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Overview of Services

Overview of Services

The Office of Accessibility Services is the primary point of contact. This includes all centers. At Highlands, Accessibility Services does not normally provide accommodations directly. Rather, Accessibility Services coordinates academic accommodations with appropriate university departments and employees; advises faculty, staff, and management on disability issues, and advocates on issues of concern to students with disabilities. Accessibility Services also advises students on academic, career, and transitional issues and provides referrals where appropriate.
Disability related assistance for employees, including EEO related matters, is handled by
Human Resources.

Vision, Values, Mission, and Goals

Vision: Students with disabilities have a right to equal access and opportunity to learn and achieve based on their innate abilities and not be judged solely on the basis of a disability.

Values: The Office of Accessibility Services refrains from overbearing interventions, for such are the roots of oppression and discrimination against people with disabilities.
Mission: To coordinate the provision of reasonable accommodations and related disability services; to advocate responsibly for an accessible and hospitable learning environment through removal of informational, physical, and attitudinal barriers; to promote student self-determination and personal responsibility.

Goals: “To fully integrate the disabled into the intellectual and social life of the campus community, including compliance with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.” NMHU Strategic Plan Action Item A.6.8., adopted December 2003.

Advocacy

At the college level, students must become their own disability advocates and learn to negotiate with faculty, staff, and administrators. Students do not have to disclose specific information about their disabilities to instructors or university administrators. Any questions about the appropriateness of an accommodation can be directed to the office of Accessibility Services. Faculty and staff need to recognize that many students find disclosing their disability threatening and difficult. This is especially true of freshmen, newly diagnosed students, or students with an acquired disability who have not had to explain it at the high school level.

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