Guidelines to Establish an Office of Student Accessibility Services in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to propose a set of guidelines to establish an office of Student Accessibility Services (SAS) in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The proposed guidelines help to integrate disjointed knowledge to facilitate its interpretation and implementation during deployment of basic support services in favor of students with disability. These guidelines can help to mitigate complexity in providing SAS for the first time in HEIs. These guidelines cover both the design and implementation of an office of SAS and its management. Knowledge was found through a multivocal literature review (MLR), which allowed to capture not only academic approaches but also vantage points and experiences from practice. Key concepts and aspects were organized into eight components (five related to the design and implementation, and three associated with the management context). An expert appraisal method was used as a proof of concept, which complemented a previously performed preliminary implementation example. Obtained results demonstrated the pertinence of the conceptual proposal and confirmed guidelines capability for full implementation in a real-world scenario.

Inclusion and equity: Experiences and dilemmas of disability resource centers at world-class universities

“…The DRCs of world-class universities have provided disability services for decades and have accumulated a wealth of experience in disability service mechanisms, service approaches, and service content (Mendoza-González et al, 2022). Specifically, these DRCs have formed collaborative service mechanisms with relevant functional departments and faculties, operated service platforms with real-time updates, established clear and standardized service procedures, and provided individualized and diverse service content.…”

“…However, SWD often experience various barriers in their social activities, curriculum, learning, and examinations (Lombardi et al, 2018) . To enhance the inclusion and equity of higher education received by SWD, universities instituted DRCs, also known as the Office of Disability Services, Student Accessibility Services, or the Office for Inclusive Education (Mendoza-González et al, 2022). DRCs have played an important role in improving quality of life on campus, academic performance, and learning ability for SWD and have gradually addressed problems of the low academic achievement, high deferral rates, and high dropout rates of SWD (Kim & Crowley, 2021).…”