Office of Accessibility: The Office of Accessibility strives to provide students with disabilities equal access opportunities to their educational experiences at The University of Akron. We are also committed to assisting in the development of new professionals in the areas of disability service provision and administration, disability studies, and the broad area of Student Affairs in higher education. We have developed an assistantship program offering supervised learning experiences in a post-secondary setting that provides accommodations and services to students with disabilities.

The Position: The Graduate Assistant reports to the Director of the Access Office. The office includes 1 full-time director, 3 full-time disability specialists, 2 full-time support staff, and student assistants.

An assistantship at the Office of Accessibility is expected to be requested after completion of the majority of a student's master's level course work or at the appropriate stage in a doctoral program. Students participating in this assistantship must be on-site for 20 hours a week for a 10-month contract. The experiences received will be varied and intense, providing the student with skills necessary to begin work as an advocate for students with disabilities as they pursue their goals in post-secondary educational settings.

Responsibilities: Each student involved in an assistantship at the Office of Accessibility will be expected to provide evidence of success in each of the following areas.

The list below includes each expectation to be measured during the assistantship experience.

• Understand and apply information provided as documentation to determine disabilities.
• Collaborate and maintain positive communication with other professionals.
• Legal issues facing adults with disabilities.
• Provide academic accommodations for adults with disabilities in a university setting.
• Implement various instructional and program designs for adults with disabilities in a university setting.
• Identify and adhere to appropriate professional standards.
• Collaborate and provide service for supported math courses.

Qualifications: The Graduate Assistant for the Office of Accessibility must be a well-organized, high-energy person with:

• A bachelor's degree and pursuing a master's degree in Education, Counseling or related field is required. Doctoral Candidate in Counseling Psychology or related field is preferred.
• Experience working with students of diverse educational, racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated leadership ability.
• Computer literacy.

Benefits: The Graduate Assistantship for the Office of Accessibility will benefit from the following:

• Full tuition wavier (must be admitted to academic program to receive tuition waiver and assistantship scholarship).
• 10 month compensation package.
• Free membership to the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.