The Older Individuals who are Blind Technical Assistance Center is a part of the National Research & Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (NRTC) at Mississippi State University, focused on agencies serving older individuals who are blind (OIB). This project is funded by two grants (#H177Z200001) and (#H177Z150003) from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) under the U.S. Department of Education. The OIB-TAC team provides a variety of training and technical assistance activities to state OIB programs to improve administration, operation, and performance of OIB programs by addressing the areas of community outreach; best practices in provision and delivery of services; program performance, including data reporting and analysis; and financial and management practices, including administrative compliance.
Address:
P.O. Box 6189
Mississippi State, MS 39762
Campus Mailstop: 9741
OIB-TAC Staff
Kendra Farrow - Project Director
Contact:
Email: kfarrow@colled.msstate.edu
Phone: (662) 325-2001
Education:
B.A., Eastern Mennonite University
M.A., Western Michigan University
Lisa Gooden-Hunley - Program Manager
As Program Coordinator, Lisa monitors the implementation and tracking of OIB-TAC project activities. She serves as editor for program courses, manages meeting logistics, and collects program evaluation data.
Contact:
Email: lhunley@colled.msstate.edu
Phone: (662) 325-2001
Education:
Master of Arts, English, Mississippi State University
Master of Arts, Higher Education Administration, The University of Mississippi
Bachelor of Arts, English, The University of Mississippi
Polly Abbott - Project Manager
Contact:
Email: pabbott@colled.msstate.edu
Education:
Instructor for Blind and Visually Impaired—Orientation and Mobility, Mohawk College, Brantford, Ontario Canada
Instructor for Blind and Visually Impaired—Rehabilitation Teacher, Mohawk College, Brantford, Ontario Canada
Bachelor of Education & Teacher of French as a Second Language (FSL), Nipissing University, North Bay, Ontario Canada
Bachelor of Arts & Honors equivalent, University of Guelph, Ontario Canada
Jennifer Ottowitz - Older Blind Specialist
Contact:
Email: jottowitz@colled.msstate.edu
Education:
M.S. Ed in Special Education for the Visually Impaired from Northern Illinois University
B.S Ed Special Education for the Multiply and Orthopedically Handicapped from Kent State University
Renee Brannon - Business Manager
Renee is the NRTC Business Manager. She is responsible for all business operations, invoices, federal reporting, and operations. Contact Renee with questions related to:
- Operations
- Contracts
- Invoices
Contact:
Email: rbrannon@colled.msstate.edu
Phone: (662) 325-2001
Education:
B.A., Mississippi State University
Sarah Moody - Communications Coordinator
Sarah is responsible for managing all external communications for the center, including disseminating research results and interacting with stakeholders.
Contact:
Email: smoody@colled.msstate.edu
Phone: (662) 325-2001
Education:
Masters of Business Administration, Belhaven University
Bachelors of Arts, Communication, Mississippi State University
Find additional information in the OIB-TAC brochure. Available in Word and PDF format in the Online Resources section.
To subscribe to the chapter-2 listserv that distributes information on OIB-TAC programs and activities, please email info@oib-tac.org.
