Dalhousie University is slashing some of its accessibility services, as the administration faces a budget shortfall of $14.6 million in 2011-12. This July, Dalhousie plans to stop funding the position of Neera Datta, a learning disabilities specialist who serves students at Dalhousie, the University of King’s College and NSCAD.
“This decision was made in the larger context of the university’s budget situation this year,” explains Bonnie Neuman, Dalhousie’s vice president of student services. “This area of learning support is a very valuable service to our students, and we are reluctant to make this reduction.”
For Grant Pardy, a Dalhousie student with reading comprehension difficulties, the move is symptomatic of an administration only “committed to providing the bare minimum of services” and “reaffirms that accessibility isn’t a top priority.” Being able to access the support of a learning disabilities specialist is “not a luxury. It’s something that levels the playing field,” says Pardy.
The administration suggests students in need of similar services to those Datta provided hire private practitioners. But seeking off campus support comes with a hefty price tag: a single session with a private learning disabilities specialist costs around $150.
This may just be the tip of the iceberg. Dalhousie budget planning documents reveal that even as tuition mounts, university budgets could be cut up to 6.5 percent across the board.
This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 6, 2011.
St Mary’s cuts the women’s hockey team and all hell breaks loose….Dal cuts accessibility services and it’s crickets.
How does someone with “reading comprehension difficulties” obtain a university degree? I don’t mean to be unkind, but isn’t reading ability a necessary prerequisite to get INTO university?
Bo – not it is not. Are you suggesting that dyslexic students should not attend university? If so, it seems that is quite a likelihood now.
And the clowns that run this place spend hours in meetings discussing million dollar plans to re-do the university grounds. So out of touch with reality this administration is.
Is Dal the only university in the province to offer a free-of-charge psychologist to students with learning disabilities? If so, why is Dal obligated to offer this free service?
Better (longer) more detailed reporting on this topic here:
http://www.dalgazette.com/home/2011/3/18/d…
and here:
http://www.dalgazette.com/home/2011/3/26/n…
Students with disabilities get fucked over by cuts while our money gets dumped into a shiny new convention center that nobody honestly expects to be successful. Classy.
well BO, someone (me) with “reading comprehension difficulties” obtains a university degree VERY DIFFICULTLY.
and it will be even more difficult now with these cuts.
your lack of understanding the basics of these accessibility issues is clear.
i got INTO university just fine.
i graduated high school with a 90+ average.
alysheba
(i’m pretty sure) that all the universities in province are required to offer accessibility accommodations. kings and nscad pay to use the dal counselling servies where the LD specialist worked. her role is not to listen to our problems and help us work through them (huge understatement of clinical psychology) but to understand our learning profile and help us build strategies to succeed. to work on the skills that weren’t developed as strongly as your average student’s.
as for which universities offer an LD specialist in province that information has been hard to come by.
pretty sure MSVU does, i know NSAC doesn’t. i’m still waiting to hear back from a lot of them.
i know most of ontario and alberta DO. it’s kind of all over the place.
People with learning disabilities in certain subject areas often excel in others. An on-campus learning disabilities specialist provides students with the tools to reach their full academic potentials. The specialist helps the students develop new learning strategies, which will serve them well in life after university.
I can’t believe what Bo Gus wrote. It’s 2011. People with reading disabilities can still get into university. And cheaters can pass university and go onto med school. Crazy thoughts huh? Except now students who do have a LD are not at a level playing field. Just because you have a reading disability does not mean you are not intelligent. I still can’t believe what I read. This budget cut disgusts me and I am so heartbroken for those who need this service.