This winter, the University of Michigan will launch a campuswide Disability Navigators Program to provide centralized, dedicated unit-level support to advance an accessible, disability-inclusive environment on the Ann Arbor campus.

Modeled after pilot programs within the College of Engineering and LSA, a team of disability navigators will serve the university’s 19 schools and colleges, administrative units and employees in a wide range of disability and accessibility outreach, services and support. 

“The expanded navigator program responds to community requests for stronger service and support, giving employees and units more opportunities to collaborate in meeting unique disability and accessibility needs at the local level,” Provost Laurie McCauley said.

The navigators are expected to be in place during the winter semester and will be embedded in specific schools, colleges and units.

They will join the Disability Equity Office within the Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX Office, and will be separate from compliance, reporting to an assistant director focused on outreach and support. 

“We are excited to increase our service and support to the disability community and collaborate with colleges, units and departments on education, awareness, resources and training through the disability navigators,” said Allison Kushner, director of disability equity and ADA coordinator at U-M. 

The disability navigators will serve as dedicated liaisons for schools, colleges and units that provide resources and referrals for disability and accessibility requests, including American Sign Language interpretation services and Communication Access Realtime Transcription coordination.

They will also provide guidance and training consistent with university policies to enhance understanding and awareness of disability and accessibility procedures and policies at the unit level. 

In addition, the Disability Equity Office is expanding resources to support the university’s compliance with federal, state and institutional policies with an additional full-time accessibility specialist to join the team.

Other recent Disability Equity Office efforts include:

• Providing training and workshops to more than 2,000 individuals in 2025.
• Launching an annual training program offered to schools, colleges, units and departments on available disability resources, accessibility and disability-inclusion.
• Hiring two full-time digital accessibility specialists offering consultations, training, workshops and resources across the university.
• Expanding facilitation of workplace accommodation services to include graduate student employees as of July 2025.