Note Taking Program Assists UM Students

Blair Jackson

Jour 102

April 26, 2011

For many students with disabilities, taking good notes in class is a big obstacle. The University of Mississippi’s Note Taking program recognizes this problem and provides assistance to disabled students by utilizing healthy Ole Miss students.

Approximately 76 students serve as volunteer note takers this semester. Any student who needs assistance in any one of his or her classes simply notifies the Note Taking office within the Student Disability Services department to be matched up with a fellow student. The office will then contact members of the class to find a volunteer who will assist the student.

Josh Bowles, a Freshman note-taker from Forest, Virginia says that he is proud to be a part of this program. “I think it is great that I can help out a student who can’t take notes for himself. I know if I were in that position I would want someone to do that for me,” he said.

Disabilities can range from Attention Deficit Disorder to a broken writing hand. Students interested in being a note-taker respond to the request of the Student Disabilities Office, and are then matched with the disabled student. They are selected on first come first serve basis.

Crystal Jones is the Note Taking Program Assistant. “We try to help the students as much as we can by matching them with a fellow student who will take notes for them,” she said. All note-takers are volunteers and receive community service hours for participating.

Once matched with a student, volunteers are provided with carbon paper which translates to regular paper underneath. This special paper allows the note-taker to listen and take notes effectively without having to write two copies of the same notes. The carbon paper is also used by the Note Taking office to eliminate the need to continually make photocopies of the notes which saves paper and ink.

University of Mississippi students are not limited to the Student Disability Services requests to be a note-taker. They can also take the incentive and volunteer themselves for a class he or she taking. If the office sees that the volunteer shares any of the same classes with a disabled student, it will contact the student and set he or she up with the disabled student.

The program always welcomes eager students and provides an excellent way for Ole Miss students to assist their fellow class mates. The Student Disability Services Note Taking office is located on the second floor of the Martindale Student Service Center building next to the library.