As some of you may remember, a couple of years ago, I corresponded with
many folks in U.S. disability studies about the need to create a CIP code
for our field. These codes are used by the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES) to track academic programs in the U.S. At that time, the
CIP list had no code dedicated to disability studies programs, and this
caused our programs to be listed under headings that failed to capture
accurately our teaching and scholarship. In 2008, the NCES was about to
revise their code list, so there seemed to be a window of opportunity.
After gathering input from everyone who contacted me, I sent a proposal to
NCES for a Disability Studies code. They responded with a draft code that
captured some but not all of our main elements. We sent back critical
feedback and suggested revisions. I had not received any further word on
this until yesterday when my university sent this message:
I am writing to inform you that the new CIP codes have now become official
and we found that there is a code that appears to fit your programs:
CIP Code 05.0210
Title: Disability Studies.
Definition: A program that focuses on the nature, meaning, and consequences
of what it is to be defined as disabled and explores the historical,
cultural, economic, physiological, and socio-political dynamics of
disability. Includes instruction in disability rights, legal issues, and
public policy; literature, philosophy, and the arts; and/or research in the
social sciences, education, and health sciences addressing social and
experiential aspects of disability.
The new CIP code assignment will be effective for Fall 2010 reporting
I will leave it up to you to decide on the quality of this outcome. I think
it's not bad. We did not get them to include interdisciplinarity in this
definition, no matter how forcefully we argued for it, but they did include
many other important elements. Also, the code's location is significant. It
is placed under:
05) AREA, ETHNIC, CULTURAL, GENDER, AND GROUP STUDIES. Instructional
programs that focus on the defined areas, regions, and countries of the
world; defined minority groups within and across societies; and issues
relevant to collective gender and group experience.
More specifically, it is in the 05.02 group:
05.02) Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies.
Thank you to all who contributed to this development in U.S. disability
studies. If you want to visit the CIP website, it is at:
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/Default.aspx?y=55
Carol
Carol J. Gill, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Disability & Human Development
Director of Graduate Studies, Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Disability
Studies
University of Illinois at Chicago (MC 626)
1640 West Roosevelt Road - Room 236
Chicago, IL 60608 U.S.A.
(312) 996-1508 V
(312) 996-1233 TTY
(630) 920-0928 Fax
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