Search results for: “accessability”
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UTD to eliminate Office of Campus Resources and Support, 20 employee positions
After reevaluating its compliance with Texas’ DEI higher education ban, UTD will eliminate the newly-formed Office of Campus Resources and Support and 20 associated jobs by April 30. President Richard Benson announced the elimination in an email to the student body April 9, making UTD the second school in the UT system to shut down…
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion replaced with OCRS
UTD’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is dismantled as of Dec. 31 and will now be replaced by the Office of Campus Resources and Support, or OCRS, in compliance with SB 17. Under SB 17, universities in Texas are now banned from enforcing diversity statements in hiring procedures or providing faculty and staff with…
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The emotional challenge of emotional support animals
Emotional support animals, or ESAs, are accommodations offered to UTD students who rely on their pets to help them function due to issues stemming from mental health or disabilities, though the process of registering an animal on campus can sometimes be difficult. Legally registering a pet as an ESA on campus requires documentation of a…
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Anti-DEI bill will harm all students if passed
A Senate Bill in committee — 88(R) SB 17 — could mean the end of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as we know it at UTD. If passed in its current state, SB 17 would strike down major resources such as the Gender Center and Multicultural Center and likely dissolve the DEI office as a whole.…
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Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion expands to provide additional student resources
The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion underwent a multi-department reorganization on Sept. 1 to unify advocacy for underrepresented students. In spring of 2022, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion—known as ODEI—began the process of reorganizing centers to achieve a new sense of unity. The AccessAbility Resource Center was moved into ODEI and the…
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Service Dogs embark upon new journey
Despite a “ruff” year in quarantine, service-dogs-in-training Ohana and Winnie are set to graduate from the UTD SIT (Service-dog In Training) club this week and matriculate to a professional pathway with Canine Companions. For outgoing SIT president and business administration senior Aubrey Rowan, it’s a bittersweet occasion. “Ohana’s the second puppy I raised,” Rowan said.…
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Accessibility in online classes
How professors can accommodate disabled students amidst online shift With the switch to online learning, the Office of Student AccessAbility and faculty members are having to make different adjustments in order to accommodate students with disabilities. Clinical associate professor Kenneth Brewer said that in some ways, it’s actually easier to accommodate some students, as blind…
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Group of Students Help Raise, Train Future Service Animals
UTD students care for puppies to become skilled companion, facility dogs Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article misspelled a source’s name. The correct spelling is Aubrey Rowan. The Mercury regrets this error. Amidst the bustle of sneakers and sandals on pavement is the steady tread of four paws directed to the same classes…
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Tier One
Tier One, one of the four tickets with presidential or vice-presidential candidates in the most contested Student Government election in UTD history, is running on a platform of improving transfer student experiences, increasing transparency and supporting the expansion of the Office of Student AccessAbility. Biomedical engineering junior Trevor Schmaeling said he was motivated to run…
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OIT, OSA to provide free assistive technology
The Office of Information Technology and the Office of Student AccessAbility are partnering to provide visual- and learning-impaired students, faculty and staff with screen reading and magnifying software called Fusion Assistive Technology. Fusion is a combination of Job Access with Speech, a screen reader, and ZoomText, a screen magnifier. Melinda Colby, the senior director of…