Senior Associate Director of Accessibility Services

Tufts University•Medford, MA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The StAAR Center is responsible for providing accommodations for students with documented disabilities enrolled in the schools of arts and sciences and engineering and in the Fletcher school. The Office fulfills and complies with the university’s legal responsibilities under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The StAAR Center determines eligibility for services and determines/provides reasonable forms of accommodation for academic, residential/housing and co-curricular student needs. The office manages outside assistive technology consultants and interpreters and provides education and consultation to faculty and the community about their responsibilities to students with disabilities. StAAR also supports any student at Tufts who is enrolled in AS&E or Fletcher with outside the classroom academic support. Support ranges from academic coaching, tutoring, writing support, public presentations and other support as appropriate.

Requirements

Master's Degree in higher education or related field (or equivalent education and experience)
5 or more years’ experience in disability services administration, including managing accessibility services
Experience managing and mentoring young professionals
Knowledge of relevant laws and legal precedence including ADA, FHA and Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act and the Tech Act
Excellent organizational, problem solving and interpersonal skills
Strong verbal and written communication skills

Nice To Haves

Experience working with young adult/adolescent population
Thorough understanding of student development and learning theories and best practices

Responsibilities

Oversee the day-to-day management of accessibility services
Manage 3 Access Specialists
Manage the Accommodation Coordinator
Offer mentorship and professional development to the team
Research, update and implement best practices as they relate to supporting students with disabilities in higher education.
Implement an assessment strategy that measures all work done by the accessibility team and the impact of any accommodation and/or policy changes.
Manage the accessibility budget, provide data to support financial use or resource requests.
Determine what technology is needed to support the team or individual student access needs.
Meet with students to provide advice and counsel, review eligibility for services, and determine reasonable accommodation for academic, residential/housing and co-curricular student needs.
Serve as the informal grievance officer, hearing any grievances around accessibility services.
Serve as a point person for students and families expressing a concern with services.
Create collaborative opportunities with key access stakeholders across the institution. Work with them to develop and present educational programs and presentations to faculty, staff, students, and other university constituents.
Oversee the SLD (substitution committee)
Co-manage the Faculty Advisory Board and support team members work with the Student Advisory Board.
Serve as the point of contact for student clubs.
Support the accessibility team in delivering presentations about services across the office.
Serve as the point of contact for IT, Web Services, Purchasing and others seeking to infuse access into their day-to-day work.
Liaison with career services, transportation, dining, global education and residential life about processes for implementing accommodations
Other duties as assigned, including participating in StAAR management meetings, StAAR team meetings and other hiring and committee work as deemed appropriate by the Associate Dean.