Accessibility Advisor

Culture Alberta; Edmonton; On-site; CAD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Job summary

The Accessibility Advisor at the University of Alberta coordinates and facilitates accessibility-related support services for students with barriers, ensuring accommodations comply with policy and human rights standards.

Based at North Campus in Edmonton, this in-person role assesses needs, guides funding applications, and maintains ongoing support for students navigating accommodations and assistive technologies.

Qualifications

• University degree and expertise in accessibility-related adult education issues.
• Understanding of the impact and interplay of a wide range of conditions and disabilities relative to reasonable accommodations, human rights legislation, program and physical accessibility, assistive technologies, and other accessibility-related issues on individuals in their roles as students.
• Leadership Skills: Ability to define goals and gain cooperation in meeting them through collaboration, negotiation, de-escalation, and conflict resolution skills.
• Extensive experience in working with people with disabilities.
• Understanding of physical and program barriers that can create access barriers for students and what policies and legislation support remedies to such barriers.
• Knowledge of government programs and funding choices for people with disabilities.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills, oral presentation, and writing skills.
• Excellent consultation skills required to successfully liaise with others in this academic environment, and in the broader community, involved in accommodating students to minimize access barriers.
• Computer proficiency required for word processing, student funding, records upkeep, database access, communication via e-mail, and on-line research.

Responsibilities

• Operationalizes the University of Alberta’s Accommodation Policy and Accommodation Procedure for Students.
• Assesses individual student accessibility-related needs for the purpose of ensuring accessibility and the provision of reasonable accommodations.
• Guides students in making applications to appropriate funding sources to cover costs associated with the provision of accessibility-related services and technology.
• Refs students for specialized assessments to a variety of professionals to assist in identifying specific disabilities and providing proof of disability.
• Continues to provide ongoing support to students when accessibility-related issues arise.

Skills

Leadership Skills

Experience with disabilities

Interpersonal communication

Oral presentation

Written communication

Consultation skills

Computer proficiency

Education

University degree

Job description

Location - This role is in-person. Work primarily takes place at North Campus, Edmonton.

The Accessibility Advisor reports to the Accommodations Advising, Manager in Accessibility & Accommodations (A&A). This position is responsible for coordinating and facilitating accessibility-related support services in accordance with the University’s mandate of accessibility under Human Rights Legislation and related University policies. The primary responsibility of this position is the identification of accessibility-related needs and the arrangement of appropriate accommodations that address the needs of students who experience barriers to their access of their post-secondary experience due to protected grounds. The overall goal/outcome of this position is to assist students in overcoming any accessibility-related barriers to access in their education, and to ensure that the provision of reasonable accommodations at the institution accomplishes that goal.

• Operationalizes the University of Alberta’s Accommodation Policy and Accommodation Procedure for Students.
• Assesses individual student accessibility-related needs for the purpose of ensuring accessibility and the provision of reasonable accommodations.
• Guides students in making applications to appropriate funding sources to cover costs associated with the provision of accessibility-related services and technology.
• Refers students for specialized assessments to a variety of professionals to assist in identifying specific disabilities and providing proof of disability.
• Continues to provide ongoing support to students when accessibility-related issues arise.

• University degree and expertise in accessibility-related adult education issues.
• Understanding of the impact and interplay of a wide range of conditions and disabilities relative to reasonable accommodations, human rights legislation, program and physical accessibility, assistive technologies, and other accessibility-related issues on individuals in their roles as students.
• Leadership Skills: Ability to define goals and gain cooperation in meeting them through collaboration, negotiation, de-escalation, and conflict resolution skills.
• Extensive experience in working with people with disabilities.
• Understanding of physical and program barriers that can create access barriers for students and what policies and legislation support remedies to such barriers.
• Knowledge of government programs and funding choices for people with disabilities.
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills, oral presentation, and writing skills.
• Excellent consultation skills required to successfully liaise with others in this academic environment, and in the broader community, involved in accommodating students to minimize access barriers.
• Computer proficiency required for word processing, student funding, records upkeep, database access, communication via e-mail, and on-line research.

This position is subject to all applicable terms and conditions of the collective agreement between the Governors of the University of Alberta and the Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA).

• This position offers a comprehensive benefits package.