About the Author
Anna McClatchy, EdD
Assistant Dean of Student Success and Director of the Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Our Mission: Bridging the Information Gap
Student Disability Services is an office that students, families, and even faculty and staff may have misconceptions about. Over the last few years, Student Disability Services has been working to ensure correct, quality information is available to the campus community. To continue those efforts, the Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success chose to focus our January insights article on how Student Disability Services supports our students.
Getting Started: Early Connection and Family Support
A student can, and should, connect with Student Disability Services before their first semester enrolled. This helps both the student and their family have dedicated time to connect with a staff member in Student Disability Services (SDS) before classes begin. While we do encourage a student to reach out to SDS on their own, we understand that during the transition from high school to college, a parent or family member can be very helpful. They can help the student understand how documentation works, where to get documentation, and what types of support the student may have had in the past.
Privacy and Documentation
Once a student connects with SDS and provides documentation from an appropriate healthcare provider, our office enters their accommodations into our system. It is important to know that our office does not input a diagnosis, only an accommodation, protecting the students’ health information.
Managing Accommodations and Self-Advocacy
Once a student has their accommodations in place, they are provided instructions on how to send those out to their instructors for that semester. The student does get to choose which instructors they send information to; they do not need to send them to every instructor if they do not want to.
If a student does not choose to send out their accommodations within the first few weeks of the semester, they will need to reconnect with SDS if they choose to send out a notification to their instructors at a later date. Students are provided with not only instructions on how to send accommodations to their instructors but also reminders about what their responsibilities are. Student Disability Services encourages students to take ownership of their needs while at Tech; this builds their confidence to advocate for themselves beyond their college career.
Support Beyond Official Diagnoses
For students who may not have a diagnosis or documentation, our office will work with the student to help them either identify options to get the needed documentation or find ways to overcome some of the barriers they are experiencing outside of official accommodations. Student Disability Services goes beyond being the keepers of documentation; we consistently meet with students to ensure they are learning how to navigate the complexities of higher education.
Faculty Partnerships and Outreach
On the faculty and staff side, our case manager, Margaret, has been reaching out to departments across campus. She has offered to attend one of their department meetings to provide a refresher on what SDS does and what the responsibilities of faculty and staff are in this process. Our office would like to continue building this partnership between SDS and departments on campus. If your department has questions or would like for us to come talk at a department meeting, please contact sds@mtu.edu.
Closing the Gap in Student Success
Our office knows that many of our students who need accommodations are not connecting with us. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 21% of undergraduate students report having a disability, while only about 11% of our undergraduates at Tech are reporting their needs to Student Disability Services. This could be for many reasons including: no documentation, not knowing an office exists, or the stigma around asking for help. Student Disability Services hopes that by spreading the word about what we do, more students will be encouraged to connect with our office. Receiving needed accommodations is not something to be ashamed of; it’s an important part of a student’s success.