Disability Resource Center

Welcome to the Disability Resource Center! Our office, formally known as Disability Support Services, is making strides to ensure that students with disabilities receive full access to UCA classrooms, programs, and events.

The mission of the Disability Resource Center (DRC) is to create an accessible and inclusive environment where a student’s educational potential is maximized through the fostering of independence, self-advocacy, and individual holistic development.

While our commitment to students and the overarching accommodations we provide to students are unchanged, the Disability Resource Center is not only a name change, but a philosophical change as well. Some of the changes to our office philosophy include:

• The transition from “services” to “resources”. This is representative of a nation-wide movement from the medical model of disability to the social model incorporating Universal Design.
• Dropping the word “services” is more congruent with student development theory wherein we provide resources so that students might direct themselves rather than be served by an office.
• “Disability Support Services” implies that one office has the primary responsibility to serve those with disabilities. The reality is that creating inclusive learning environments is a responsibility of everyone; not just one office.
• “Disability Resource Center” more accurately describes the role of the office with students, faculty, staff, and administrators as well as our community. Often, our role is to collaborate with members of the campus community in creating more usable and inclusive environments.
• “Disability” will remain part of the office name. “Disability” is a key word as a source of pride, as a part of diversity, and as an aspect of the civil rights movement.