MEDIA, Pa. — Penn State Brandywine reaffirms its commitment to fostering a supportive and accessible academic environment through the services provided by Student Disability Resources (SDR). Dedicated to ensuring equitable access and promoting awareness and understanding of disabilities, SDR provides important support for students with disabilities who choose to register with the office and helps maintain campus accessibility. At Penn State Brandywine, approximately 10% of students are registered to receive accommodations through SDR.
SDR helps protect students from discrimination in their academic endeavors, provides reasonable accommodations and auxiliary aids/serves to ensure access and opportunities for success. The office helps students connect to academic coaching to develop improved study, test-taking and organizational skills; both individualized and group tutoring; and meaningful peer interactions through student activities and organizations.
“All students, including students with disabilities, need to feel a sense of belonging in our campus community,” said Elizabeth Parrett, SDR coordinator. “For that reason, it is critical for SDR to continue to help ensure accessibility, provide students with reasonable accommodations, and increase awareness and our understanding of disability within the Penn State Brandywine community.”
One way Parrett works to ensure students with disabilities feel a sense of belonging is by increasing awareness and understanding of disability by participating in campus events.
“SDR participates in several campus events, including new student orientation, the fall resource fair, admissions events, and decompression week, when SDR and Student Affairs co-sponsor an event to provide students with snacks and goodie bags filled with supplies to help students get ready for final exams,” she said.
SDR also facilitates multiple groups on campus, including Neurodiversity at Brandywine (ND@BW) and the Chancellor’s Commission on Disability and Advancing Accessibility. ND@BW is a student group that meets monthly to discuss neurodiversity on campus, and the Chancellor’s Commission on Disability and Advancing Accessibility is a group of faculty, staff and students led by Parrett and Michael Sturm, associate teaching professor of human development and family studies, that works to raise awareness and improve accessibility on campus.
“Examples of our work in the commission include collaboration with students in the course Foundations: Civic and Community Engagement (CIVCM 211) to assess classroom accessibility, working with campus administrators to secure funding from the University Accessibility Committee to make buildings and learning spaces more accessible and hosting workshops for faculty and staff,” Parrett said.
Students, faculty or staff who would like to learn more about SDR or schedule a meeting can contact the office at 610-892-1461 or email bw-disability@psu.edu. Visitors who notice an accessibility concern on campus can submit an Accessibility Concern Report form on the Penn State Brandywine website.