DRS Mission/Vision Statements

Mission Statement:

        The Disability Resource Service’s mission is to collaborate with students with disabilities to identify, reduce, or eliminate barriers to obtaining education within the most integrated settings possible. It also assists the campus in creating accessible, equitable, inclusive environments.

Vision Statement:

        The Disability Resource Services office envisions an environment that is accepting and welcoming to students and staff with disabilities. In this community the individual will be recognized for their potential contribution to the university and community by encouraging the individual to contribute to the greater good.

In pursuit of its mission, the Disability Resource Services office (DRS) will:

• Develop and facilitate self-advocacy, empowerment, responsibility, independence, personal growth, understanding of his or her disability, and the development and use of compensatory skills in students with disabilities.
  
  
• Assure that all services at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse that are provided to students with disabilities are in compliance with the legal mandates regarding people with disabilities.
  
  
• Provide timely, efficient, and equitable accommodations and services when such services are required to ensure equal access to educational opportunities and services for students with disabilities.
  
  
• Promote awareness of the types of services and accommodations that are available through DRS among students, prospective students, the community, and the University of Wisconsin System by contacting all incoming freshman and transfer students, by presenting informational workshops, and by distributing informational material in a broad range of settings.
  
  
• Strive to maintain the academic integrity of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the degrees it presents by monitoring the types of academic substitutions and accommodations that are made for students with disabilities and by assuring that these accommodations are being used responsibly by both the student and the instructor.
  
  
• Act as a liaison between the students and the university faculty and staff and community organizations/agencies by assisting in the negotiation of accommodations, promoting effective educational experiences for students with disabilities, and providing the necessary services to enable students with disabilities to have equal access to the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
  
  
• Educate the community, faculty, staff, and the students about disabilities by organizing the Representatives for Individuals with Disabilities (RID) from each academic department and unit, training them to present informational in-services for their departments, and preparing them to respond to student feedback about the quality of educational accommodations each department provides to students with disabilities.
  
  
• Ensure that all students with disabilities that are being serviced by DRS have appropriate updated documentation indicating the need for specific accommodations in the university setting.
  
  
• Keep abreast of all the current trends and issues related to individuals with disabilities and will inform the relevant faculty and staff persons of these issues.
  
  
• Refer students to other community and campus organizations when appropriate.