'Happy and Independent'
By: Shelley Wunder-Smith | Categories: Alumni Achievements
“I like my job,” Guillaume says. As she was finishing high school and considering her next steps, she knew she wanted to enroll in a four-year educational program that would prepare her for a professional vocation. Guillaume, who is from the metro Atlanta area, also wanted to be able to live on campus—but not too far from home.
Georgia Tech’s EXCEL Program checked those boxes.
Founded in 2014 by Terry Blum, faculty director of the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact, and Cyrus Aidun, professor of mechanical engineering, EXCEL is designed to provide a college experience for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/D). Participants can earn two certificates in subjects covering academics, social skills and self-awareness, and career readiness. They must also demonstrate competency in health and wellness, navigating transportation and housing, and basic financial literacy.
One of EXCEL’s primary goals is to prepare students for meaningful, successful work after they graduate. The program’s career development coordinators work with more than 100 employers to provide internships for participants. By the time they graduate, participants will have at least seven hands-on learning experiences for their resume; students frequently have more.
Guillaume’s internships included two on Tech’s campus, as well as teaching assistantships at the Frazier Center and the Howard School in Atlanta, and the Cottage School in Roswell, Ga.
“Because EXCEL is at Georgia Tech, and Tech is itself in the heart of Atlanta, our students benefit from improved access and opportunities at local companies. And that applies to internships specifically,” says Nathan Heald, EXCEL Program assistant director and lecturer.
In addition to her internships, Guillaume took classes in art history, psychology, and human development. One particularly memorable class, she says, was an industrial design class on the history of chairs that she enrolled in “just because it sounded interesting.”
She also actively participated in Omega Phi Alpha, a national service sorority, along with another friend from the EXCEL Program.
“I was struggling with my mental health at the time, and when my friend told me about it, I decided to join, because I hoped focusing on others would make me feel better,” Guillaume says. “I loved doing community service. I am a people person; I love helping people out.
“And helping others helped me out,” she adds.
As part of the sorority’s mental-health project, Guillaume assisted children receiving equine therapy; the sorority members painted rocks with positive messages and placed them around Tech’s campus for their university community project. She also served as the sorority’s district officer and helped plan the organization’s district meeting with chapters from other colleges and universities.
Because the Covid-19 pandemic closed Georgia Tech’s campus, Guillaume—who graduated in 2021—completed her fourth year of school virtually, planning for her post-EXCEL transition.
“We have two courses that help the students develop a plan for support for when they leave college, and we also work with their families,” explains EXCEL Founding Director Ken Surdin. “Our focus isn’t just their education but what comes after it: If you come in with a disability, then you’re leaving with a disability, and all of the challenges that exist for people with disabilities are still out there. Those haven’t disappeared.
“Coming to a program like EXCEL hopefully has helped you learn to navigate those challenges better—has helped you understand what support to ask for and what accommodations you need to be successful. And that also benefits employers, who might not otherwise understand how to support someone with a disability or even what they would be capable of.”
Exact unemployment statistics for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are hard to find, but only around 34% of working-age adults (aged 21 to 64) with ID/D are employed. In contrast, 93% of EXCEL graduates are employed.
“Our outcomes—especially our employment outcomes—are phenomenal,” Surdin notes. “And that’s because Georgia Tech believes in the EXCEL Program. Its success is directly linked to the president and provost, faculty, staff, and degree-seeking students who support us and our students.”
When asked what she’d like to do next career-wise, Guillaume says that she’d like to visit UPS offices in other states, and that if given the opportunity, she would enjoy taking photographs at UPS conferences. (Guillaume has three personal Instagram accounts—dedicated to her dog, her coffee shop explorations, and her social life—that keep her busy snapping pictures in her down time.)
And what’s next for the EXCEL Program, now that it’s nearly a decade old?
Surdin is working with ThinkCollege.net, a center dedicated to expanding postsecondary options for individuals with ID/D, to create an accreditation body for programs like EXCEL. He also wants to improve EXCEL’s financial accessibility through grants, gifts, and scholarships. One year of tuition costs $19,640.
The Georgia General Assembly’s approval of SB 246 at the end of the 2022–’23 session, represents progress in this area. SB 246 authorized a nearly $1 million, five-year pilot program—modeled after the HOPE scholarship—that allows funds to pay tuition costs for the EXCEL program and others like it around the state. “This will be tremendously helpful,” Surdin says. “We have one of the best programs in the country, focused on helping our students prepare for life after college and continuing to improve those outcomes so they’re successful after they leave.”
Guillaume is one of those EXCEL Program success stories. “I feel happy and independent,” she says with a smile. There are plenty more sure to come.
