Understanding and Assessing Disability Resource Office Staffing Needs. White Paper

With the dramatic increase of college students who self-disclose a disability, sustainable infrastructure for disability resource offices (DROs) is necessary to meet compliance requirements, reduce institutional risk, and promote overall accessibility on campuses. Because disability accessibility is a campus community responsibility, DROs must have the ability to collaborate effectively with a broad range of campus stakeholders. Appropriate staffing resources leads to better support for disabled students, which can improve persistence, retention, and graduation rates for this demographic as well as reduce staff burnout and the potential for staff turnover. The goal of this white paper is to provide DROs with information for disability resource professionals (DRPs) to consider when analyzing the infrastructure and number of staff within a DRO. This paper includes guidance on: (1) Examining time demands in critical DRO workload responsibilities; (2) Exploring operational efficiencies and workload balance; (3) Assessing the need for increased staff; (4) Finding and using benchmark data; and (5) Putting together a request for DRO resources.