Transforming Barriers into Bridges: The Benefits of a Student-Driven Accessibility Planning Committee

The School of Social Work and Disability Studies Accessibility Planning Committee (APC) is a student-driven initiative that has been in existence for over 10 years. This practice brief looked at the committee through interviews with faculty and student members. The investigation aimed to determine whether the benefits of having a student-driven committee outweighed the challenges for the students, the faculty, the university, and the wider community. Outcomes indicate that student-driven committees, though faced with issues of recruitment, low membership, and reduced retention, also provide students with leadership and citizenship skills, promote dissemination of accessibility issues on campus, encourage personal growth, and serve as a tool for the consolidation of material learned in class to applications in the non-academic world. These outcomes indicate that continued support of student-driven committees on campuses has the potential of benefiting not only students, but also the university and the wider community.