About MIHEC

Mission

Our mission is to expand college options and increase access to and affordability of high-quality, inclusive postsecondary education that leads to the development of skills essential in achieving the goals of competitive integrated employment and community living for ALL interested youth, young adults, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities from all ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Vision

Our vision is to build, enhance, and sustain initiatives that deliver inclusive higher education for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Minnesota. This includes attending college classes, gaining work experience, earning meaningful credentials, and becoming a genuine member of the campus community.

• The State of Minnesota has the Education Attainment Goal 2025 : “70 percent of Minnesota adults age 25 to 44 will have attained a postsecondary certificate or degree by 2025.”
• Our collaborative partnership is guided by Minnesota's Olmstead Plan and its vision: "People with disabilities are living, learning, working, and enjoying life in the most integrated setting."

Purpose & Outcomes

The Minnesota Inclusive Higher Education Consortium’s main purpose is to provide tools and resources, professional development, and technical assistance to collaboratively develop and enhance inclusive higher education initiatives across the state. As a result, more people with intellectual and developmental disabilities will have access to high-quality, inclusive postsecondary education. Our work aims toward the individual outcomes of attending college, earning a credential, integrated, competitive employment, higher wages, and living more independently. These outcomes are consistent with the Minnesota Olmstead’s Plan Employment and Lifelong Learning and Education goals:

• By June 30, 2025, the percentage of students with disabilities who have enrolled in an integrated postsecondary education setting within one year of leaving high school will increase to 34.8% (from a baseline of 29.8%).
• By June 30, 2025, 1,513 students with developmental cognitive disabilities, ages 19-21, will enter into competitive integrated employment through the Employment Capacity Building Cohort (ECBC).

Annual Report

The Minnesota Inclusive Higher Education Technical Assistance Center filed its first annual report with the State of Minnesota on October 1, 2024.

Technical Assistance Center Advisory Committee

This MIHEC committee includes Minnesotans with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their parents, and other key stakeholders. The following are the committee members.

• Dawn Bly
• Cassie Campbell
• David Dively
• Dupree Edwards
• Cha Her
• John James
• Addie Loerzel
• Gage Robinson
• Sarah Robinson
• Annette Romualdo
• Eva Scantes-Wilson
• Kate Seng
• Brynn Sexton
• Mary Willard

Institute on Community Integration

The Institute on Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota is the host organization for MIHEC. ICI is a designated University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and works with service providers, policymakers, educators, employers, advocacy organizations, researchers, families, community members, and individuals with disabilities around the world, building communities that are inclusive. MIHEC shares the mission, vision, and values of ICI.

Funding

The Higher Education Omnibus Bill during the 2023 Legislative session secured funding for the development of the Inclusive Higher Education Technical Assistance (TA) Center. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education provides the funding through a contract with the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota to establish the TA Center. The center aims to create access to self-sustaining postsecondary education options across the state for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities to earn postsecondary credentials.

Contact Us

Mary Hauff, Director

Katie Parry, Community Engagement Coordinator

Amy Hewitt, Ph.D., FAAIDD, Director – Institute on Community Integration, U of M

Seunghee Lee, Ph.D. Research Associate, Institute on Community Integration, U of M

General contact: MIHEC@umn.edu

The University of Minnesota stands on Miní Sóta Makhóčhe , the rightful homelands of the Dakhóta Oyáte.  We recognize the U.S. did not uphold its end of these land treaties. It is the current and continued displacement of the Dakhóta Oyáte that allows the University to remain today. 

At ICI, we affirm our commitment to address systemic racism, ableism and all other inequalities and forms of oppression to ensure inclusive communities.