Job Description

Description

The

Student Accessibility Services Team

in

Student Experience and Support

is currently seeking a Full-time Regular

Specialist, Access and Accommodation

.


Student Experience and Support (SES) at the University of Calgary comprises a diverse group of professionals who strive to contribute and continually enhance students' learning environment and experiences. Reporting to the Director of Student Accessibility Services, the specialist provides leadership and guidance to a team of access advisors. The specialist ensures that access advisors continually develop their practices and that the academic accommodation provided by SAS adapts to changing student needs, emerging pedagogical approaches, and supports the institution's commitment to inclusive, accessible and future-focused programs. The specialist also maintains their own case load of approximately 150-200 students, focusing on those with complex needs and specialized program requirements.


This position's demands and work volume can be significant, particularly during peak periods throughout the year. The ideal candidate will embrace change and thrive in a dynamic team environment. The specialist operates in a highly stressful environment to support students with complex emotional regulation and learning needs. Working under stressful conditions and meeting deadlines during peak periods of the academic year is critical for this position. Standard work hours for this position are 35 hours per week, Monday-Friday, with limited opportunity for work from home. Peak operational periods, including August and September, may require overtime and have limited vacation opportunities. Evening and weekend overtime may be required to support initiatives.

Summary of Key Responsibilities

(job functions include but are not limited to):


Case Management

As an expert in access advising, the specialist demonstrates their knowledge through working on modelling the interactive accommodation process in their own practices, including balancing self-reported barriers with any documentation. Working with professional programs, the specialist implements reasonable accommodations that address the student's barriers but do not alter bona fide elements of the courses or programs. Collaborate with faculty and instructional staff to resolve issues or conflicts related to the provision of accommodations. Models timely and accurate record keeping, including accounting for students' functional limitations and rationale for the implementation of accommodations. The specialist will respond to escalated student concerns regarding their accommodations, including taking on a student to their case load to support. Ability to determine if student self-reported barriers are related to a protected ground, including questions to determine if functional limitations occur outside the academic environment.

Staff Development

With the assistance of the director, supervise a team of 7- 8 FTE AUPE, including recruitment, selection, onboarding and training, scheduling, performance evaluation, performance management, and termination. The manager is required to effectively delegate work to professional staff to ensure effective and efficient service is provided to students. Responsible for effectively scheduling, tracking staff hours, approving exceptions, managing and monitoring CTO, vacation balances, attendance support, etc. Ensures staff meet service expectations regarding record submission and quality. Provides coaching as needed. Provide consultation for teams on cases to help determine appropriate and reasonable accommodations. In case of need, connect with legal services for support. Ensures coaching and development on new areas of accommodations, including responding to intersectionality and requests on multiple protected grounds. Creates a collaborative team environment in which observations of others and reflection on practices are commonplace. Expand the team's ability to support students without formal documentation, including assessing for functional limitations in non-academic settings.

Accommodation Process Management

Develops and maintains a SharePoint site for access, advising teams with relevant and accurate information. Revises and updates key documents, including the meeting summary form, notice of the collection of information, and audio recording agreements. Connects with the Manager, Exam Centre, and Manager, Operations and Services on the implementation of the accommodations to support a common understanding across functional teams. Ensures the access advising process aligns with the student accommodation policy and procedures.

Reporting and Outreach

Support in the drafting of grant reports, analysis of demographic and other data to support service provisions. Support the ongoing evaluation of SAS, including creating and managing various sources of evaluation involvement (e.g. surveys, focus groups). Presents on behalf of SAS on issues of accessibility and accommodations, including educating the campus community about the Student Accommodation Policy. Represent SAS on various groups and committees, both on-campus and in the community.

Qualifications / Requirements:

Master's degree in Psychology, Social Work, Higher Education or related discipline. A minimum of 5 years of progressive experience is required in the field of disability advising, academic accommodations, or human rights compliance. 5 years of experience working with equity-deserving grounds, preferably in a post-secondary setting. In-depth knowledge of legal issues related to the duty to accommodate in an educational setting. Minimum of 3 years of supervisory or team-lead experience, preferably in a post-secondary setting. Previous experience demonstrating progressive responsibility in the post-secondary environment required; demonstrated ability to appreciate and work with people of various backgrounds, and ability to represent the University of Calgary in a professional, engaging and sensitive manner. Ability to perform a wide range of duties, often in parallel, and must be able to exercise good judgment in setting priorities and balancing deadlinesability to deal with frequent distractions and unexpected events. Demonstrated personal coping strategies, including the ability to manage stress levels that are moderate to high based on volume & demand. Experience managing conflict, criticism, and contentious issues is required. Conflict De-escalation and a collaborative mindset are needed. Demonstrated expertise in POPA and dealing with highly sensitive material daily.

Application Deadline:

January 14, 2025

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.


This position is classified in the

Professional Career Band, Level 3

of the Management and Professional Staff Career Framework.


For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our

Management and Staff Careers website

.

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.


The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy ii' taa'poh'to'p committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.


The university's commitment to the Indigenous Strategy is evident through the oversight of 18 Elders serving on the Circle of Advisors and the many unit-based circles working towards implementation of the strategy including the Faculty Advisory Circle and teams such as the Office of Indigenous Engagement, the Writing Symbols Lodge, and the Indigenous Research Support Team. Many Indigenous-based events and processes are impacting curriculum, programming and polices at the University of Calgary.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments (

oic@ucalgary.ca

) and requests for accommodations can be sent to People & Culture (

hrhire@ucalgary.ca

).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.