Disability Services changes its name to Disability, Access, and Inclusion to better reflect values and goals. PHOTO CREDIT: uri.edu
For those at the Office of Disability, Access, and Inclusion (DAI), there is a lot of significance in their namesake.
The department was previously known as Disability Services for Students, and the name change became official on July 1, 2021. The change was spurred as a result of student feedback.
According to the DAI Director Paige Ramsdell, the old name of the department did not reflect the scope of their work.
“The word ‘services’ is passive; it’s something that’s done to you,” Ramsdell said. “That’s not our students. They are not passive, they are an active part of the process.”
Ramsdell also said that the new name better reflects the values of the office, and she hopes that it will help the department to keep thinking about the future and designing buildings to be accessible.
This change was also due, in part, to the COVID-19 pandemic, which Ramsdell said provided an opportunity for the office to ponder their role and what they want to be known for doing at the University of Rhode Island.
“It was nice to have an opportunity to just think about who we are and who we want to be for our students at our campuses,” Ramsdell said. “It was a moment where, for our purposes, our intentions and our name are finally more aligned than they’ve ever been.”
DAI is not the only group making changes to better serve URI’s community with disabilities. Students on campus recently formed Student Advocacy for Disability Awareness/Action (SADA), a new organization that advocates for students with disabilities.
Jewel Voyer, the founder and president of SADA at URI, said that the most important thing about it is providing a community and perspective from fellow students.
“Your peers are going to know exactly what you are going through, even more so than staff members who see it from a different side,” Voyer said.
She also applauded the DAI office’s renaming, saying that it was important that the new title emphasized both the access and inclusion that the office provides.
Ramsdell said that DAI has provided SADA with help since the organization began, offering physical space for the organization and helping them recruit members.
Voyer’s goal for the organization is that it will advocate for students who are disabled. Additionally, she is hoping to eventually hold a “Disability Week” event, similar to Diversity Week, and hold events to help raise awareness of different types of disabilities.
“We really want to focus on inclusion and disassembling stigmas at URI, and I think through that we can also create a really great community,” Voyer said. “We don’t want anyone feeling like they don’t have a place and that their disability may bring them down. We want an organization that will help lift up any type of student.”
The DAI is looking forward to a new future with a new name, and Ramsdell said that they are hoping to do so alongside this new student organization as well.
“At the end of the day, we are here for students, and it’s really encouraging to hear their voices,” Ramsdell said. “For me, that’s the most exciting thing that’s happening.”