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Disability Graduation Celebration
Last week, on April 28th, Disability Services honored our graduating students with a celebration in Goodell Hall.
Many students and staff came together in community and celebrated the Class of 2025 with a reception dinner. Students received special shoutouts and had the opportunity to take photos after the event at our designated photo area!
One of the gifts from Disability Services to graduates was a purple and white graduation cord to wear with their regalia. Purple and white are symbolic of the disability movement. The purple signifies a graduate being creative, independent, and having a great future, while the white signifies new beginnings, and a graduate being complete. Posting photos? Make sure to tag @umassdisability on Instagram!
In addition to cords, pins of the Disability Pride Flag were placed on tables along with brochures, flyers, and information about disability assistance post-graduation.
Disability Community Space used as a low-sensory option for those that needed a break from the main event. It allowed graduating students to look on the room that will support future disabled students at UMass.
Want to stay in contact with Disability Services after graduation?
PeaceFest: Thank You for Your Support!
With over 150 tickets sold and over $1,500 raised, PeaceFest brought together the campus and surrounding communities for a night of music, laughter, and fun. Rousing performances from Stock Goblin, Skruple, B’Shara, Leadheads, and Eliza Howells made for three hours of live music, raising awareness and funds for Disability Services’ efforts to bring programming to the Disability Community Space (DCS).
Thank you Amelia Ross for this lovely photo! More photos can be found on the DCS Instagram, @umasspeace.
Finals Forecast at the EPC
The Exam Proctoring Center (EPC) is gearing up for Finals Week! Nearly 1,200 exams are scheduled over a four-day period from May 12th to 15th, covering 353 courses and supporting 644 individual students.
In addition to our new and improved exam rooms in 420 Goodell Hall, the EPC will utilize up to 20 additional rooms each day (some classrooms, some private rooms), and will rely on a team of over 70 staff members, including student assistants to prep exams and greet students, student proctors and Disability Services professional staff to administer the exams, couriers to deliver completed exams to instructors, and more.
Huge kudos to Trisha Link, our Exam Proctoring Coordinator, for organizing space and time to get this all done!
“All Pass Candy” for Finals
During Finals Week, students are invited to stop by Goodell Hall to engage in quiet, stress-relieving activities such as origami and coloring sheets.
Access Coordinators will also be handing out “all pass candy,” which is a popular item among students in Taiwan. The term comes from the English phrase "all pass," which sounds like "歐趴" (ōu pà) in Mandarin. It symbolizes passing all exams successfully, so "all pass candy" is any candy given as a good luck charm or encouragement before exams.
This activity will be available on the 4th floor of Goodell, outside the Exam Proctoring Center, from May 12th through May 15th, between 9:00am and 11:00am, and between 1:00pm and 3:00pm. You do not need to be taking an exam in the EPC to participate.
UMass Inclusive Learning
Throughout the semester, UIL has been all about creating connections. From weekly lunch hangouts to Friday Community Groups, we’ve been all over campus — at sports games, campfires, the Durfee Conservatory, the Farmer's Market, and everywhere in between. It’s been a good semester, albeit busy, but we’re excited to be celebrating the end of another successful year!
Follow us on Instagram to see what we’ve been up to!
And don’t forget to check out the latest installments of our new podcast!
Summer Session Courses
In-person and U+ Summer 2025 courses begin on Monday, May 19th.
All summer courses will be loaded into Clockwork on Monday, May 12th (one week before the semester begins), and then accommodation letters can be sent to instructors.
Please note the last day to add/drop for in-person courses is June 2nd, but the last day to add/drop for U+ Session One is May 23rd.
Disability Rights in Employment
Did you know that the Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD) can help employees and employers learn more about disability rights in the workplace, how to navigate reasonable accommodation processes, and understand recourse options?
Their website has a Disability and Employment FAQs video series as well as text-based information, and MOD also provides individualized guidance, analysis, and feedback related to reasonable accommodation requests, and information on recourse when disability discrimination may have occurred in the workplace.
EDUC 398GS: Access to Success
This activity- and discussion-based course is designed for neurodiverse students to learn college skills while building a sense of community with other students. The course, taught by Rachel Adams, covers critical thinking and metacognition; approaches to reading and writing; study strategies; self knowledge; self care and stress management; time management and organization; and communication and advocacy.
This course is pass/fail and meets on Wednesdays from 2:30pm – 3:45pm; location TBD.
Follow us on Instagram!
In early March, Disability Services launched our Instagram account, and we’ve been sharing mix of content to keep our community informed and engaged. With each post, we aim to foster a more inclusive and supportive environment for all.
Stay up-to-date with deadlines, events, and more!
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