeling by stating, "needing each
other on the floor has drawn us closer. We
interact more than most other floors." This
need relationship is a healthy one in that
it is not paternalistic, but rather one that
reciprocally aids each participant. Informal
group discussions frequently revolve around
such topics as the various cultures or en
vironments in which the students interact
and the physicial, procedural, and/or atti-
tudinal barriers that hearing impaired people
encounter. Hearing students usually become
sensitive to the barriers and assist their heai*-
ing impaired friends in overcoming some,
while striving jointly to promote the elimina
tion or modification of others. Their support
can take various forms ranging from activi
ties promoting the awareness of a need for
the installation of a visual fire alarm system
to simple assistance in making a telephone
call.
A natural development for the hearing
students living with hearing impaired peers
is the improvement of sign language skills
through everyday communication. Their
skills, previously learned and used only in
academic endeavors, develop more naturally
in a social situation. Another manifestation
has been improved acceptance of manual
communication by some hearing impaired
students. Although having no previous con
tact with or interest in sign language, these
hearing impaired students commenced de
veloping and utilizing some sign skills for
social purposes and eventually expanded
their application to academic settings.
By-Products
The primary purpose of the Hearing Im
paired Interest Floor is to offer interested
students a unique learning experience. To the
best of our knowledge, this has occurred. In
addition, several important by-products have
evolved:
1. Many "regular" residents not living on
the Hearing Impaired Interest Floor, but
Vol. 14 No. 4 April 1981
3
Kasinski and Felver: An Innovative Approach To Housing Hearing Impaired Students On A
Published by WestCollections: digitalcommons@wcsu, 2018
AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO HOUSING HEARING IMPAIRED STUDENTS
ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS
residing in the same residence hall and there
fore "exposed" to the students on the floor,
have become concerned with or developed
an appreciation for hearing impairment, or
at least some aspect of it. An example of this
interaction is the more than fifty students
with normal hearing over the last two years
who, because of their exposure to the deaf
and hearing impaired residents on the Hear
ing Impaired Interest Floor, desired to learn
sign language. A non-credit sign language
course has been developed and is offered in
the residence hall each Fall Semester. Last
year, interest was manifested in an advanced
class being offered during the Spring Semes
ter.
2. As a result of participation in the
Hearing Impaired Interest Floor and con
comitant exposure to each other, academic
faculty and student affairs administrative
staff appear to develop an improved under
standing of and appreciation for each other s
roles. Various faculty members have indi
cated that not only have they become more
cognizant of out-of-the-classroom student life
and its implications on in-class performance,
they also become aware of the approaches
utilized by residence hall staff to meet both
general student needs and individual student
problems.
3. It is possible that the Hearing Im
paired Interest Floor has a positive impact on
participant grade point average and retention
both in the University as a whole and the
residence hall in particular. Research will be
conducted in these areas in the near future.
4. Some students have indicated that the
reason they enrolled at Northern Illinois Uni
versity was because of the opportunity to
reside on the Hearing Impaired Interest
Floor, an opportunity which is not offered
at other colleges and universities they con
sidered attending.
Conclusion
The experience of heaiing impaired stu
dents living in a residence hall on a college
or university campus can be quite meaning
ful, particularly when they participate in a
residential program created specifically for
their needs and formulated through a cooper
ative effort by representatives of various
campus offices and services concerned with
maximizing the hearing impaired students'
personal and educational development. Other
residence hall students, particularly those
majoring in academic curriculums related to
hearing impairment, can also benefit from
such a program which by design stimulates
interaction with hearing impaired students.
The continued increase in the number of
applicants for the program, coupled with the
evaluations from past and current partici
pants, appears to indicate that the program
meets the needs of various students which
would probably not be satisfied as well if
they resided elsewhere. The educational in
stitution as a whole, and various components
thereof, can also obtain positive benefits (by
products ) from the presence of such a unique
program.
Vol. 14 No. 4 April 1981
4
JADARA, Vol. 14, No. 4 [2018], Art. 4
https://repository.wcsu.edu/jadara/vol14/iss4/4


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