ADA Coordinator mission and vision

Mission: To foster a non-discriminatory, inclusive, and welcoming environment at the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) for people with disabilities, free of physical, programmatic, informational, and attitudinal barriers. This environment includes the University's governing policies and procedures, access to employment and employment services, academic programs, physical facilities, and other University programs, activities, and services.

Vision: MU is a recognized leader in postsecondary education for students with disabilities, and also a recognized leader in employing people with disabilities. Academic accommodations are commonplace, as are expectations for successful academic performance by students with disabilities. People with disabilities who graduate from MU join the mainstream of working Americans with college or graduate degrees. Students, faculty, and staff with disabilities feel comfortable and confident in disclosing their disabilities, because people with disabilities are welcomed rather than stigmatized at MU, and because appropriate accommodations are readily provided. MU is a model employer of faculty, staff, and students with disabilities. The workplace at MU is flexible, supportive, inclusive, and therefore more productive. MU alumni and visitors with disabilities consistently recognize and appreciate the accessibility of campus programs, activities, and services. They feel welcome at MU.

Disability is as important an element of anti-discrimination, inclusion, and diversity initiatives at MU as are race and gender. The importance is reflected in the University's resource allocations. Compliance with the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act receives ongoing top-level institution-wide attention. MU has a free-standing Disability Resource Center. MU has an interdisciplinary disability policy institute that conducts important research about disability issues, and is nationally respected for the quality of its work. MU has similarly respected programs in disability studies and disability law. The percentage of enrolled MU students who have disabilities approximates the percentage of enrolled postsecondary students in Missouri who have disabilities. The percentage of MU faculty and staff who have disabilities approximates the percentage of people with disabilities in Missouri as a whole.

Revised June 2005