Access and Assistive Technology Coordinator

Posting Details

Dickinson College is a premier four-year residential liberal arts institution chartered in 1783 and widely recognized as a leader in global and sustainability education. Dickinson College is located in Carlisle, named a “most livable city” by Forbes and is minutes from the state capital of Harrisburg. The campus is connected to a vibrant downtown that offers eclectic dining, shopping and entertainment options. Within a two-hour drive are Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.; New York City is three hours away.

Dickinson College offers full-time employees a broad range of benefits, including a comprehensive medical insurance plan, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, generous time off, parental leave, homebuyer assistance, and tuition benefits for eligible employees and dependent children under the age of 24. Upon eligibility, the College contributes 8% of an employee’s base salary to a retirement account with an additional .5% matching contribution; all money paid by the college into the employee’s retirement plan is immediately and fully vested in the employee.

Below you will find the details for the position, including any supplementary documentation and questions you should review before applying for the opening. To apply for the position, please click the "Apply" for this job link button above.

Position Department

Job Summary/Basic Function

Position Summary

The Access and Assistive Technology Coordinator plays a critical role in facilitating access and an array of accommodations provided by Access and Disability Services (ADS) within the division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This role requires the administrative, technological, interpersonal, and operational skills necessary to facilitate accommodations and equitable access for hundreds of Dickinson students who have disabilities related to reading, writing, seeing, hearing, communicating, information processing, and note-taking.

Serving alongside a team of dynamic professionals dedicated to supporting and empowering students as well as one another, the Coordinator will have a great deal of autonomy, as most tasks will be executed without direct supervision. Staff are also provided ample guidance, training, and opportunities for professional growth.

Essential Functions

• Manage all aspects of implementing note-taking accommodations for approximately 250 students with cognitive, psychosocial, medical, developmental, and/or physical disabilities. Frequent, effective, and high-quality communication with staff colleagues, students, faculty, and relevant campus partners is essential.

• Implement digital accessibility and assistive technology accommodations and access for students with disabilities by procuring texts in alternative formats, training students in the use of assistive technology such as FM systems, text-to-speech, and speech-to-text applications, and working with faculty to ensure that assigned texts, LMS pages, assessments, and all course materials (including information provided visually, auditorily, in print, etc.) are in accessible formats.

• Provide high-level access and accommodation supports to address the needs of students with severely disabling conditions, including students who are blind or have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, and those who have limited to no use of their hands. Examples of required tasks may include the need to:
  • Facilitate sign language interpreting or CART services for classes, events, and other programs or services;
  • Provide necessary written and verbal guidance on the use of captioning, alt text, audio descriptions of videos, and course accessibility for students with low to no vision and/or hearing loss;
  • Engage in regular check-ins with students and their professors as necessary to ensure that access and accommodation-related needs are being met;
  • Facilitate independent access wherever possible by researching, analyzing, procuring, and trialing assistive technology, and providing students with training on its use.

• Collaborate to determine necessary, reasonable and appropriate disability accommodations by reviewing students' neuropsychological assessments, psychoeducational evaluations, and/or medical documentation, along with students’ testimonials of access barriers. Create summaries of critical diagnostic, developmental, and assessment information, along with functional limitations to equal access in the housing, dietary, mobility, academic, and extracurricular environments, and meet with students to discuss the accommodations that ADS can provide. Maintain complex databases containing confidential student information.

• Facilitate access for students and minimize risk for the college by continuously keeping abreast of trends and best practices in the field, new assistive technology tools, and accessibility strategies in a rapidly growing and emerging field. Conduct research, communicate with counterparts in other colleges and universities, review reputable listserv posts, and participate in training opportunities to ensure that accommodation practices and technical skills align with the latest developments. Evaluate current student needs and project future needs and costs to recommend expenditures for equipment.

• Regularly monitor disability and accessibility statutes and the legal landscape regarding note-taking support and digital access for individuals with disabilities (most notably the WCAG standards and compliance deadlines) and provide guidance to the Dickinson community regarding how to meet our legal compliance and student access needs. Share with the ADS team any recent developments and noteworthy changes to legal obligations.

Other Duties and Responsibilities

• Routinely review and assess our systems and processes for maximum effectiveness, make recommendations to improve procedural efficiency and outcomes, and devise innovative solutions to logistical and access-related barriers.
• Participate in opportunities to attain and maintain a thorough understanding of and ability to apply disability law.
• Provide specialized administrative support to the Dean and Executive Director with tasks ranging from generating reports to triaging urgent matters to communicating with students, parents, and faculty.
• Balance day-to-day operations and long-term projects with time-sensitive assignments.
• Collaborate with colleagues to establish and adhere to timelines for project management and task completion.
• Learn the essential functions of each team member in the department and be prepared to execute certain responsibilities of co-workers in their absences to allow for the seamless provision of services.
• Be prepared to possibly identify student workers or others who can assist with the execution of certain supports for students with high-level accommodation needs.
• Other duties as determined or assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required. Master's degree preferred.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, as well as excellent organizational and technological skills, are required.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize well and manage diverse and complex tasks.
• Experience and skills related to facilitating supports for individuals with disabilities, as well as a demonstrated interest and ability to research, identify, and train others in solutions to accessibility barriers are preferred.
• A high degree of computer competency (including managing databases, using software for problem-solving, and advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, especially Excel), as well as a demonstrated interest and ability to learn new software.
• Experience working with students in higher education, preferred.
• The ideal candidate will have knowledge of (or related to) the following:
  • Accommodations in higher education
  • Website content management
  • College learning management systems (e.g., Moodle, Blackboard, Canvas, etc.)
  • Video production software
  • Software for the blind (e.g., JAWS/NVDA)
  • Dictation and read-aloud applications
  • Note-taking applications
  • Smart pens
  • WCAG standards and use of accessibility checkers
  • Creating closed captions, audio descriptions and alternative text
  • Accessible document strategies and formats (e.g., ePub, Daisy, Braille)

Minimum Work Experience

• 5-8 years

Independence of Action

• Results are defined; incumbent sets own goals and determines how to accomplish results with few or no guidelines to follow, although precedents may exist; supervisor/manager provides broad guidance and overall direction.

Equipment Used

• Computer (Microsoft Office 365, as well as an array of software, including several in-house systems), phone, printer/copier/scanner/fax, Braille labeling machines, and assistive technology (including smart pens, dictation and transcription software, FM systems, and text-to-speech technology)

Physical and Environmental Demands

• Office environment.
• No specific or unusual physical demands.
• Depending on departmental needs and circumstances, remote or hybrid work might be a possibility.

In your cover letter, please speak to any experience you've had:

• working with college students,
• providing support to individuals with disabilities,
• giving academic or technological support, and/or
• using assistive or digital technology to solve a problem.

EEO/Diversity Statement:    

The College is committed to building a representative and diverse faculty, staff, and student body. We encourage applications from all qualified persons.