About this portfolio
UBC has a long tradition of supporting students with disabilities. In the early years, Counselling Services and the staff of the Crane Library worked together to ensure that the needs of students with disabilities were met.
Establishing a disability centre
In 1989, Rick Hansen was commissioned by the University to examine the feasibility of establishing a disability centre on campus. The goal was to ensure that persons with disabilities be given equal opportunity to benefit from and participate in all that the University had to offer and to foster an environment in which disability-related issues were addressed at all levels.
The Disability Resource Centre became fully operational in the fall of 1991. Its mission was to foster the full and self-directed participation of persons with disabilities in post-secondary education.
The Disability Resource Centre was conceived as both a facilitator of positive organizational change and the coordinator of disability-related accommodations for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to the University.
UBC recognized then, as it does now, that ensuring a welcoming and inclusive environment requires the committed collaboration of University leadership, academic departments, administrative units, and student groups and government.
A broader team
In 2003, the Disability Resource Centre became part of Access & Diversity. The work to support persons with disabilities continues and is strengthened by the capacity of this broader team.
