Opening Doors with the Access Project

Pilot program connects students with disabilities to career opportunities

Pictured: Niira Krupnick distributes gifts to students and supervisors at the end-of-year celebration for the Access Project.

A new program at Clark College has expanded college and career opportunities for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Access Project, established by Career Development & Engagement Specialist Niira Krupnick, was designed to create more college career pathways for these individuals by connecting them with internships and student employment opportunities.  

The Access Project had been taking shape for a long time. Throughout Niira's experiences, the message was clear: people with intellectual and developmental disabilities wanted more opportunities to attend college, build careers, and participate fully in their communities. 

This need is especially apparent in Clark County. According to Clark County’s Development Disabilities Comprehensive Plan, an estimated 8,788 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities live in Clark County. However, Clark County doesn't currently have a comprehensive, inclusive postsecondary education program.  

Comparatively, there are hundreds of these programs nationally, and research consistently shows that students with intellectual and developmental disabilities who participate in higher education have stronger employment outcomes, greater independence, and increased community participation.  

As one of the only colleges in the state that didn't have a program like this, Niira wanted to begin building those opportunities at Clark College. 

A Successful Pilot Year

Much of the project's behind-the-scenes work focused on building the infrastructure needed for inclusive postsecondary education at Clark. Niira recruited and coordinated with campus departments and community partners, worked with supervisors to develop internship experiences, and created guides and resources for both students and supervisors.  

The goal wasn’t simply to create a handful of internships. It was to build the systems, partnerships, and campus capacity needed to continue creating opportunities long after the pilot year. 

One important partner was the Washougal Transition Program (WTP), which works with students ages 18-22 as they look forward to life after school. Their instructor, Kenneth Kulk, presented his students with Clark as an option and helped many of them enroll in Clark programs. 

By the end of its pilot year, the project had served 11 students, created 11 internship and student employment experiences, partnered with six campus departments, developed a supervisor cohort, and built a strong foundation for future growth.  

Students completed internships in the Clark College Bookstore, the Penguin Early Learning Center, the Office of People & Culture, and The Swift literary magazine. Niira also hosted interns with Career Services, where they worked alongside her and her employment assistant, Riss Shelton, on projects that supported the department’s work while providing students with additional workplace experience.  

One of her favorite parts of the project was seeing students engage with different parts of campus in new ways. They contributed to the day-to-day work of their departments, worked alongside faculty and staff, and experienced what it was like to be part of a campus department. 

But it wasn't just students benefiting from this program — faculty and staff had opportunities to learn alongside them. Supervisors participated in training, collaborated with one another, and shared ideas throughout the year. Many expressed interest in continuing to support students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the future. 

This reflects the thread that has run throughout Niira’s entire career. “Whether I was working in schools, supported employment, community arts, or Career Services, my work has always centered on creating more equitable opportunities for people who have historically faced barriers to opportunities.” 

Building Opportunity at Clark College

Because the project touches many different areas of the college, Niira created a cross-campus advisory committee to help shape it, which included representatives from Career Services, Disability Access, Entry Services, Dual Enrollment, faculty, administrators, transition educators, students, family members, and community partners. Throughout the year, they provided feedback, helped identify barriers students encounter as they transition from high school into college, shared ideas from their own areas of expertise, and helped strengthen partnerships on and off campus.  

Niira also visited similar programs at Washington State University and Highline College to learn from their successes and challenges. Those visits, along with conversations with other program leaders and research into national models, helped inform the development of the Access Project while making sure they were creating something that fit Clark College and the local community. 

The project was funded through a $4,000 grant from the Clark College Foundation’s Student Success Fund as a one-year pilot during the 2025-26 academic year. While funding has not yet been secured to continue the project next year, the work will continue — multiple departments have already agreed to host interns for the upcoming academic year. Niira sees this ongoing work as part of a bigger picture. 

“Community colleges exist to serve their communities, and I believe that includes students with intellectual and developmental disabilities," Niira said. "My hope is that this pilot is the beginning of a larger conversation about what equitable access can look like at Clark College and how we can continue creating pathways so that every student has the opportunity to learn, contribute, and thrive.” 

At the end-of-year celebration on June 10, students received certificates recognizing their employment experiences, supervisors were honored for opening their departments to students, and everyone had the opportunity to reflect on what they had built together. 

“Looking around the room, it was exciting to see [everyone] all celebrating together," Niira said. "The project only happened because people across the college were willing to open their departments, share their expertise, and create opportunities that hadn’t existed before. It was a reminder that building a more inclusive campus is something we accomplish together.”

Pictured: Students and supervisors at the end-of-year celebration, including April Pereira (right), director of special projects for the Office of People and Culture.

Pictured (L to R): Dani Depuy-Grobbel, Janice, Vanessa, Riss, and Niira Krupnick

Pictured (L to R): Niira Krupnick and Tanya E.

Pictured (L to R): Niira Krupnick and Vanessa

Learn More About Career Services at Clark College

Career Services is dedicated to assisting students and community members with their career development journey, helping them develop a career plan, choose a major, search for a job, create a resume, and identify internship opportunities. Through a variety of free events, workshops, and job fairs, Career Services connects students and community members with potential employers. Career Services also offers resources to support faculty in their work with students. Learn more about Career Services at Clark College. 

Photos: Clark College/Carly Rae Zent and Niira Krupnick

Story by Malena Goerl, Staff Writer, Communications; and Niira Krupnick, Career Development & Engagement Specialist, Career Services