Georgia Southern and the SDRC

By Outland Marsh
There are many departments at Georgia Southern University that help the student body
but not one as unique as the Student Disability Resource Center.
Mike Chambers, director of SDRC has a Master of Rehabilitation Counseling degree
from the University of Kentucky.
Chambers explains the opportunities that qualified students with disabilities are eligible
for and how they qualify for those opportunities.
Our mission is to ensure accessibility for qualified students with disabilities and
providing an equal educational opportunity. We serve approximately 750 students each semester
and our faculty is responsible for coordinating all services for students, Chamber said.
In order for the SDRC to achieve these objectives, they collaborate with faculty, other
staff and students to create a knowledgeable and fair provision of services.
The objective is to provide reasonable academic accommodation as well as appropriate
sources based on the needs of each individual student, Chambers said.
Chambers explains that sometimes students have to self-identify and they help students to
acknowledge their disability.
Students, once they come to college, have to self-identify as having a disability
condition and that is where this department comes in to help them, Chambers said.
Sign Language Interpreter Jane Griffith, who works alongside Chambers in the SDRC,
has been at the department for 6 years with 22 years of experience as an interpreter.
My role is to be near the teacher so that the student can look at me and back to the
teacher to get information from the teacher, Griffith said.
Griffith works with both teachers and students to help communicate the needs of the
students in the classroom.
I explain to the teacher my role and the student needs by using ASL (American Sign
Language), Griffith said.
American Sign Language also known as ASL is the predominate language used by deaf
communities in the United States.
Griffith said that ASL is a completely different language that does not follow English
closely but many deaf students in the United States use it to communicate.
The SDRC helps students with many different types of disabilities not just the hearing
impaired.
There are many disorders for which students can be served through our department,
Chambers said.