Disabled students as partners
Developing reasonable adjustment policy and practice in a university
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v10i2.6808Keywords:
staff-student partnerships, disability, reasonable adjustments, accommodations, institutional policyAbstract
This case study introduces a staff-student partnership project about reasonable adjustment (accommodations) policy and practice in one university in England. The project involved interviews and focus groups with 83 members of the university community and influenced the implementation plan for the institution’s revised adjustment policy, including the establishment of a Disabled Student Champion role in each department and a university-wide network to support it. The paper, written together by staff and student leads, outlines the project findings and impact while addressing the partners’ project reflections. These highlight the tension between partnership and representation, suggest that project management norms need to be critically questioned, and point to the importance of trust, reflexivity, care, and valuing different ways of contributing to inclusive partnership work. Against a backdrop of the marginalization of disabled students in higher education decision-making, the case study provides an example of how a partnership approach can influence institutional change.
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