Access & Disability Services Responds to Growing Demand
Marni Jones, director of Access & Disability Services (ADS), discusses the ways her staff works to meet growing demand.
A look at the work to support students with disabilities
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Imagine your first day of college: You open your textbook, and the words appear blurry and seem to jump on the page. Maybe getting across campus is challenging, or it’s difficult to hear your professor. You might battle a chronic illness with unpredictable flareups or severe anxiety that interferes with your ability to pay attention in class. Perhaps it’s difficult to get your thoughts on paper quickly.
Dickinson's Access & Disability Services (ADS) staff members work to ensure that Dickinson’s programs, courses and services are accessible to every student. And as the need for such work grows within the college-age population, ADS is working harder than ever to help students thrive.
We spoke with Marni Jones, director of Dickinson’s ADS, about the good work underway in the face of a changing ADS landscape—and what it takes to empower young Dickinsonians to reach their potential at college and beyond.
What does ADS do?
To minimize disability-based barriers in the classroom, Dining Hall and residences, ADS staff members work closely with faculty members and other campus partners, providing guidance on reasonable accommodations for students with:
- physical disabilities (mobility, hearing or vision)
- neurodevelopmental disorders (learning disabilities, ADHD or autism spectrum disorder)
- sensory processing issues
- medical conditions such as autoimmune disorders and severe food allergies
- mental health conditions, including PTSD, clinical anxiety and depression
- or significant temporary impairments due to injuries, surgeries or other medical procedures.
While day-to-day work varies considerably, it might include notifying professors of relevant student needs and recommending reasonable solutions or reviewing disability documentation. Staff members also hire student workers to serve as proctors, aides and scribes. And ADS provides game-changing tools to students as well as assistance with the cost of diagnostic tests for qualifying students of limited financial means.
“We want to minimize the likelihood of students not receiving needed accommodations due to being financially disadvantaged and not being able to afford the full cost of a disability evaluation,” Jones explains.
These needed supports can make a world of difference: Dickinson students with disabilities often become high-achieving and active members of the campus community. For example, 27% of the class of 2024 was eligible for accommodations, and within that graduating class:
- 22% of prize winners and 30% of Dean’s List students received accommodations through ADS
- 28% of those receiving departmental honors were students with reported disabilities
- 21% of those graduating summa cum laude, 23% with magna cum laude honors and 32% of cum laude grads were students with disabilities
- 42 graduates with disabilities studied abroad.
The changing landscape
The challenge, says Jones, is that the number of students requesting services has grown in recent years--particularly among those reporting needs relating to mental health, ADHD and medical conditions that pose significant challenges. This is true nationwide.
At Dickinson, disability disclosures rose from 15% of the student body in 2016 to 28% in 2023-24. Twenty-four percent qualified for services. Many of these students presented with multiple diagnoses.
In compliance with disability laws, ADS continued to meet these needs, facilitating academic, dietary, physical and housing-related accommodations for 24% of the student body last year. ADS staff also provided guidance to more than 230 faculty members, gave 125 students access to books in digital (convertible to audio) format and set up proctoring services for nearly 2,000 exams. These services were enhanced by professional development for new ADS employees, including guidance on the use of assistive technologies and additional student workers who assist peers with significant needs. ADS also purchased impactful tools for access, including:
- an FM system, which amplifies a professor’s voice and transmits audio to an assistive hearing device
- Livescribe smart pens, allowing students to record lectures and link sections of the recordings to excerpts of written text
- adjustable-height desks for students using wheelchairs and scooters and desks that accommodate monitors for sign-language transmission
- noise-canceling headphones and light-sensitive glasses
- a collapsable cart for a student with an illness that impacts the ability to carry objects, and a vacuum for a student with severe allergies.
Funding from generous donors helps ADS provide such potentially life-changing accommodations, resources and services and the professional development and tools that support success. “The fund is a critical resource that enables us to meet the increasing and complex needs, beyond what is covered in our operational budget,” Jones says. “We’re grateful for the support.”
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Published February 21, 2025