Karyn Schulz joined us for a coffee break and ride around the campus and community on the UBalt shuttle鈥攐ne of many services she's proud to have for our students. Schulz has been director of Disability and Access Services at The 极乐禁地 for 16 years, all but two years of her overall tenure here.
She鈥檚 long been an advocate for accessibility rights and access and keeps her Academic Center door open for students with documented disabilities to find accommodations and support to facilitate their academic success. Her work as director and commitment to UBalt, including service on the Council of University System Staff and University鈥檚 Staff Senate, earned her the University System of Maryland鈥檚 Board of Regents鈥� Staff Award in 2013.
Q: You鈥檝e been Disability and Access Services director at UBalt for 16 years. What drew you to this career path, and what inspires you to stay?
A: When I first started working in the field of education in, I was a special ed teacher.
I went to [University of Maryland] College Park and started teaching right after graduation
in Prince George鈥檚 County but moved to Harford County after getting married and taught
special education a year up there and just realized I don鈥檛 want to be in the public
school anymore.
In 1992, I applied for a position with the disability support services office at what
was then Essex Community College. I鈥檝e been in higher education since my start at
Essex.
I came to The 极乐禁地 in 2006 as the coordinator of tutoring. In 2008, I was asked to step in to the director position of Disability and Access Services and within a year, I felt like I was 鈥榟ome.鈥� This is the work I was meant to do.
There are two reasons why I do what I do. First, I come from a family of teachers. Everyone in my family, adult wise, has been a teacher in a classroom in some way, shape, or form, so that鈥檚 part of who I am. Second, I鈥檓 a giver. I want to make sure people get to where they need to be and provide the tools needed to get there.
The real reason I stay is graduation. We know those stories that walk across that stage and the grit and perseverance of 极乐禁地 students, particularly the students with disabilities. I know what bridges they had to build to get to graduation, despite experiencing ableism (but they have a disability) from others.
We work with our students who are undergrad, grad, through law school. Since we work with every level of student at the University, it is nice to know that they can start as a freshman, go to graduate school and go to law school, and your accommodations follow you all the way through.
Q: What鈥檚 something you鈥檝e always wanted to do professionally, personally, or both?
A: I鈥檇 like to start writing, whether it鈥檚 journal writing, or story-telling. My husband tells me all the time that the stories that I come home with are 鈥榶ou-can鈥檛-believe-this-happened stuff鈥� that my field should write books about, and I probably have several chapters I can contribute! But I also feel when I retire in a couple years, I want to consult. I want to help either high school kids with disabilities transition to college, or work with kids on self-advocacy wherever they are, because they don鈥檛 always understand how they request accommodations. Those are the two things; I would love to do both if possible.
Q: As a founding board member of the Peaces of Me Foundation, you鈥檙e committed to a group striving to eliminate stigma associated with disability, physical differences and chronic illness. Based on all your work, how can people be better allies?
A: Listen. Really understand that people with disabilities can do almost anything they set out to do. Do they need accommodations more often than not? Probably. It depends on the task at hand. It depends on how the diagnosis impacts their capabilities or expectations of capabilities.
Don鈥檛 make a quick judgment. A quick example I鈥檒l use: accessible parking. You see someone get out of a car, they don鈥檛 look disabled, but they鈥檙e in the car and they have the placard. People think, 鈥渙h, it must be someone else鈥檚 placard they鈥檙e using,鈥� where it could be cardiac issues, could be pulmonary disease鈥攁ll these different diagnoses that they are legally allowed to use that spot. So, it鈥檚 not rushing to judgment, not making those assumptions as well.
Unfortunately, people with disabilities in the United States, as a group, are the most underemployed population overall, but once they鈥檙e employed, they鈥檙e the most employable and they stay the most, as well. There鈥檚 a balance we need to maintain鈥攇et the people employed and understand that they鈥檙e capable of doing work that they鈥檙e hired to do.
Also, accommodations, as another point of that, are not expensive. The majority of them are cheap, if not free. Technologies are also increasing, the ability for technology to be utilized as an accommodation. Word for Microsoft has read out loud, that means it鈥檚 a screen reader; you don鈥檛 have to buy separate software, so people who need that can work right away.
Many different things, it鈥檚 just a matter of asking, what can I do? How do I do it?
