Director of Campus Communication and Access

The University of Texas at Austin • Austin, UT

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Campus Communication and Access leads accessibility services for Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and DeafBlind students, employees, and visitors at the University of Texas at Austin. This leadership role oversees interpreter and captioning services, coordinates accommodations for classrooms and major campus events, supervises interpreter staff, manages budgets and contracts, and ensures compliance with ADA and FERPA requirements. The Director collaborates with faculty, technology teams, and university departments to facilitate access across campus while maintaining a student caseload and supporting disability-related initiatives. Ideal candidates will have experience in accessibility services, ASL, interpreter coordination, and staff supervision.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
• Five (5) or more years of progressively responsible professional experience providing or coordinating communication-access services for Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and/or DeafBlind individuals (e.g., sign language interpreting, CART/captioning coordination, or comparable work).
• Three (3) or more years of supervisory experience, including hiring, training, evaluating, and scheduling staff interpreters, contract interpreters, or similar service-provider teams.
• Demonstrated working knowledge of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, FERPA, and related federal and Texas accessibility laws as they apply to communication access in postsecondary settings.
• Fluency in American Sign Language (ASL) and demonstrated ability to communicate directly with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students, faculty, staff, and visitors.
• Experience conducting intake interviews and engaging in the interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations for students (particularly Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students) as well as continuing to support these students in helping to create an accessible learning environment throughout their academic career.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive student and employee records consistent with FERPA and University document retention requirements.
• Demonstrated commitment to working effectively and respectfully with people from a wide range of backgrounds, abilities, and lived experiences, including the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community.
• Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in interpretation, Deaf studies, ASL/linguistics, higher education, disability studies, special education, rehabilitation counseling, public administration, or a related field.
• Seven (7) or more years of experience in a college or university disability services or communication-access office.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating interpreter and/or captioning services for complex, large-scale events with multiple stakeholders, vendors, and venues.
• Demonstrated experience managing a budget with chargeback billing, vendor invoicing, and multiple funding sources, including preparing reconciliations, projections, and reports.
• Knowledge of TRS/ACA reporting requirements and experience preparing related compliance reports.
• Experience supervising trilingual (English/Spanish/ASL) interpreters and coordinating services in performance, music, legal, medical, or mental-health settings.
• Experience working with CART providers, automatic captioning vendors, and remote interpreting platforms (VRI), including evaluating quality and selecting vendors.
• Experience using accommodation case management systems (such as Accommodate, AIM, Clockwork, or equivalent) to track student records and service requests.
• Experience presenting at regional, state, or national level on communication access, interpreting, or D/HH services in higher education.

Responsibilities

• Manage the D/HH budget.
• Develop contracts and MOUs and partner with the business office when preparing and verifying bi-weekly payroll, vendor invoices, and IDTs.
• Maintain financial records, compile data, and prepare reports for the following billing areas: interpreter and CART hours, vendor expenses, fiscal year projections, and interpreter hours (meeting TRS/ACA requirements).
• Coordinate services and accommodations for D/HH individuals for events that require special planning such as New Student Orientation, University Events, Bootcamp/certificate programs, and those held at venues such as Bass Concert Hall, the Moody Center, the Wildflower Center, and the Blanton Museum.
• Ensure that there is access to web-conferencing platforms, when needed, for all public-facing events and work closely with each department and vendor to thoroughly plan logistics surrounding each request.
• Hire, train, and supervise the interpreter/scheduler, six staff interpreters, and approximately 25 hourly interpreters.
• Stay up to date on relevant areas and current trends within the D/HH and interpreter communities, including higher education, trilingual (English/Spanish) interpreting, performance and music, ASL/linguistics, technology, legal, medical, and mental health interpreting.
• Conduct intake and scheduled appointments with current and prospective students and families and maintain a caseload of approximately 70–100 students.
• Determine reasonable accommodations and support faculty and staff in the implementation of approved accommodations.
• Ensure accurate records are maintained in a confidential manner in keeping with the University’s document retention policy, privacy laws, FERPA, and ADA requirements.
• Function as a leader and member of D&A, assisting with general functions of the office and special projects as assigned.
• Support the interpreter/scheduler in ensuring that all interpreter and live captioning requests are processed and filled in a timely manner.
• Work collaboratively to coordinate services for students’ class schedules; work with LAITS, the ITS Captioning Department, and faculty members as their direct point of contact for issues, concerns, or questions related to classroom accessibility.
• Coordinate services for those with complex needs and requirements, including numerous D/HH employees across campus.
• Participate on university and external committees and advisory boards related to communication access, disability, and accessibility.

Benefits

• The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director