SAS rebrands to clear confusion

BY JESSE TAYLOR Staff Writer

Across the country universities provide accommodations for students under the Americans with Disabilities Act. At SUNY Plattsburgh, the Accessibility Resource Office is charged with implementing accommodations for 1,007 students with only three staff members. Previously known as Student Accessibility Services, ARO provides accommodations in the form of different color handouts for students with visual impairments, bathroom accessibility, extended time for taking tests and note taking services. The department chose to rebrand itself for a few different reasons.

There was a lot of confusion between the names Student Support Services and Student Accessibility Services — two completely different departments within the same school, but both with similar names. However, each department provides different services. SSS focuses on academic advisement, financial aid and tutoring services, while ARO focuses solely on providing accommodations to students.

Jennifer Curry, director of ARO, said, “We didn’t think the word ‘services’ adequately reflects the support that we give, because what we do is we make sure that students have access to the resources they need to be independent and to self-advocate.”