Yesterday we visited the university of Edinburgh to learn about their disability services program. This was really interesting to me because in May, I interviewed students on the Umass Amherst campus about their disability service experiences as a part of a research project aimed to provide suggestion on disability service reform. As a result of this, I found myself comparing and contrasting Umass disability services and Edinburgh disability services throughout the entire presentation.

The university of Edinburgh faces some challenges very different than those of Umass in providing disability services. One of their biggest challenges is accessibility. The Edinburgh campus is (and city) very old and this poses problems for accessibility. Compared with the Edinburgh university campus, the Umass Amherst campus is relatively new. I can not think of a building on the Umass campus that may pose a problem for students with mobility related disabilities (although I’m sure they’re out there). From their presentation, I saw that the disability service staff seem to have a lot to do to make their accessible to all students. Unlike umass though, The university of Edinburgh is a private institution and has a great fortune to make accommodations!

The university of Edinburgh and Umass have similar sized student bodies, Yet the university of Edinburgh has four times the amount of staff dedicated disability service for faculty as Umass. This seems to be a hole in the Umass disability service. This can create a lack of access to positions on campus and can contribute to a lack in diversity among faculty members.