Program will teach how to teach deaf pupils

By Charlotte Hsu

Friday, March 28, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Nevada State College officials are preparing to launch the state’s only program that will train educators to teach students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

“The Legislature ... requested that the higher education system look into offering such a degree because there’s a need, and we volunteered,” Nevada State College President Fred Maryanski said.

The program is set to begin in the fall, and administrators are hoping to start with about 10 students, said Lori Navarrete, the college’s associate dean of education.

A December 2006 report from the Nevada Education Department identified 580 public school students statewide with hearing impairments, with 395 of those in the Clark County School District.

Nevada recruits teachers from out of state to serve students who are deaf or hard of hearing, Navarrete said.

Students in the bachelor’s degree program will learn to educate and communicate with students with hearing impairments. Courses will include American Sign Language and American deaf culture.

Nevada State College is looking to hire a faculty member to teach specialized classes in subjects such as literacy and mathematics instruction for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

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“I’d rather have a root canal,” joked Michael Wixom, chairman of the Board of Regents, when asked about the prospect of having to make more budget cuts.

Earlier this year, the Nevada System of Higher Education, like other state agencies, slashed 4.5 percent from its budget.

With Gov. Jim Gibbons set to announce more cuts next week, higher education officials are feeling angst.

During the first round of cuts, each of the state’s eight higher education institutions developed an individual plan that regents OK’d in a special meeting. Additional cuts would also require regents’ approval.

“It becomes an exercise in futility,” Chancellor Jim Rogers said. “You go through all of the budgeting, all of the redo, all of the hiring process at 4.5 percent, and then they tell you it’s (higher).”

Rogers is calling, as he has before, for lawmakers to meet in a special session to decide how to address a revenue shortfall that could continue to worsen.

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When UNLV architecture student James Chew was studying in Italy last summer, every euro he spent was worth about $1.35.

These days the euro is worth $1.58 and the dollar’s buying power could slide even further by the time Chew returns to Europe this summer.

“It’s kind of a pain,” said Chew, a graduate student who will fund his trip primarily with student loans. “I mean, I was used to $1.35.”

Still, the dollar’s diminishing value in many parts of the world won’t stop Chew from heading overseas. And many of his peers at UNLV feel the same way, said Susan Thompson, director of international programs. UNLV sends about 525 students to foreign countries each year.

Students view international experience as a long-term investment that will help them understand the global economy and, in many cases, learn a second language, Thompson said.

That interest in foreign programs has not declined with the dollar might not come as a surprise.

After all, U.S. scholars studied in the United Kingdom — whose pound has long been stronger than the dollar — more than in any other foreign country in 2005 and 2006, according to a report by the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit group that seeks to strengthen educational ties between the United States and other nations.

For students such as Chew, paying more is worth the sacrifice.

“Going to Europe was one of the most profound things I’ve done in my life,” Chew said.

The desire “to learn and understand the different culture outweighed everything I was going to pay,” he said.

But he was also quick to note, “I wasn’t just spending crazily. I did have a budget.”

Study abroad coordinators advise students to spend wisely and to consider “the situation with the dollar,” Thompson said.

And a UNLV Web site aimed at helping students prepare for their travels lists variables to keep “in mind as you build your personal budget.” Warning No. 1: “The dollar can fluctuate sharply.”