Accessibility Officer

Established in 1789, King's College is Canada's oldest chartered university and is associated with Dalhousie University. A small and extraordinarily lively academic community located in Halifax (Kjipuktuk), Nova Scotia, King's is known nationally and internationally for its highly acclaimed interdisciplinary programs in the humanities, including its renowned Foundation Year Program, its professional programs in journalism and its fine arts program in creative writing. King's is a community where students, faculty, alumni and staff work to bring greater understanding, creativity, and compassion to the world.

**Specific Duties/Accountabilities**
Under the direct supervision of the President the primary focus of the Accessibility Officer will be guiding and supporting the implementation and ongoing evolution of the university's accessibility plan in accordance with the Accessibility Act, with an emphasis on continuous improvement. They will work with members of administration, academic and other programs to increase awareness and understanding to make King's a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming community for all. They will in this way, and through their work with others on equity, diversity and inclusion, including due to the intersectionality of disability with socio-economic status, gender, race, age and other aspects of self-identity, contribute to the College's full range of equity, diversity and inclusion objectives and responsibilities. A critical component of the work of the Accessibility Officer is collaboration with all those who have a role to play in the implementation of the Accessibility Act and the university's accessibility plans.

An overarching goal of the Accessibility Officer is to work in collaboration with the Dalhousie Accessibility Centre to (a) make the services of the Centre more accessible to King's students and (b) to supplement and strengthen but not duplicate the support available to King's students from the Centre. The Accessibility Officer is also expected to work in close collaboration with the Equity Officer, the Sexual Health and Safety Officer and the Student Support Advisor. Together, these officers of the College are expected to take an intersectional, cross-sectional, holistic and integrated approach to the support of students and other members of the King's community in need of their support.

The Accessibility Officer will have four main areas of responsibility:
**Advice and Supports**
- Supporting students, faculty, staff and other members of the King's community who live with disabilities and who face barriers to their full participation in the community, while working with others to eliminate those barriers.
- Working in collaboration with the Dalhousie Accessibility Centre, the Foundation Year Program Associate Director, Student Support and all relevant King's colleagues:

- to support individual students who seek accommodations including by helping them navigate the accommodation process and acting as a liaison with the various people and offices who have roles in the accommodation process; and
- to collect data, improve the student experience in the accommodation process, and improve accessibility of that service to King's students.
- Working with King's colleagues, developing proposals and options for supporting students:

- in situations where formal documentation of mental illness or disability is not available; and
- in situations arising from mental health crisis, family-related emergency, bereavement, or caregiver duties.
- Working with the King's Student Union and other student groups on campus on accessibility matters.
- Advising, supporting, and consulting with those who have specific responsibilities under the Accessibility Act and the standards made under the Act and under the university's accessibility plan or plans, including faculty, supervisors, administrators, staff, and others.
- Advising and supporting the efforts of individuals, programs, departments, offices, teams, units, groups, committees, and the Board of Governors to proactively incorporate accessibility into how they function.
- Otherwise supporting students, staff, faculty, and all members of the King's community who live with disabilities as defined in the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act.

**Advocacy, Education and Programming**
- Provide information and resources, take proactive measures and be available for consultation to all members of the university community on issues concerning accessibility, always with a view to advancing understanding of what makes a truly accessible organization, and to transform that knowledge into a culture that builds accessibility into everything that takes place at King's.
- Providing information to and consultation with all members of the College concerning accessibility, including to ensure that the Accessibility Plan is understood by members of the community and that each member of the community understands their role within the plan and has the support