Update on UC San Diego's Accessibility Efforts

Purpose and Mission: The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) is partnering with the Office of Operational Strategic Initiatives (OSI) to update its mission and vision statements, and to provide stakeholders with the opportunity to comment before its final adoption.

OSD Staffing and Organizational Structure: In November 2023, the OSD welcomed Jan Noz as the new Assistant Director and Laszlo Folks as a new Disability Specialist 3. The OSD is also onboarding three temporary positions to support the work of the office. 

In November 2023, VC Health Sciences (VCHS) hired an inaugural Disability Specialist to work exclusively with students in the School of Medicine including the new Atkinson Physician Assistant Education Program, and the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The Specialist will be housed and funded by VCHS with a dotted reporting line to the OSD Director. 

In November 2023, Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) hired an inaugural student intern whose focus will be on building community among graduate and professional school students with disabilities. 

Programmatic Updates: The OSD worked with Student Affairs on a pilot program in Fall 2023 that placed adjustable ergonomic chairs in each lecture hall and classroom in Center Hall for use by any student (e.g. students with a disability, etc.). Unfortunately, despite signage indicating their specific use and location, several chairs were stolen.

During the Fall quarter, the OSD hosted virtual open houses for Faculty and Staff to learn about OSD services and processes. Attendance has ranged between 2 - 15 people at a time with mostly staff attendees.

DCC Staffing and Organizational Structure: The DCC and Human Resources are actively recruiting and hiring for the open position of Director, Disability Services and ADA Officer.

Electronic Accessibility: The UCSD Web Standards Committee is in the process of developing a training on electronic accessibility for UCSD faculty, staff and administrators. A timeline will be shared in a future update.<

Physical Accessibility: A new workgroup was created to connect UCSD’s OSD, DCC, and RMP – Facilities Management to discuss the development of an online form to report and address physical access barriers on campus. As appropriate, representatives from the Associated Students (AS), Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA), Staff Association and Academic Senate will be contacted to determine how to best incorporate the student, faculty and staff perspective. A timeline will be shared in a future update.

The University of California Systemwide Advisory Workgroup on Students with Disabilities has released a final report of recommendations to enhance the experience of students with disabilities. In conjunction with its current work, the AHEAD Steering Committee will review the report and engage in conversation via a series of focus groups with campus constituents to determine best next steps. Ongoing updates will be shared quarterly via UC San Diego’s Accessibility Efforts website.