The following article was originally written for UCLA students who utilize the extraordinary services of the UCLA Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD). In it, you will get a sense of some of OSD's history and expansion. You will also note that for years, the UCLA Career Center has been a positive resource in many ways not only for the campus at large, but for our special students who strive to overcome daily challenges.

A warm thanks goes to Albert E. Aubin, Senior Associate Director, Counseling Services & Campus Relations, UCLA Career Center, who has helped to facilitate this ongoing and positive relationship between the Office for Students with Disabilities and the Career Center.

A Guest of the UCLA Career Center: OSD Test-Taking in the Strathmore Building

By Linda Stolt, Assistant Director, Office for Students with Disabilities

It was the last day of finals week this past June when I left the Strathmore building feeling a great sense of relief and gratitude. As the assistant director of the Office for Students with Disabilities, I'm in charge of our Proctoring Service in OSD’s Resource Room, 181 Powell. This last academic year from Fall 2003 to Spring 2004, my staff, Tony Buffo and A.J. Mason, and I, had 407 students request test-taking assistance with 4,832 hours of test taking. For this last spring finals week, we scheduled 58 tests just in the Resource Room where we have six rooms for testing - seven rooms when I leave my office to administer tests in the UCLA Career Center.

The Career Center is located in the Strathmore building and the third floor is where, for a number of years now, we have been their guest. They have graciously allowed us to use their interview rooms for OSD students taking their tests proctored by us. In the Career Center’s Interview Rooms during finals week of June 2004, there were 195 tests scheduled. Also that week, in several other locations around campus, we had an additional 48 tests to proctor.

Linda Stolt
Assistant Director
UCLA Office for Students with Disabilities

Looking Back
In 1987, I came to work for UCLA’s Office for Students with Disabilities providing academic support services such as notetaking and rendering textbooks and other materials into alternative formats like Braille or audio tapes. Two years later, when a long time OSD staff member whose job it was to provide students with test-taking assistance left OSD, I was asked to take on her duties and assist students with their test accommodations. Before she left, there were 34 students needing test-taking assistance. At the end of 1989, I had proctored 42 students with 602 hours of test-taking. This was for the whole year. Back then, 181 Powell was called The Blind Students Reading Room (BSRR). It was one large room surrounded by five small “reading” rooms and two bathrooms. The reading rooms were primarily used for reading books on tape, listening to books on tape, and using various adaptive equipment by students and their hourly service providers. The bathrooms, being the only bathrooms on the first floor, were also used by other departments. My office was in Murphy Hall, the same location where our main office is today (but smaller) and we had one common office computer shared by any staff member who knew how to turn it on. I remember being astonished one quarter when I had ten students with tests to proctor in one day.

The growth continued in the 1990’s so that we needed to keep up with the number of tests, the technology, and the space in order to administer the tests appropriately. So, 181 Powell experienced a much needed refurbishment (also the Powell Library Building needed some earthquake proofing). The Blind Students Reading Room (BSRR) became the OSD Resource Room with one additional room for test-taking making it a total of six rooms for test taking. Also during the 90’s, staff were added to meet the demands of keeping up with the service and help came from different places on campus. And one of those places was the UCLA Career Center.

If it were not for the Career Center’s BruinView™ Campus Interview program in the Strathmore Building I shudder to think how we would have managed. There are eighteen private interview rooms which are dedicated to the campus interviews. These are the rooms we are permitted to use during the times when there are no interviews. In return, the Career Center staff have asked that we, OSD staff, proctors, and students taking exams, not interrupt the working day of a Career Center staff member and maintain the interview rooms the way we find them. Over the years, to facilitate our being a pleasant house guest, we have made a to do list for us to keep in mind when we use the rooms.

First, when an OSD student is scheduled for a test at the Career Center, he or she will get a phone call from the Resource Room. Students who do not get a phone call should assume their test is in Powell 181. OSD students and proctors need not ask Career Center staff about OSD, OSD Proctoring Service, or scheduled tests. We don’t tell them anything. In the Lobby of the Career Center on the third floor as you exit the elevator, you will see the Career Center reception desk. Look to the right of the desk and there will be a table set up with an OSD staff person or proctor where you check in. It will most likely be Harriet Tannenbaum. At 88 years of age, Harriet has been proctoring exams and reading books at OSD longer than any other hourly or staff employee including OSD’s Director, Kathy Molini.

Harriet Tannenbaum
Reception

Kazuko Ige

The Career Center's BruinView™ Campus Interview program
The BruinView™ Campus Interview program is for any currently-enrolled UCLA undergraduate or graduate student. The program is in operation Fall, Winter and Spring quarters. Fall is the busiest season, with about 50% of recruiting. Several hundred employers conduct campus interviews each year. These include Fortune 100 corporations, small to mid-size companies, nonprofits, and the government. There is a wide cross-section of industries and positions represented. Most of these employers will extend job offers to June grads by the end of Fall quarter. Seniors and graduate students typically interview for full time entry level positions; sophomores and juniors interview for summer internships. Many employers are not seeking a specific major -- they are looking for the qualities that UCLA students have a reputation for possessing, such as analytical, problem-solving, and communications skills. College of L & S students are in high demand! Approximately 1300 students enrolled for BruinView™ Campus Interview privileges during the 2003-04 academic year. At this time, alumni are not eligible to participate in the campus interview program.

Students who have enrolled to participate in the BruinView™ Campus Interview program may login the web-based system to browse list of employers who have scheduled campus visits, view those employers' job descriptions and submit resumes/applications for positions of interest. Most interviews are the "preselect" type which means the employer views all resumes and chooses the candidates who best meet their qualifications. Those students are notified of their "preselect" status through the BruinView™ system; they may then signup for a specific time slot.

UCLA Career Center
North Entrance