Manchester MetropolitanUniversity

Student and Academic Services

Student Services

Role Descriptor and Guidelines for the Role of Departmental Disability Co-ordinator.

Background

Departmental Disability Co-ordinators (previously known as Departmental Disability Representatives) are academic members of staff who undertake a vital role within their own departments/ practice areas to enhance the learning experience of all disabled students.

It is a University requirement that there is a Disability Co-ordinator in every Department, School, or comparable organisational unit.

A role descriptor for this work had been agreed by the University back in 2006, and

the University Disability Network Group agreed that it was timely to review,evaluate and amend the role descriptor in light of feedback received from those undertaking the role with the overallaim ofensuringthat the staff who undertake the role are clear on what the responsibilities are, and are given appropriate training and support to undertake it.

This document is the revised draft role descriptor, including guidelines to clarify what each of the points actually means in practice.

December 2011

MMU DISABILITY CO-ORDINATOR ROLE DESCRIPTOR

  1. To support the identification of disabled students by providing advice and guidance to your Department* on best ways/ opportunities to encourage disclosure.
  1. To facilitate appropriate referrals (following disclosure)to the Learner Development Service, to ensure that appropriate reasonable adjustments are initiated and put in place.
  1. To be a point of contact for queries for students, academic colleagues and staff in the Learner Development Service in relation to the implementation of reasonable adjustments for disabled students.
  1. To keep the Head of Department informed on the implementation of the recommendations within the Personal Learning Plans as students progress through their programme of study, highlighting any particular areas of concern.
  1. To attend termly Faculty Disability Network meetings, and the University-wide Disability Group as appropriate and identify, with other Disability Co-ordinators in the Faculty, the appropriate committee/ meeting structure within the Faculty for raising issues about the support for disabled students and the implementation of reasonable adjustments.
  1. To be a point of contact for Examinations Officers, Chairs of Boards of Examiners and Programme Leaders over the requirement for modified assessment and/or examination arrangements in appropriate cases, as determined by the Learner Development Service.
  1. To liaise with nominated Faculty Administration staff to ensure the effective dissemination of Personal Learning Plans to academic staff/ other appropriate staff.
  1. To support Faculty colleagues and others, such as the Learner Development Service and CeLT in organising and delivering appropriate training sessions to Faculty staff.
  1. To assist in the dissemination of good practice for the learning, teaching and assessment of disabled students and encourage the development of inclusive teaching and assessment practices in your department.
  1. To disseminate information relating to disability legislation/ issues around good practice within the department.
  1. To attend ‘case conferences’ organised by Learner Development Service to review progress of disabled students with complexand/or multiple needs.

* Throughout, for Department read Division, School or other organisational grouping as appropriate.

DISABILITY CO-ORDINATOR ROLE DESCRIPTOR GUIDELINES

1. To support the identification of disabled students by providing advice and guidance to your department on the best ways/ opportunities to encourage disclosure.

Disability Co-ordinators take a leadership role within their departments to ensure that students have ongoing opportunities to disclose a disability. This leadership role will be evident in the way in which they discuss the university’s Disabled Students Disclosure Procedure with their colleagues and promote the role of the Learner Development Service. Disability Co-ordinators make best use of their knowledge of their academic practice area to identify key times when students might best respond to an invitation to disclose a disability (e.g. induction, first written assessment, in advance of exams, prior to placement etc.) and they work with colleagues to provide reminders at these times about disclosure of disabilities. Additionally, Disability Co-ordinators will identify specific roles/ colleagues within their departments to whom student disclosure of disability is more likely to take place (e.g. year tutors, chairs of exceptional factors committees, personal tutors, placement tutors etc.) and offer targeted advice and guidance to these colleagues about the disclosure procedure. More informally, Disability Co-ordinators are a first point of contact for any academic colleagues from the department who might have some general questions about disclosure. Disability Co-ordinators will have the ongoing support of the Learner Development Service to support them in undertaking this aspect of the role, with each Faculty having a named, link Learning Development Adviser.

2. To facilitate appropriate referrals (following disclosure) to the Learner Development Service to ensure that appropriate reasonable adjustments are initiated and put in place.

The experiences of Disability Co-ordinators prove invaluable in the facilitation of appropriate referrals to the Learner Development Service, so that reasonable adjustments are initiated and put in place for disabled students. Disability Co-ordinators work with their colleagues to ensure that disclosures received at departmental level are promptly forwarded to the Learner Development Service (LDS.) Additionally Disability Co-ordinators are able to support colleagues to recognise the difference between a temporary medical condition (e.g. a student with a broken leg) where reasonable adjustments are provided at departmental level and a disabled student who will need to be referred to the Learner Development Service. NB. In the former case, although a Personal Learning Plan cannot be drawn up (as the student does not have a disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act, 2005),LDS can give advice on the types of reasonable adjustments that may be appropriate.

3. To be a point of contact for queries for students, academic colleagues and staff in the Learner Development Service in relation to the implementation of reasonable adjustments for disabled students.

Personal Learning Plans contain recommendations for reasonable adjustments to be made to learning, teaching and assessment practices. These recommendations enable disabled students to progress with their programme of study and ensure equality of opportunity with non-disabled students. Reasonable adjustments should in no way affect academic standards and do not provide any advantage for disabled students.

The Disability Coordinator has a role in providing a point of contact for academic staff in relation to the effective implementation of reasonable adjustments. The Disability Coordinator should be aware of and be able to point staff to guidelines provided by the Learner Development Service and other sources, as appropriate, to assist in the implementation of reasonable adjustments. This may include generic guidance or disability-specific guidance. Staff may also need assistance with the interpretation of Personal Learning Plan recommendations and the Disability Coordinator should be able to assist with this, or point staff to appropriate guidance or staff development training, as appropriate.

See and click on information for staff.

Heads of Department (or equivalent) have responsibility for ensuring that disabled students are given an opportunity to speak with a member of academic staff about their Personal Learning Plan. This role is sometimes taken on by the Disability Coordinator, or by a Personal Tutor or similar. The Learner Development Service will encourage students to share their Personal Learning Plans with academic staff, but the nominated,appropriate person should contact the student and either give them an individual appointment to discuss their Personal Learning Plan, or invite them to a pre-determined ‘drop-in’ event. The main aims of this session are to:

  • Encourage the student to talk about their learning and teaching needs and ensure mutual understanding of the recommendations contained within the Personal Learning Plan;
  • Agree with the student which recommendations will be of particular relevance and discuss alternative ways of providing support if appropriate/ necessary.
  • Reassure the student that there is someone they can talk to, in confidence, about their learning and teaching and assessment needs in relation to their impairment if they wish to;
  • Let the student know that they can come back for further discussion at a later date if their situation changes, or if they have any concerns (this may be particularly important if they are due to go out on placement during their course and have concerns about disclosing their disability to the placement provider).

The Disability Coordinator, like other academic staff, is not expected to be an expert on disability and should contact the Learner Development Service for guidance when queries arise.

There are other circumstances in which the Disability Coordinator may need to liaise with the Learner Development Service with respect to the implementation of reasonable adjustments: (NB Where issues are not urgent, they can also be raised at Faculty Disability Meetings.)

  • Where there is evidence that there are general difficulties in implementing (or interpreting) a particular recommendation. These difficulties may be student-specific, disability-specific or of a local nature.
  • Where the Disability Coordinator has an overview and can identify any inconsistencies in the recommendations made or their implementation.
  • Where good practice has been identified as worthy of wider dissemination.

4. To keep the Head of Department informed on the implementation of the recommendations within the Personal Learning Plans as students progress through their programme of study, highlighting any particular areas of concern.

Disability Coordinators should arrange to meet with their Head of Department, as and when needs arise during the course of the academic year, to address immediate concerns around the progress of students relating to implementation of Personal Learning Plans. In addition, it is good practice for Disability Coordinators to meet with their Head of department on an annual cycle to discuss their role and its implementation. This has the benefit of raising both the profile of disabled students and the role of Disability Coordinators with Heads, but also provides opportunities to:

  • Provide an annual report (this may be a verbal or informal report) on any issues arising for staff or students in the implementation of Personal Learning Plans (e.g. barriers to effective implementation, examples of good practice, training needs);
  • Monitor the disabled students’ learning experience.
  • Monitor the effectiveness of the implementation of Personal Learning Plan recommendations by a particular member/group of staff;
  • Propose staff development opportunities or resources that will improve the effectiveness by which Personal Learning Plans are implemented or to raise staff awareness of generic or disability-specific issues;
  • Raise any concerns about the nature of the role and responsibilities, including workload and training needs.

5. To attend termly Faculty Disability Group meetings and the University-wide Disability Network Group as appropriate and identify, with other Disability Co-ordinators in the Faculty, the appropriate committee/meeting structure within the faculty for raising issues about the support for disabled students and the implementation of reasonable adjustments.

Within each Faculty, the members of the Faculty Disability Group should nominate a Disability Co-ordinator toattend the University Disability Network Group on behalf of the Faculty. This could either be a particular individual who takes on this role, or be shared on a rota basis by each of the Faculty Disability Co-ordinators in the Faculty.

The University Disability Network meets three times per year, and it is recommended that the Faculty Groups also meet at least this often.

It is expected that the Disability Co-ordinators who attend the University Disability Network will feed in concerns/ good practice issues from their own Faculties and then feedback from the meeting Faculty colleagues.

A nominated link Learning Development Adviser will also attend the Faculty meetings, which will concentrate mainly on local issues and projects to improve and develop support for disabled students at a local level.

6. To be a point of contact forExaminations Officers, Chairs of Boards of examiners and Programme Leaders over the requirement for modified assessment and examination arrangements in appropriate cases, as determined by the Learner Development Service

The Faculty Examinations Officer is responsible for identifying students’ needs for examination modifications from their Personal Learning Plans in order that the needs of the students are appropriately catered for. These modifications will be clarified with the Learner Development Service where necessary.

For other types of assessment, when an alternative method of assessment is offered to a disabled student, there should be agreement between the Programme Leader, appropriate academic staff,Examinations Officers (where appropriate), and the Disability Co-ordinator before forwarding to the Chair of the Board of Examiners or nominated representative. The Learner Development Service and CeLT can also offer advice on this if requested. The final decision will rest with the Chair of the Board of Examiners to ensure that any alternatives are of the same academic standard; present a comparable level of challenge; and meet all prescribed learning outcomes.

7. To liaise with nominated Faculty Administration staff to ensure the effective dissemination of Personal Learning Plans to academic and other appropriate staff.

The responsibility for setting up the system for the dissemination of Personal Learning Plans lies with the member of the Faculty Administration staff,nominated by the Learning and Teaching Manager. However as Academic Staff are the primary recipients and users of Personal Learning Plans it is important that Disability Co-ordinators are consulted and agreeon the best methods for the dissemination.

The Disability Co-ordinator has a role in monitoring the effectiveness of the distribution of Personal Learning Plans in their Department and for liaising with the Faculty Learning & Teaching Manager to identify solutions to any issues as early as possible. Issues can then be passed onto the head of faculty Campus administration/ Head of Department if required.

8. To support Faculty colleagues and others, such as the Learner Development Service and Centre for Learning and Teaching, in organising and delivering appropriate training sessions to faculty staff.

Disability Co-ordinators are in a position to identify and contribute to any specific staff development needs that would benefit the academic staff working in their particular area. This could include;

  1. The co-ordination of bespoke staff development activities, events or resources (e.g. engagement with training and support materials available through WebCT) in consultation with the Learner Development Service.
  1. Utilisation of ,and contributions to, the Academic Practice Database to consider existing good practice in supporting disabled students and record examples from the Disability Co-ordinator’s own practice area.
  1. Reference to the electronic resource Support for Students with Disabilities on the CeLT website

9. To assist in the dissemination of good practice for the learning/ teaching and assessment of disabled students and encourage the development of inclusive teaching and assessment practices in your department.

Disability Coordinators can assist in the dissemination of good, inclusive practice in learning, teaching and assessment through the following activities:

  • Gather examples of good practice from Department colleagues. These may arise from formal feedback opportunities (e.g. unit evaluations, Programme Committees, staff-student liaison meetings, staff meetings, moderation procedures, external examiners reports, the Peer Support for Teaching scheme) or through informal communications with staff and students. While there are numerous examples of good practice available in the public domain, dissemination of local examples may have more impact on colleagues because of their local context and practice relevance.
  • Disseminate examples of good practice. This can be through Department staff meetings, notice boards, Communities of Practice, newsletters or online resource collections, or through central services such as the Learner Development Service web pages or the CeLT (Centre for Learning and Teaching) Academic Practice Database.
  • Arrange Department staff workshops where good practice in supporting disabled students is freely and openly discussed, and ideas practised and disseminated.
  • Provide a point of contact for enquiries from colleagues about good practice.
  • Encourage the development of inclusive practice through example, in teaching, staff meetings, programme reviews and other activities.

10. To disseminate information relating to disability legislation/ issues around good practice within the department.

The Disability Co-ordinators will receive information relating to disability legislation / issues around good practice by:

  1. Attending, or receiving feedback from, the University Disability Network meetings
  2. Attending the Faculty Disability Group meetings
  3. Using the online resource area for Disability Co-ordinators
  4. Familiarisation with the university document ‘Framework for Supporting Disabled Students at MMU’
  5. Liaising with other Disability Co-ordinators
  6. Liaising with the Learner Development Service

The Disability Co-ordinator will:

  • Work with the link Learning Development Adviser regarding queries about changes to policy.
  • Develop a system to ensure information is disseminated to all academic staff within the Department (e.g. e-mail distribution, shared drive etc.)
  • Notify the Head of Department if there is non-compliance of agreed practices/legislation.
  • Liaise with other Disability Co-ordinators in the Faculty to share good practice with each other.
  • Distribute urgent memos issued by the Learner Development Service. A memo will be sent to Disability Co-ordinators detailing significant changes to policy/legislation.

11. To attend ‘case conferences’ organised by the Learner Development Service to review the progress of disabled students with complex/ multiple needs.

A Learning DevelopmentAdviser will make the decision to organise a ‘case conference’ which is a meeting to discuss and review the support that a disabled student is receiving. This approach is usually taken for students who have complex needs where the support is/could be in danger of breaking down. A collaborative approach is taken to ensure that all parties are involved when identifying the best approach for supporting the student.