Salus University, College of Education is pleased to announce that we also were awarded funding through OSEP, Absolute Priority CFDA 84.325K: Combined Personnel Preparation (Focus Area D). The Salus grant is O&M-VIECC: O&M -Vision Impairment and the Expanded Core Curriculum. Salus University's College of Education and Rehabilitation proposes to improve the increase the quantity and quality of O&M personnel (a chronic personnel shortage area) serving low incidence children, ages birth to 21, who are blind or visually impaired, through the development and implementation of a single or dual option O&M certificate program for pre-service and/or current teachers of the blind and visually impaired (TVI), with additional emphasis in four targeted areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC): 1. compensatory access skills, 2. assistive technology and technology skills, 3. independent living skills, and 4. sensory efficiency skills, in addition to O&M for deaf-blind children. The project will include a field-based research component to measure the outcome of teaching these skills. With an emphasis on recruiting minority students and serving high-need LEAs, both new graduate students and currently certified TVIs will receive additional training to produce 40 new Orientation and Mobility Master’s degree and dual TVI- O&M graduates. The Project Director is Dr. Audrey J. Smith, Dean of the College of Education and Rehabilitation. Dr. Fabiana Perla, Director of the O&M Program and Dr. Brooke Smith, Director of the TVI Program at Salus as well as the rest of the Salus CER team will be involved with the project. Again, everyone at CER congratulates all our colleagues who also received personnel preparation grants. Kathleen M. Huebner, Ph.D. Professor and Associate Dean College of Education and Rehabilitation Salus University (formerly PCO) 8360 Old York Road Elkins Park, PA 19027 Phone: 215 780-1360 Fax: 215-780-1357 E-Mail: Kathyh@salus.edu Director, National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabiities Chairperson for North American and Caribbean Region of International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) http://www.icevi.org Please note, The Pennsylvania College of Optometry became Salus University July 1, 2008.