Tower-Fall-2018

18 TOWER | FALL 2018 a HIDDEN at KU BY NIKKI MURRY ’98 A mongst its 100+ majors, minors and concentrations for undergraduate students, there’s a gem of a program at Kutztown University, and it dates back to 1963. The visual impairment program falls under the elementary education umbrella. Once completing coursework including anatomy of the eye, Braille and more, about 60–70 current students will graduate with both an elementary education certification, as well as a certificate to act as a teacher of the visually impaired. It’s a skillset so in-demand that the major boasts 100 percent job placement. “There’s a national shortage,” said associate professor Dr. Nicole Johnson ’05, who teaches all classes in the concentration. “Every student graduating has been placed, and most have job offers even prior to graduation.” KU’s visual impairment is one of only five such undergraduate programs in the country, and the second-ever founded. It’s also the largest in the nation. DISCOVERING THEIR PATH With that kind of uniqueness, you might think those interested in working with the visually impaired seek out Kutztown, but that’s not necessarily true. Take Johnson, for example. She graduated from the program herself in 2005, but like many, discovered it while already enrolled in KU as an elementary education major. “I knew I wanted to specialize in something,” she said. “And once I found the vision program classes, I just never stopped.”