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Invitation to participate in a study about experiences of post-secondary students with disabilities in Canada

Dear Student:

You are invited to participate in a survey about the experiences of students with disabilities in post-secondary education in Canada. Specifically, this study will explore two areas of focus:
1. What is the current landscape of accessibility, services, accommodations, technical equipment and supports for students with disabilities at publicly-funded post-secondary institutions? 
2. What are the college-university transfer experiences of post-secondary students with disabilities?

The information you provide will help us to understand the experiences of post-secondary students with disabilities in Canada and will provide important insights that may influence future provincial and/or federal policy in relation to disability and post-secondary education.

The basic survey, administered through SurveyGizmo Software (an online data collection tool), will present you with a series of questions that should take about 30-40 minutes to complete. There is also a section of the survey for those interested in or having participated in college-university transfer that should take about 10-15 minutes. Your participation is voluntary. You are not required to answer all of the questions if you don’t want to. If you do not wish to take part in the survey, simply do not start the survey. If you start the survey and decide you no longer want to participate, do not submit your responses and close the browser tab. The survey is anonymous. We do not collect any personally identifying information on the survey and SurveyGizmo will not record your email or IP (internet protocol) address. Therefore, once a participant submits their responses, the data cannot be withdrawn because it cannot be linked back to them.

There are some gift card incentives associated with completing the survey:
a)    Upon completion of the basic survey, participants may choose to enter a draw for one of five VISA gift cards (value $100 each).
b)    Upon completion of the college-university transfer section, participants may choose to provide information to receive one of 60 Chapters/Indigo gift cards (value $20) provided on a first come first serve basis.

In order to receive either form of remuneration, you are required to provide email contact information. Your email contact information will not be linked in any way to your responses and will only be used to provide gift cards.

The use of SurveyGizmo to collect data involves uploading information to a server which has a Canadian repository and stores data in accordance with Canadian regulations.

We will be happy to answer any questions you have about the study. You may contact the principal investigator, Sue Coffey at 905-721-8668 ext 6509 or sue.coffey@uoit.ca

This study is being conducted by researchers from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Durham College, and the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) has reviewed and received ethics clearance from the Research Ethics Boards of the above institutions. Any questions regarding your rights as a participant, complaints or adverse events may be addressed to Research Ethics Board through the Research Ethics Officer – researchethics@uoit.ca or 905.721.8668 x. 3693.

If you would like to participate or learn more about the study, please click the link below to go to the survey website (or copy and paste the link into your Internet browser).

Survey link: http://ca.surveygizmo.com/s3/50031818/CSDPSE-Survey

Thank you for considering this invitation.

With kind regards,

The Research Team