Volume 26, Issue 35, april 29, 2004

Opinion

Letter to the Editor

Merging disabilities services for students

The Disabilities Services Office (DSO) and the Combined Computer Access Center (CCAC) are the core services provided by the college to ensure that students with disabilities get an equal access to education and other college resources alongside their peers.
Both the DSO and CCAC are essential in providing students tools for success. Last spring, the Auraria campus dissolved DSO from its operations and Metro State absorbed it. Now, Metro State College has two separate offices providing accommodations to students.

This is an inefficient means to provide functional services as there is duplication of services, lack of interdepartmental communication and confusion among students as to which office to go to obtain specific accommodations.

It makes logical and reasonable sense to combine both offices into one operation. The CCAC is largely under-utilized and the bulk of students who receive accommodations are not aware of it as an accommodation. In policy and statute, it is the Disability Services Office which is the primary provider of accommodations for students with disabilities. It is therefore appropriate to combine both operations administratively and physically into one space so the administrative problems that exist can be eliminated.

This is currently being done by expanding the current space of the CCAC in the library by 290 sq. ft. to build more offices for the additional DSO staff. There would be a director and an assistant director. The director will have the focus of running all the offices operations, budget, staff and work closely with faculty, staff and administrators to ensure they are aware of the office and the need to provide accommodations. The assistant director position will largely be focused on the adaptive technology component of the operations training professional staff and students on the use of the adaptive technology.

The CCAC is a unique innovation of Metro State providing a dedicated computer lab for students with a particular need. This lab has all the latest adaptive software and hardware technology, which gives students with any sensory or physical disability equal access to computers. This is an impressive concept and one which works extremely well. This dedicated computer lab solves many access issues that exist in other computer labs across campus and this lab is largely funded through private grants. It has a critical role in the students' computing experience while in college and in developing computer skills necessary to compete in the workforce.

By combining both offices administratively and physically, greater communication among staff and students increases, cross training in technology and rehabilitation techniques are shared, and the adaptive technology lab will have greater usage by students as they can go to a one-stop shop for all accommodations. Such a merger will only enhance the functionality, usability, and access to the accessibility lab. Additionally, by having both operations in one location, students will not have to travel between two offices in two different buildings in order to get full accommodations for their academic and non-academic needs.

To all students with disabilities and those concerned about this merger process: the college is working to ensure both offices are merged to student satisfaction and ensure an office is created which will have student input in its operations, a mutual-trust relationship and appropriate services necessary to ensure students are getting the best tools to make their collegiate and educational experience a productive and fulfilling one.

There have been concerns about how the Office of Student Services is bringing students into the process of changing these offices and this is being fixed. Not everyone will be happy with this merger, of course.

There will always be those who resist any change and there is no reaching them. They should not have the strongest voice and should not control the dialogue. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, contact me at (303) 556-6489 or singerh@mscd.edu.

Thank you,
Harris Singer
Student Trustee

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