Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

The Communication Access Manager's primary role is facilitating Western’s obligation to provide appropriate and reasonable accommodations for disabled students, with a focus on serving d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The Communication Access Manager is responsible for supervising, managing, and coordinating the activities and functions of accommodations/services programs for d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing students in the Disability Access Center (DAC) and for ensuring the timely and effective provision of accommodations for qualified students with disabilities in accordance with state and federal guidelines and regulations. Primary responsibilities will include: managing the DAC Speech-to-Text Program; arranging American Sign Language interpreters; providing technical and logistical support to students, faculty, and campus partners on the use of real time transcription, closed captioning and other services for d/Deaf and hard of hearing students; providing training to the campus community on best practices in promoting inclusion and understanding of Deaf culture; managing DAC equipment and inventory; and recruiting, hiring, training, assessing, and supervising service providers.

Position Duties and Responsibilities

40% - Facilitate disability accommodations via interactive process

• Facilitate all aspects of the interactive process in compliance with applicable federal and state laws and university policies. Document administration of the interactive process following DAC procedure.
• Evaluate student applications for disability accommodations, including any medical/psychological documentation and documentation of previous accommodation history.
• Independently plan and conduct individual access planning meetings (APMs) with students. Explain DAC process and students rights and responsibilities relative to this process.
• Gather additional information about the student’s experience of disability, past impact of disability on their education, and potential barriers to full inclusion in the university experience (e.g., education, university housing, and co-curricular activities).
• When additional information is needed to make an accommodation determination, advise the student on how to provide required information such as third-party supporting documentation. As needed, provide referrals to university resources such as the Counseling and Wellness Center or Student Health Center, or to local specialists.
• Following DAC process, determine eligibility for appropriate accommodations. This requires synthesizing and analyzing information gathered from the student’s application, medical and other third-party documentation, previous accommodation documents (IEP/504), and the interview with the student.
• Notify the student of accommodations decision. When a student is eligible for accommodations, generate a letter of eligibility for the student, their faculty, and appropriate staff, outlining the accommodations.
• Serve as a resource to faculty and staff as they work to effectively implement accommodations. Partner with faculty to understand course design; as appropriate, offer guidance about adjustments that can improve accessibility.
• Respond to all inquiries regarding individual student accommodations via email, call, or in-person meetings.
• Consistently maintain student confidentiality.
• Liaise for specific accommodation implementation

45% - Manage the Disability Access Center (DAC) Communication Access Accommodations 

• Manage daily operations of the DAC Speech-to-Text Program (live captioning) and Closed Captioning Program
• Recruit, hire, train, and supervise real time transcribers.
• Provide ongoing professional development opportunities for transcribers
• Coordinate scheduling of speech-to-text service providers.
• Provide quality control on completed transcripts.
• Establish and maintain accurate budgetary and personnel records, program files, and archives of Deaf and hard-of-hearing services.
• Provide technical and educational assistance to faculty, staff and students working with students who are Deaf or hard of hearing.
• Maintain equipment and software licenses for TypeWell and other transcription tools.
• Schedule contract services for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, to include sign language interpreters and real time transcription and post production closed captioning services
• Coordinate contracts with sign language interpreter and transcription agencies.
• Provide equal communication access services (either speech-to-text or ASL interpreting) in classes or campus events
• Work with faculty and staff to identify videos that require closed captions
• Manage the completion of closed captioned videos.
• Prepare a quarterly report for the DAC Director for each assigned accommodation/service program to include information on faculty/student usage, summary of programs/services efforts, budget information and tracking, and other pertinent or requested information.

10% - Maintain, Review, Modify, and Develop Policies and Procedures

• Regularly review policies and procedures and make recommendations for modifications to improve services.
• Develop and recommend new policies and procedures to ensure the effective and timely provision of accommodation and services within assigned programs of responsibility. Understand and appropriately apply, interpret and explain office and University policies and procedures and State and Federal rules, regulations and laws (e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
• Provide technical and instructional assistance and support for faculty, staff, administration and students working with students with disabilities.
• Remain current on research and legal activity in the field and national trends to guide policy/procedure development/revision and recommend improvements in the delivery of services for the office and more broadly across the campus.
• Maintain an awareness of the trends and technology for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Research, develop and recommend new or revised production methods and technological applications to improve DAC accommodations/services.

<5% - Other duties as assigned

• Engage in research and continuing education activities that further knowledge and skills to support the full inclusion of disabled Western students, including professional development regarding access, diversity, equity, and inclusion that advances abilities to best perform job responsibilities.
• Participate in Unit, Division, and university committees as assigned by supervisor.
• Participate in outreach events
• Assist other Disability Access Center staff with special projects
• Assist in advising the campus community as appropriate on the use and implementation of universal design concepts and principles; identifying barriers to access and inclusion and providing counsel on how to build a universally accessible environment.
• Collaborate with WWU Academic Technology and User Services in providing assistance and support to faculty and staff in the creation of accessible instructional materials hosted on web pages and learning management systems.
• Create, foster and maintain collaborative working relationships with faculty, staff, administration and students
• Other duties as assigned

• Master’s degree in Education, Social Work, Counseling, Rehabilitation Counseling, Student Affairs, or a related field OR an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Proficiency and 3 years' experience in providing real-time transcription or American Sign Language interpretation.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize and apply student narratives, health care documentation, and records of prior accommodations to make sound decisions about disability accommodations for Western students.
• Strong knowledge of state and federal laws and regulations governing the rights of disabled students in higher education, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
• Demonstrated understanding of and ability to deliver services in alignment with the biopsychosocial model of disability.
• Demonstrated ability to advance equity and support the development of students who are disabled, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+, including students who hold multiple marginalized identities.
• Demonstrated ability to perform job responsibilities collaboratively with colleagues and students across departments and disciplines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to engage small and large groups of students, faculty, and staff.
• Demonstrated time management skills, excellent professional judgment, and experience handling confidential and sensitive information.

• Supervisory experience
• Fluency in American Sign Language.
• Knowledge of assistive technologies for people with disabilities such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and screen reader software.
• Knowledge and experience using the AIM Database System.
• Direct work experience with individuals with disabilities in postsecondary education.

Benefits Overview for Administrative Professional Position.

A cover letter and resume are required and should address your experience related to the position responsibilities and the required and preferred qualifications. Please include the names and contact information of three professional references. References will only be contacted if necessary, with notice provided beforehand.

Western Washington University (WWU) is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained faculty and staff. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. In compliance with applicable laws and in furtherance of its commitment to fostering an environment that welcomes and embraces diversity, WWU does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and parenting status), disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status or genetic information in its programs or activities, including employment, admissions, and educational programs. See WWU’s Policy on Ensuring Equal Opportunity and Prohibiting Discrimination and Retaliation. Inquiries may be directed to the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance, Title IX and ADA Coordinator, Western Washington University, Old Main 126 (MS 9021), 516 High Street, Bellingham, WA 98225; 360.650.3307 (voice) or 711 (Washington Relay); crtc@wwu.edu

WWU is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. To request this document in an alternate format or to request an accommodation, please contact Human Resources Disability Services, 360.650.3303 or 711 (Washington Relay).

Annual Security and Fire Safety Report: This report is provided pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act ("The Clery Act"). It includes statistics for the previous three calendar years concerning reported crimes that occurred on Western's campus; in certain off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by Western; and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from, the campus. The report also includes institutional policies concerning campus security, such as policies concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and other matters. You can obtain a copy of this report in printed or alternate formats by contacting the Office of the Vice President for Enrollment and Student Services at vpsa.office@wwu.edu. The report can be found at: Annual Security and Fire Safety Report.

All new employees must comply with the immunization policy and show employment eligibility verification as required by the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service before beginning work at WWU. A thorough background check will be conducted on all new hires which includes a sexual misconduct background check.