Summary
The National Disability Center for Student Success, launched in 2023 at UT Austin, was featured in an Austin newspaper for its work on improving postsecondary education for disabled students nationwide. The Center recently conducted a successful pilot survey on campus accessibility.
In a report in The Austin American-Statesman on March 7 about the record-high amount of research conducted at The University of Texas at Austin, the reporter spotlighted three initiatives directly impacting Central Texas and Austin specifically — including the National Disability Center for Student Success.
Executive Director Stephanie Cawthon, PhD, was interviewed by Austin’s daily newspaper to explain the National Disability Center’s launch in August 2023, its unique focus on postsecondary students with disabilities, and its impact in Texas and nationwide.
“We think of it as a whole umbrella, including two-year and four-year institutions, but anything that really helps students make that transition from their high school experience to not just a job but a career,” Cawthon told The Statesman. “We’re filling that gap of what’s needed in those education and learning spaces.”
The story also highlighted the National Disability Center’s national college accessibility survey, which was successfully piloted at UT Austin in the fall with more than 500 students, and the plans for a national student survey in March.
This research, Dr. Cawthon said, “gives a focus to something that is usually hidden.”
