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When Beth Myers, executive director of the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education, celebrates students at their graduation, she does so with both pride and optimism. Myers knows that the InclusiveU experience has positioned them for success. “For example, we know that students with intellectual disability are three times more likely to be employed after graduation if they have come out of a comprehensive postsecondary program like InclusiveU,” Myers says.

InclusiveU is Syracuse University’s comprehensive postsecondary program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Now, with a new $1 million grant from the B. Thomas Golisano Foundation, Myers and the team at the will be able to extend the impact of their work well beyond campus.

The new grant is both a vote of confidence and continued support for the approach IHETAC has taken to provide assistance to others, as part of a pilot program funded in 2024 by an initial $200,000 grant from the Golisano Foundation. With the initial funding, the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education launched IHETAC to help create or expand inclusive postsecondary education programs at three pilot schools: Hartwick College, Daemen University and Roberts Wesleyan University.

“Our InclusiveU program is the largest in the country but we can’t be the only place nor should we be,” says Christine “Christy” E. Ashby, G’01, G’07, Ph.D.’08, director of the Center for Disability and Inclusion (CDI). “The idea that we can support others to build and improve programs to provide access and opportunity is both an awesome responsibility and a tremendous gift.”

“We were really successful in what we accomplished in the first phase,” says Myers, who also serves as the associate director for the CDI. “These three pilot programs are thriving as we provide the resources and training to address their needs and desires.” The IHETAC model incorporates four core components: comprehensive assessment, customized coaching, professional learning and resource development, and ongoing evaluation and sustainability planning.

Scaling up the Programming

“With the new grant from Golisano, we are ready to scale up,” says Myers. The new funding will support five additional pilot programs, the development of a resource library with toolkits on best practices and a statewide Community of Practice, including reoccuring workshops and professional development.

The need is critical. Recent data from the New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) indicates that more than 130,000 students in New York state receive special education services, yet less than 0.5% of them access inclusive college programs. Of the 472 colleges and universities in the state, only 24 have inclusive postsecondary programs. Only 435 students are currently enrolled in an inclusive postsecondary program.

“This is the first generation of college students with intellectual disability,” says Myers. “It’s exciting to see a growth in opportunities for them, but we still simply do not have enough programs or slots across this country. For example, if you’re a student with intellectual disability in New Hampshire, there are zero opportunities for you. And few programs offer a fully inclusive program like what is availabe here at InclusiveU, including residential, social and career transition components.”

“We are incredibly grateful that the Golisano Foundation recognizes that education is a lever toward possibilities,” says Ashby. “This population is underemployed, undereducated and undervalued. Every time we start one of these programs, we shift the way people think about someone’s potential, and we love that Golisano gets to experience that along with us.”

“The Golisano Foundation is proud to support Syracuse University and IHETAC as they expand access to inclusive postsecondary education across New York state,” says Erica Dayton, executive director of the Golisano Foundation. “For far too many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, opportunities like these remain out of reach. This investment is about changing that, building pathways to education, independence and meaningful participation in community life.”

InclusiveU as a Nationwide Model

Syracuse University’s commitment to ensuring that people with intellectual disability have access to postsecondary education is a model for inclusion nationwide and worldwide. “We’re always making new inroads because our motto at CDI is ‘what’s next?’” says Ashby. “What’s the next barrier to inclusion? What’s the next landscape that students with intellectual disability haven’t yet had a chance to access? We know that there are so many students with tremendous potential for being contributing citizens and who have high aspirations. We believe that all people are capable of more if they only had the resources. All people should have access to rich, meaningful lives.”

Of the 110 applicants for InclusiveU this year, there were only enough spots for 30 individuals. InclusiveU students, now totaling 105, receive a comprehensive student experience—academic, residential, social, career-planning. They are currently enrolled in 375 different college classes across campus. Their presence in daily Orange life has transformed the entire campus.

Accommodating All Learners

“We are a better university because of the inclusive practices that are here,” says Myers. She says that professors who adapt their practices to accommodate different kinds of learners discover that all learners benefit. “We are thinking about how all our students in these classes will go out into the world after their experiences here and how they will be better family members, better colleagues, better neighbors and better voters.”

Recently, InclusiveU students were invited to pledge at Syracuse University fraternities and sororities. They also participate in study abroad programs. Ashby and Myers went to Italy with 14 students, seven of whom were part of the InclusiveU program.

“At the Borghese gardens in Rome, we hopped on group-powered bikes. Just watching the pure joy, the interaction between our students and the people around them, those were extraordinary moments,” Ashby says. “But for every one of our students who get that opportunity, there are thousands of others who only dream about it. That’s what we are here for—to change that and deliver on those dreams.”

With similar passion and purpose, the Golisano Foundation has targeted significant funding to organizations and initiatives that support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano, the founder of Paychex Inc., has a son with intellectual disability and understands the challenges and the changes needed to transform lives.

“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to fight for inclusive education,” says Ashby. “It would just be education.”

About the Golisano Foundation

The Golisano Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the U.S. dedicated to making the world a better place for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The foundation is devoted to opening doors to opportunity, changing negative perceptions and stereotypes, and forging unprecedented partnerships to ensure individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have pathways to personal dignity, independence and the best possible expression of their abilities and talents throughout their lifetimes. Founded in 1985 by Tom Golisano—entrepreneur, philanthropist, civic leader, and founder of Paychex, Inc.—the Foundation “imagines the possibilities,” advocating for families, fighting for their dignity, and giving people with IDD the opportunity to thrive in their communities. With more than $100 million in gross assets, it awards about $5 million annually to non-profit organizations in Western New York and Southwest Florida.