New College’s Center for Career Engagement and Opportunity (CEO) and Disability Services will be partnering this week to offer resources for students and recent graduates who identify as a person with a disability, and who are interested in pursuing a summer or permanent job. The deadline for the program has been extended, allowing students to continue to apply. Student registration closes Oct. 18 at 3:59 a.m. EST, and the application deadline is Oct. 20 at 3:59 a.m. EST.
This collaboration will be towards helping students apply for the Workforce Recruitment Program for College Students with Disabilities (WRP), which is a recruitment and referral program that connects federal and select private-sector employers with highly motivated college students and recent graduates with disabilities. The program’s goal is to facilitate these professional connections and assist students with disabilities in finding summer or permanent job or internship opportunities.
According to the application, a disability can be defined as “a visible or invisible physical, mental or emotional handicap, especially one that hinders or prevents a person from performing tasks within their daily lives and carrying out work/school or household responsibilities, or engaging in leisure and social activities.”
Those who wish to apply must meet a few additional baseline criteria. They must identify as having a disability, be a United States citizen, and be currently enrolled in a degree program on a substantially full-time basis or have graduated with a degree on or after Apr. 1, 2019. Students also must be eligible for hiring under the Schedule A Hiring Authority, an accepted appointing authority for people with disabilities that allows them to be quickly added to the federal workplace.
Assistant Director and Career Coach at the CEO Lisandra Jimenez is the primary contact for students interested in applying, and serves as the school coordinator for WRP—managing and supporting applicants through the process.
Jimenez urges interested students to reach out to her, as all application materials must be uploaded to the WRP site by Oct. 20 at 3:59 a.m. EST.
“It is a great opportunity for students who identify as having a disability to have more options for gaining experience to strengthen their skills,” Jimenez said.
Students who wish to apply can begin their application by visiting www.wrp.gov and clicking on the student registration button. Jimenez explained that she will “see their request come through.”
For more information or assistance, students should contact Jimenez at Ljimenez@ncf.edu