Office of Student Accessibility aims to expand services

This summer, Lewis & Clark combined Student Support Services (SSS) and Case Management to create the new Office of Student Accessibility (OSA).

Aimée Milne was appointed to the office’s director after starting at LC as a counselor and case manager in 2014. Milne also graduated from LC in 2002 with a master’s degree in counseling psychology. In her current position, she is not offering counseling services to students.

According to Milne, the offices will not be discontinuing any services and hope to add more due to the office merger.

“Functionally, when the two offices were separate there was so much overlap and collaboration with the work that we were doing, it was just a natural fit to bring the two together,” Milne said via email. “The new office will allow for greater accessibility, financial and logistical resources, potential expansion, and connections to both on-campus and off-campus resources for students.”

According to the OSA webpage, the office focuses on providing academic accommodations and advocacy for students with disabilities. However, they “also support the campus-wide community with accessing resources to support overall health and wellness.” The office works with students who do not have documented disabilities and can provide academic strategies for students even if they are not using accommodations.

Milne said the office’s role is focused on student advocacy and academic accommodations. Students can make appointments with the OSA through their online scheduling tool to address such accommodations. For other accessibility concerns, students should work with the Office of Equity and Inclusion, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator Heyke Kirkendall-Baker.

Prior to the merger, SSS had a long-time working relationship with the Disabled Student Union (DSU) and Disability Allied Law Association. DSU is working to revive its connections after a year of dormancy due to the COVID-19 pandemic and looks forward to working with the new OSA.

“We’re trying to revive a club that has deep roots and connections, but just doesn’t have a whole lot of community engagement yet,” DSU co-chair Rose Thompson ’23 said. “(We are) trying to really get it together so it can be a long lasting resource for students on campus.”

According to Thompson, the DSU often serves as a connecting point between students and official channels, such as the OSA. In her opinion, this partnership makes improving accessibility more approachable for many students.

“Advocating for yourself as a disabled or chronically ill person is a lot,” Thompson said. “It’s really taxing sometimes, so we can help facilitate that relationship.” 

Thompson also pointed out that the OSA is currently booked out weeks in advance to meet with students to address academic accommodations, so she hopes the DSU can help ease the burden of OSA staff. Moving forward, she hopes the office can better aid disabled students, especially those with physical disabilities and those who are more vulnerable to COVID-19. The OSA urges students who are immunocompromised or have underlying health conditions to schedule an appointment to address academic accommodations. 

Both the OSA and DSU are focused on continuing to increase access across campus for students.

“LC is not always the most accessible place,” Thompson said. “I’ve been striving to make access not something that is given, not something that people always have to advocate for themselves for and put the labor in. It’s something that should already be taken into account for.

Illustration by Ameila Madarang