Welcome to the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. As a part of the Division of Student Affairs, we are committed to creating an inclusive culture on our campus that is both understanding and embracing of our students with disabilities. We hope to accomplish this by educating, advocating & sustaining; educating about the federal guidelines and about disabilities to all who will take part, advocating for equal treatment of all students, including students with disabilities, and sustaining the well being of our students with disabilities on campus.
We are proud of the many advances we have made during the past couple of years. We have developed a state of the art Adaptive Technology Lab in our department and we continue to work to update all the major computer labs to make them accessible according to Section 508. We have developed new programming for our students who have hearing impairments and better developed our programming for all other students. We have developed the student organization, the Student Empowerment Association (SEA), to allow students to advocate and come up with solutions about accessibility on campus. SEA was recognized by the Student Government Association (SGA) as the "Outstanding New Organization 2008-2009". In October of 2008, we wrapped up one of our most successful Disability Awareness Month activities. We were fortunate to have Amy Roloff from the television show "Little People, Big World" speak on campus. Other activities were very successful and will continue to grow over the years.
In October of 2009, we were fortunate to have Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin speak to the campus about her life and experiences being an individual who is deaf working in Hollywood. Ms. Matlin starred in the motion picture "Children of a Lesser God", television series "Picket Fences," "West Wing," "My Name is Earl," and "Sesame Street." It was an informative speaking engagement.
We hope to use this growth as a catapult to continued growth on our campus and throughout our region.
In June of 2009, a group of 33 individuals, including students registered with OSD, staff, and family members, participated in an inagural study abroad trip to the South Pacific. For 14 days, the group researched disability accessibility and policy in Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii. Check out the following link for photos, information about the trip, and view a sample of a documentary the students are creating about their research: http://blog.utc.edu/news/2009/08/international-summer-abroad-trip-explores-accessibility/.
We would like to invite you into this partnership with us. As a student with a disability, as a professor or counselor, or as a parent, every role has a part in the path to our goal. You can help us build a positive and understanding culture for our students. There is a lot more work to be done and we look forward to working with you in the future. Please take a minute to browse our new website and give us any feedback that will help us improve.
Thank you,
Michelle Rigler
Director
