On Monday, Dec. 13 Sinclair Community College hosted a Tartan TOPS (Transition Option in Post-Secondary Education) open house at their downtown Dayton campus from 5-7p.m.
Tartan TOPS is a post-secondary education option for students who have intellectual and developmental disabilities and would like to further their education and career skills. Students will take general education courses and get experience doing an internship for two weeks.
Once completed students are awarded an Academic Career Readiness and Training credential. Tartan TOPS is for part-time students who are between ages 18-24.
This is just one of the many ways Sinclair goes above and beyond to help their students be successful and prepared for life. They even have designed a Tartan TOPS Lounge which is a safe place for students to come work on activities.
When you first enter the lounge, you walk into the reception room where there are tables and chairs to sit while you wait your turn and books for bookbags. The lounge is broken up into three categories; a focus zone, a collaboration space, and a gathering hub.
The focus zone is a minimal distraction setup that’s sole purpose is to give students a quiet space to work on projects or other homework without regular campus distraction.
The collaboration space is a room designed for students who maybe have a group project to work on together. The collaboration space contains bookshelves with literature about campus life and other helpful resources along with different school supplies that are available for student use.
The gathering hub is a conference style room that is designed for several students to work on assignments or just to hang out with other students and friends. It contains a TV as well as a computer equipped with headphones for things like Zoom meetings.
Tartan TOPS also has a podcast that details the experience of TOPS students.
For the application process students are required to fill out and complete an application, skills assessment, and documentation and submit it to Accessibility Services in building 10 room 424 at the Dayton Campus.
Students enrolled in Tartan TOPS are only required to pay Sinclair’s tuition and fees, the program itself is no extra cost to the student. However, students are still encouraged to apply for Financial Aid.
For the open house free parking will be available on 4th Street (Parking Lot B), located near building 3’s entrance.
To learn more about the application process or the program you can find out more by contacting Tristan Chaput, the program coordinator, she can be reached either via phone at 937-512-2309 or email at tristan.chaput@sinclair.edu.
Marquie Peyton
Intern