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Credential Programs

Project ACCESS

Financial and academic support for scholars from underserved backgrounds pursuing a career in special education

Mission and Vision

We embrace a culture of diversity, internationalization and inclusion in the field of education.

Through democratizing access to success for all students to earn their teaching credential and Master's degree in Special Eduation, Project ACCESS is designed to increase teachers of color and diversity to serve children with disabilities who have high intensity needs in California.

Project ACCESS provides selected Scholars with scholarships ($13,000-plus) to match unmet financial need. 

Factors that place students at a disadvantage (e.g. low-income, first generation, minority and/or disability) often overlap and compound one another. An integrated program of financial and academic support is best to counteract the compounding challenges the Scholars may face. 

Scholars receive support services for four years, from entering the Special Education program (junior year) through their senior year and the two years of the Master’s program.

  • sustained faculty mentoring
  • peer mentoring by peers who share and honor the Scholars’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds
  • coursework that incorporates evidence-based practices and leverages technology; and
  • a Leadership Initiative to develop Scholars’ leadership capacity

 

Contact the Program

Project ACCESS is housed in the Special Education Program within the Kremen School of Education and Human Development.

Dr. Kristina Rios
Director, Project ACCESS
krios@mail.fresnostate.edu

Dr. Mike Mahoney
Project Investigator, Project ACCESS
Coordinator, Special Education
mwmm@mail.fresnostate.edu

Special Education Faculty
Dr. William Garnett
Dr. Dana Powell

Advisory Board

Monthly Zoom meetings from 6 to 7 p.m. open to parents of children with disabilities, high school students with disabilities and interpreters for ASL, Spanish, Hmong and Punjabi to provide input into our Special Education Teacher Preparation Grant.

Past Meetings

January 30 (Parents only)
February 27 (Parents and students)
Next: March 19 (Parents only)
April 23 (Parents and students)