University of Florida · FYCS · FYC 6901 · Fall 2026

Non-Thesis Project Command Center

Bridging the Accommodation Gap: a student-centered research-to-practice program focused on invisible/nonapparent disability, secondary-to-postsecondary transition, access continuity, and carefully bounded technology.

01 / Overview

Where We Are

Working project snapshot for advisor conversations. Status values are planning estimates and can be updated as committee feedback is received.

Proposal
Committee Draft
Review / Defense Prep
90%

Scope now centers on the secondary → postsecondary bridge and early postsecondary access.

Paper 1
Drafted
Refinement
82%

Needs assessment: self-knowledge, self-advocacy, disclosure, navigation, responsibility transfer, continuity.

Paper 2
Publication Mode
Gap Analysis
72%

Resource map and residual gap analysis; emerging core concept: Access Continuity.

Paper 3 + Prototype
Planned
Design Next
20%

Applied bridge response plus a bounded web/app demonstration derived from Papers 1 and 2.

Research-to-Practice Architecture

1

Needs

Paper 1 identifies what students and systems need.

2

Gaps

Paper 2 tests what already exists and where continuity breaks.

3

Design

Paper 3 translates verified gaps into a bounded framework.

4

Practice

Prototype + EDIS practitioner translation.

Timeline

  1. Fall 2026 · FYC 6901

    Committee setup, proposal review/defense, Paper 1 & 2 refinement, begin Paper 3 and prototype.

  2. Nov–Dec 2026

    Cross-paper citation alignment, publication refinement, prototype documentation.

  3. Spring 2027 · FYC 6912

    Complete project, schedule defense before Graduate School deadline, notify Nicole/Nicci one month prior, final defense and paperwork.

  4. Beyond UF

    Journal submissions and broader policy/implementation study through the Mississippi State EPOD capstone.

02 / Introduction

Dr. Disruptor Presents the Project

A technology-forward introduction to the research program and the larger vision behind Bridging the Accommodation Gap.

Research · Access · Technology · Impact

I’m Dr. Disruptor — The Future

Use this video as the personal introduction to the project. It connects the human reason for the work with the research pathway and the emerging student-centered technology solution.

NEEDSGAPSDESIGNIMPACT

Project pathway: Paper 1 identifies needs → Paper 2 maps resources and gaps → Paper 3 translates evidence into the applied bridge response → Prepare / Bridge / Navigate demonstrates the solution.

03 / Working files

Current Work, Drafts, Processes & Ideations

The manuscripts below make up the project package. Cards show a download link once the file has been attached to the site.

Committee draft

Non-Thesis Proposal

Current proposal defining the three-paper architecture, Prepare → Bridge → Navigate prototype, scope, methods, timeline, and academic boundaries.

Open document
Drafted

Paper 1 — Needs Assessment

Structured review of transition readiness, self-advocacy, navigation, disclosure, transfer of responsibility, and access needs.

Open document
Working manuscript

Paper 2 — Resource & Gap Analysis

Original working manuscript mapping resources and testing residual gaps in navigation, implementation, continuity, and technology support.

Open document
Publication development

Paper 2 — Journal Development Version

Publication-oriented version shaped toward a postsecondary disability journal, with stand-alone framing and stronger practical implications.

Open document
Practitioner translation

EDIS — From High School to College

Practice-facing translation for families, Extension professionals, youth-serving adults, and emerging adults.

Open document
Advisor dashboard

Project Command Center — DOCX

Earlier committee-facing dashboard/document summarizing where the project is and where it is going.

Open document

Process / Decision Rules

Ideation Parking Lot

Shared with anyone holding this link

04 / Pipeline

Research Pipeline

One coherent program, with academically distinct outputs.

WorkstreamQuestion / FunctionCurrent StateNext Scholarly StepConnection
Paper 1
Needs assessment
What readiness, self-advocacy, disclosure, navigation, and continuity needs are documented?DraftedVerify all study designs; final citation/DOI audit; choose target journal with committee.Defines the problem before selecting a solution.
Paper 2
Resource & gap analysis
What already exists, what does it do, and where do meaningful residual gaps remain?Publication developmentClose resource map; strengthen reproducible search trail; formalize Access Continuity concept.Prevents duplication and justifies Paper 3.
Paper 3
Applied bridge response
What bounded student-centered functions are justified by verified needs and gaps?PlannedTurn evidence requirements into product requirements, governance boundaries, and implementation model.Research → design translation.
EDIS
Practitioner translation
How can families and youth-serving professionals support gradual transfer of agency before college?DraftedFinal editorial polish and submission pathway.Turns research into accessible practice guidance.
MSU EPOD
Future doctoral expansion
How do organizations, policy, governance, training, and implementation support or scale the bridge?Future phasePreserve UF evidence and design traceability for later policy/system study.Broadens from student-facing bridge to systems around the bridge.

Emerging Integrative Concept: Access Continuity

A

Recognize

Identify what task, environment, or process is creating a barrier.

B

Articulate + Navigate

Describe the barrier and find the correct human/institutional pathway.

C

Implement

Move from approval to usable support in the real context.

D

Review + Adjust

Check whether access remains usable as courses, environments, and needs change.

05 / Applied hub

Applied Hub & Technology Track

The technology is a research-derived demonstration, not the evidence itself.

Zone 1

Prepare — Secondary Education

  • Know yourself as a learner
  • Strengths, barriers, supports that help
  • Practice self-advocacy
  • Assistive technology experience
  • Questions for prospective colleges
Zone 2

Bridge — Transition / Handoff

  • What changes after high school
  • IDEA/IEP → postsecondary civil-rights process
  • Disclosure/documentation preparation
  • Disability-services registration
  • Student-controlled access summary
Zone 3

Navigate — Postsecondary

  • Accommodation activation/renewal
  • Faculty communication preparation
  • Course-specific access review
  • Escalation preparation
  • Verified resources + bounded AI

Bounded AI: Appropriate Roles

  • Organize student-entered notes and questions.
  • Rewrite complex institutional information in clearer language.
  • Help rehearse self-advocacy conversations.
  • Navigate to verified resources.
  • Create editable process/authorship records where appropriate.

AI: Hard Stops

  • No diagnosis or eligibility determination.
  • No autonomous accommodation prescription.
  • No definitive legal or institutional conclusions.
  • No replacing disability services, educators, or student judgment.
  • No claims of effectiveness before actual approved evaluation.

Visual Concept

The earlier orange-and-blue infographic concept is included here as design inspiration. The live dashboard is intentionally more functional and updateable.

Orange and blue visual concept for the UF non-thesis project dashboard
06 / Library

Reference Library & Annotated Bibliography

Starter cross-project library drawn from the proposal, Paper 1, Paper 2, and EDIS work. Before submission, verify every entry against the original article/publisher/DOI record and match each reference one-to-one with in-text citations.

16 of 16 sources
APA-style sourceTagsAnnotated useBest use
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480.
developmenttransition
Seminal contextual frame for the late-teen/twenties period in which educational, identity, disclosure, and adult-role responsibilities are increasingly negotiated.Paper 1; EDIS; proposal
Blasey, J., Wang, C., & Blasey, R. (2023). Accommodation use and academic outcomes for college students with disabilities. Psychological Reports, 126(4), 1891–1909.
accommodationsimplementation
Supports the distinction between accommodation approval and actual use/outcomes, central to the implementation-continuity gap.Paper 1; Paper 2
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2006). The bioecological model of human development. In Handbook of child psychology (6th ed.). Wiley.
systemsdevelopment
Provides the systems/context frame: access is produced through interactions among people, relationships, institutions, and time rather than student traits alone.Paper 1; EDIS; proposal
Cho, J. I., & Jones, K. (2024). How do college students with disabilities do? Law, self-determination, self-advocacy, and campus resources. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 24(3), 68–86.
self-advocacynavigation
Important evidence for uneven disability-law knowledge, self-advocacy, and campus-resource use among college students.Paper 1; Paper 2; EDIS
Coughlan, T., & Iniesto, F. (2025). What should I know? Analysing behaviour and feedback from student use of a virtual assistant to share information about disabilities. The Internet and Higher Education, 66, 101002.
AIvirtual assistant
Demonstrates that conversational technology can sit inside a disability-information process when capability boundaries and institutional integration are explicit.Paper 2; Paper 3
Cumming, T. M., & Rose, M. C. (2022). Exploring universal design for learning as an accessibility tool in higher education: A review of the current literature. The Australian Educational Researcher, 49(5), 1025–1043.
UDLaccessibility
Supports Universal Design as a cross-cutting accessibility approach rather than a replacement for individualized accommodations.Paper 2; Paper 3
Edwards, M., Poed, S., Al-Nawab, H., & Penna, O. (2022). Academic accommodations for university students living with disability and the potential of universal design to address their needs. Higher Education, 84(4), 779–799.
accommodationsUDL
Connects accommodation barriers with Universal Design and helps distinguish formal support from usable access.Paper 1; Paper 2
Hsiao, F., Burgstahler, S., Johnson, T., Nuss, D., & Doherty, M. (2019). Promoting an accessible learning environment for students with disabilities via faculty development. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 32(1), 91–99.
facultycampus climate
Useful for showing that implementation is also an institutional-capacity problem; disability services cannot be the sole actor responsible for access.Paper 2; MSU future work
Kline, B., & Davidson, D. L. (2022). College students with invisible illnesses and disabilities: Disclosure, hiding, and support. College Student Affairs Journal, 40(3), 121–135.
invisible disabilitydisclosure
Core evidence on hiding, disclosure, and support-seeking for invisible disability in higher education.Paper 1; Paper 2; EDIS
McNicholl, A., Casey, H., Desmond, D., & Gallagher, P. (2021). The impact of assistive technology use for students with disabilities in higher education: A systematic review. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 16(2), 130–143.
assistive technology
Supports potential academic/psychosocial benefit while reinforcing that technology should be evaluated as part of a broader support ecosystem.Paper 2; Paper 3
Melián, E., & Meneses, J. (2022). Getting ahead in the online university: Disclosure experiences of students with apparent and hidden disabilities. International Journal of Educational Research, 114, 101991.
disclosureonline learning
Shows disclosure as a contextual process shaped by institutional procedures, stigma, and credibility concerns.Paper 1; Paper 2
Moore, A. M., Vaccaro, A., Newman, B. M., Daly-Cano, M., & Brandis Ruise, B. (2024). “I shouldn’t have to rely on them anymore”: College students with disabilities on the journey toward self-advocacy. Journal of The First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 36(1), 93–112.
self-advocacytransition
Important direct-transition evidence that self-advocacy develops as responsibility shifts from family/school supported processes toward student leadership.Paper 1; EDIS
Parsons, J. M., McColl, M. A., Martin, A., & Reynard, D. (2023). Transition and accommodation experiences of students with disabilities: A qualitative study. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 36(2), 179–192.
transitionaccommodations
Directly relevant qualitative evidence on the more active role students must assume during transition and accommodation navigation.Paper 1; Paper 2
Pierrès, O., Darvishy, A., & Christen, M. (2025). Exploring the role of generative AI in higher education: Semi-structured interviews with students with disabilities. Education and Information Technologies, 30(7), 8923–8952.
AIstudent voice
Provides disabled-student perspectives on AI benefits, limitations, accuracy, cost, access, policy, and human-support needs.Paper 2; Paper 3; CUNY AI paper
Tufty, L. M., Gallagher, V. T., Oddo, L., Vasko, J., Chronis-Tuscano, A., & Meinzer, M. (2024). Academic accommodations and functioning in college students with ADHD: Limitations, barriers, and suggestions for collaborators. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 37(1), 35–46.
ADHDimplementation
Condition-specific evidence that accommodation use can remain difficult after approval and may require coordination and adjustment.Paper 1; Paper 2
Zhao, X., Cox, A., & Chen, X. (2025). The use of generative AI by students with disabilities in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 66, 101014.
AIhigher education
Current evidence on real-world GenAI use by disabled students and the accessibility/policy tensions that accompany it.Paper 2; Paper 3; CUNY AI paper
07 / Targets

Possible Peer-Reviewed Journal Targets

Fit is a planning recommendation, not an acceptance prediction. Journal scope and author instructions were checked against official publisher/journal pages in September 2026; re-check immediately before submission.

Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability (JPED)

High fit
Official author guidelines

Best candidate for Paper 2 and potentially Paper 1. Strong alignment with postsecondary disability, disability-resource practice, transition, accommodations, and practical implications for disability professionals. Current submission route is through Scholastica.

Paper 1Paper 2

Journal of Diversity in Higher Education

Selective fit
Official journal page

Strong institutional equity/inclusion scope and interest in barriers, access, teaching/learning, policy, and organizational change. Current guidance emphasizes full-length empirical work, so fit may improve if the project later includes stronger empirical/evaluation components.

FutureMSU

Disability & Society

Theory / justice fit
Official aims & scope

Potential home if a manuscript is reframed more explicitly through disability studies, disabled voices, human rights, policy/practice critique, inclusion, ableism, or disability justice rather than primarily service-navigation design.

CUNYFuture

The Internet and Higher Education

AI-focused fit

A possible stretch target for a later rigorous AI/accessibility study, especially because current disability-focused virtual-assistant and GenAI research already appears there. More likely for a future empirical/implementation paper than the current non-thesis synthesis.

Paper 3+
08 / Board

Next Actions & Advisor Meeting Board

Check items as they are completed. Everything on this board is stored in the project database, so the chair and committee see the same state you do.

Next 30–60 Days

Questions / Decisions for Dr. Pracht

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Meeting Notes

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