Rutgers University- Newark (RU-N), an urban public research university and anchor institution, located in Newark, New Jersey, a city of promise is seeking a Disabilities Specialist. Reporting to the Director of Disability Services, this position is responsible for ensuring the delivery of reasonable accommodations to all eligible students at the Newark campus at Rutgers in accordance with relevant federal regulations and university policies. Responsible for, and not limited to the following. Plan, organize and provide reasonable accommodations that include academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and services to students with disabilities - physical, psychological, learning, health-related, and neurological disabilities (e.g., mobility impairments, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, learning disorders, hearing impairments, visual impairments, traumatic brain injuries, and epilepsy); Conduct initial interviews with students; keeping accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date notes/records related to students; reviewing documentation and evaluative reports; preparing letters of accommodation; evaluating eligibility for services; conducting follow-up meetings with students; organizing reasonable accommodations, services and auxiliary aids for students; and making referrals to appropriate community and University services or agencies; Consult with faculty and staff regarding the implementation of reasonable accommodations and services; develop and present disability awareness programs for the University community; Collaborate with other offices and outside agencies, as needed and appropriate.
Minimum Education and Experience:
Requires a Bachelor's Degree in one of the related fields: Counselor Education, Special Education, Counseling Psychology, Education, or a related field; A minimum of two years' experience in a disability services office in higher education in one of the related fields: Counselor Education, Special Education, Counseling Psychology, Education, or a related fiel
City:
Newark State:
NJ Equipment Utilized:
Knowledge and familiarity with various assistive and adaptive technologies the students with disabilities use daily within and outside of the classroom environments is necessary. Also, there is an increased use of online courses, blended learning and other non-traditional classroom technologies that students with disabilities are using more frequently and a good general knowledge of the technologies used within these environments is essential for reasonable accommodations to be provided to students with disabilities. There is constant development of equipment, IT and software in regards to students with disabilities, so this list could never be comprehensive. However, some of the more common hardware/software used by students with disabilities include: various text reading programs such as Kurzweil; screen reading programs such as JAWS, Voiceover for Macs, and NVDA; Live Scribe pens which are electronic note taking systems; assistive and adaptive listening devices such as various FM systems; and speech to text software and hardware programs such as Dragon Naturally-Speaking. This equipment available in the ODS office, Learning Centers, Libraries and various classroom environments. This hardware/software program is useful to students who have learning disabilities, head injuries, various mobility impairments, and those with various neurological disorders. The Live Scribe pen is provided to students to record and take notes within the classroom and during student activities in lieu of a live note taker. JAWS, Voiceover and NVDA are programs that are critical for converting text into an auditory format. This software is vital to the visually impaired. Dragon-Naturally Speaking is dictation software which allows students with limited mobility to type papers, emails and other typical keyboard functions. This position requires strong computer skills and effective use of various software and hardware programs used in a multi-function disability office including but not limited to database systems, email, social networking, MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Knowledge of Web 2.0 technology and accessible technologies and information is also needed.
Physical Demands and Work Environment:
Fast paced work environment. May need to work late nights or weekends for specific programs and campus initiatives at the request of the supervisor or Student Affairs leadership.
