In 1978, when he came to Augsburg to interview for the half-time position of academic enrichment director, Don Warren was impressed that the campus already had ramps for people with physical disabilities. He was also impressed with the welcoming atmosphere he felt for diverse student populations on campus.

A year later, a student in the learning center told Warren about his diagnosed learning disability. Warren realized a need to understand this area and spent a summer at Berkeley learning from experts in the field and becoming immersed in the literature and services for students.

"This is something that Augsburg by law was required to do and yet we had no specific services," Warren recalls concluding. Nor did any other college in the Midwest at that time.

His proposal to the College administration for a program to serve these students was accepted, and the Office for Disabled Students (ODS) was born, initially serving three students, which Warren directed along with the learning center and tutor center. At that time, he also proposed that ODS take over the services at Augsburg that had been provided by CENTS, the ACTC program.

By 1984, with the rapid growth of these programs, Warren returned to College administrators, requesting the hiring of a learning disabilities specialist.

In 1989, the program was renamed the Center for Learning and Adaptive Student Services (CLASS Program), and by 1990 it served 91 students with learning disabilities and 29 with physical disabilities. Helping to firm the program's foundation was an endowment received in 1988 from the Groves family to purchase adaptive technology for learning disabilities.

The CLASS Program continued its growth to a population in 1999 of 125 learning-disabled students, 45 physically-disabled students, and 29 students with psychiatric disabilities.

In 1997, however, Warren was faced with another challenge. One of his students told him that it was tough at Augsburg for students in recovery. Warren understood that recovery for this student meant recovery from alcohol and other drug abuse and realized that a support program was needed on campus for these students.

Again, Warren proposed to the administration—this time to academic dean Marie McNeff and associate dean Earl Alton—an innovative plan to support the academic success of students in recovery from substance abuse. Both McNeff and Alton were immediately supportive, and the StepUP Program was created. Two floor houses in Anderson Hall became a sober home for 23 students. By living together, by signing a contract to remain sober and to advance toward a degree, and by attending weekly meetings with Warren, the program achieved a relapse rate of only eight percent, as compared to the national rate of 82 percent.

After three years, Warren chose to leave the academic enrichment program, including CLASS, to direct the StepUP Program full time, then having grown to 45 students.

Recently completing its fifth year, StepUP has served 152 students in recovery and is the only program of its kind in the country that focuses on traditional-age college students. StepUP students have consistently earned a 3.1 grade point average; in its five years, the program has maintained an average relapse rate of 15 percent.

In May, Warren was presented with a certificate of "Special Congressional Recognition" signed by U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad for pioneering work in this area. Warren plans to remain connected to StepUP by serving on the StepUP Advisory Board and working with the StepUP staff as leaders in a nationwide effort to create a national association of recovery programs in high schools and colleges.