Director of the Disability Resource Center 

Overview of the Position

The Office for Equity and Diversity is seeking a highly qualified and skilled individual to serve as Director of the Disability Resource Center. The Director provides vision, leadership, and strategic direction for DRC programs and services. The Director also oversees DRC operations, develops disability-related policies and procedures, and provides consultation and guidance to University leaders systemwide.  

The Director position offers complex, fast-moving, and fascinating work in a supportive work environment.  The Director has significant discretion to determine how best to fulfill the Universityâ™s responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations and to more broadly support best practices for accessibility across the institution.  The role offers many opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and leadership. The Directorâ™s work has a significant impact on both individuals served by the DRC and on the University as a whole, and it is critical that the Director approach the work with thoughtfulness, expertise, and commitment and passion for equity, diversity, and inclusion.

The Director serves as a critical member of the OED Leadership Team, and reports to the Associate Vice President, Office for Equity and Diversity.  The Director position is a full-time, year-round, professional/administrative position. The Director may work a hybrid in-person and remote work schedule, although remote work may not always be possible given the responsibilities of the position. The University offers a competitive compensation package, commensurate with experience and background, and excellent benefits. 
 

Position Duties and Responsibilities

I. Leadership and Strategic Planning

• Lead the organization in a manner that is highly ethical, forward-looking, collaborative, and aligned with principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion.  This includes developing a culture that actively includes diverse perspectives across roles, units, and identities.
• Engage in strategic planning in collaboration with DRC leadership team that further establishes the DRC as a leader in the field of disability services, and aligns with the strategic plans for the Office for Equity and Diversity and University as a whole. 
• Develop and implement evaluation tools and metrics to measure the DRCâ™s effectiveness and monitor its progress towards identified goals.
• Serve as a thought-leader and advisor on practices for creating inclusive and accessible environments and providing reasonable disability accommodations in higher education.  
• Stay abreast of national, state, and local disability-related issues and actively participate in disability-related professional organizations.

II. Management and Operations

• Provide support, leadership, and guidance to the DRC leaders who oversee UReturn/Employee Services, Student Access, Testing and Access Assistance, and the Interpreting and Captioning Unit.
• Collaborate with the Office for Digital Accessibility and provide guidance and support to its media accessibility, media captioning, and document conversion functions. 
• Seek out and support talented staff, create opportunities for staff learning and growth, empower creativity and innovation, communicate constructive feedback, cultivate a culture of trust and respect, and grow the next generation of DRC leaders.
• Develop and oversee the DRCâ™s annual budget. Create budget proposals that reflect the anticipated demand for services as well as demonstrate sound fiscal stewardship.
• Oversee identification and implementation of process improvements to both streamline and advance service delivery within the DRCâ™s allocated budget, in ways that uphold the integrity of courses, programs. and employment positions. 
• Prepare for and manage anticipated growth in the numbers of University members requiring disability-related services of increasing complexity.
• Provide consultation and guidance on disability accommodation-related issues to DRC staff and University units and departments systemwide.  

III. Systemwide Institutional Support

• Serve as a Deputy ADA and Section 504 Coordinator who is responsible for coordinating: 1) the system-wide provision of reasonable accommodations for disability; and 2) the system-wide grievance process for the review of concerns related to accessibility and disability accommodations.
• Participate in the development and updating of University policies and procedures related to the provision of disability accommodations and an accessible work and learning environment.  
• Represent the DRC on the OED Leadership Team, University-wide governance committees, and task forces.
• Present to University leadership, the Board of Regents, and other stakeholders on the work of DRC and the current status of equity and diversity as it relates to people with disabilities at the University.
• Lead the system-wide collaboration of student disability services offices on all five University campuses. 

Essential Qualifications:

• BA/BS and at least 12 years of experience
• Demonstrated and sophisticated understanding of the key issues and best practices related to disability and disability justice in higher education.
• Significant leadership experience in a highly complex environment.
• Supervisory experience that includes supporting and developing staff with a range of experience levels.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a highly consultative environment, to collaborate with colleagues to set priorities and address competing demands, and to lead groups of people toward a common mission.  
• Demonstrated ability to effectively and collaboratively set and implement priorities.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively seek, receive, and integrate feedback.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively identify and implement process improvements.   
• Demonstrated superb expressive, written communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated excellent judgment and problem-solving abilities in complex contexts with competing interests and strong stakeholder viewpoints. 
• Demonstrated experience in â“ and an ongoing commitment to â“ working effectively with and across diverse communities through an intersectional and justice-focused approach:  including people of color, underrepresented groups and new immigrant populations; American Indians; people with both apparent and non-apparent disabilities; women; people of various gender and sexual identities and expressions; and first-generation students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree and at least 8 years of progressive experience promoting disability access.  
• Experience leading and managing a large office or office division that is responsible for delivering disability services.
• Significant management experience with professional staff in a large and highly visible program or organization.
• Experience determining and implementing reasonable accommodations for disabled people in a higher education setting.
• Experience at a higher education institution or at a large, complex, and decentralized mission-based organization.
• Demonstrated experience in working on equity and diversity initiatives within and across different constituencies.

About University of Minnesota Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota, founded in the belief that all people are enriched by understanding, is dedicated to the advancement of learning and the search for truth; to the sharing of this knowledge through education for a diverse community; and to the application of this knowledge to benefit the people of the state, the nation, and the world.

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