Founded in 1863, Saint Mary's College of California is a residential institution in the Moraga Valley, 20 miles east of San Francisco, rooted in the Catholic, Lasallian, and Liberal Arts traditions. Enrolling more than 3,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the College integrates liberal and professional education within a mission shaped by the De La Salle Christian Brothers. Known for academic excellence, innovation, and responsiveness, Saint Mary's fosters shared inquiry, meaningful student engagement, and a strong commitment to diversity, leadership, and service.
Why Join Saint Mary's College?
At Saint Mary's, your work has visible impact. As a close-knit residential college, employees work collaboratively across departments-your ideas, leadership, and contributions directly shape the student experience and the future direction of the institution. Colleagues partner across divisions, decisions are grounded in mission, and innovation is encouraged. If you are seeking a workplace where purpose, community, and professional growth intersect-and where your work truly matters-Saint Mary's offers that opportunity.
Job Title
Student Disabilities Services Specialist
Job Summary
Reporting to the Director of Student Disability Services, this position is responsible for developing, implementing, evaluating, direct and coordinatingomplex Student Disability Services (SDS) policies and practices which maintain the college's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Sensitive, highly confidential student medical and psychological information is assessed in order to determine and provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations to ensure that students with disabilities have access to participate in and enjoy SMC's educational programs and campus life.
Essential Responsibilities
Arrange Accommodations for Students
Meets with student to conduct intake interviews to determine eligibility to receive ADA accommodations.
Reviews medical documentation to verify student eligibility for accommodation.
Consults, when appropriate and necessary, with medical and psychiatric providers to gain clarity regarding student's conditions.
Evaluates accommodation requests and determined approved accommodations in line with ADA laws and current best practices.
Determines and extends disability accommodations campus wide, including in classrooms, residence halls, physical space on campus, enrollment and financial aid.
Notifies appropriate faculty and staff of individual student's accommodations to ensure that appropriate and reasonable services are provided.
Coordinates provision of adaptive equipment, assistive technology and other supportive materials for eligible students with disabilities.
Oversees accommodation coordination and delivery, taking a lead role in coordinating the testing and note taking accommodations.
Conducts documentation follow up and re-evaluation for students requesting ongoing accommodations.
Consultation and Education
Consults, advises, coaches, and implements accommodation services campus wide with faculty and staff.
Offers mediation and support surrounding concerns or conflicts between SDS students/faculty/staff.
Recommends facility modifications to address campus barriers.
Develops, prepares and delivers in-service education for faculty, staff and students related to SDS, student/faculty issues, best practices and SMC legal obligations.
Represents SDS department at Admissions, Orientation and other events to meet with prospective and current students to provide information about the SDS office.
SDS Office Administrative Management
Uses ADA database to keep all notes and updated records of all student interactions, including appointments, phone calls, documentation received, interaction with faculty/staff.
Purchases and maintains SDS equipment and software as well as tracks and orders supplies for the department.
Experience: Minimum three (3) years of experience.
Skills/Abilities:
Knowledge and experience working with and applying student disability law in higher education preferred.
Strong analytical, customer service and dispute management skills required.
Occasional evening and weekend work as needed.
Licenses & Certifications:
N/A
Supplemental Information
Please upload your responses to the following questions as a separate document along with your resume. Use clear, specific examples from your experience, including your role, actions taken, and outcomes where applicable. Responses will be used to evaluate your qualifications and fit for the position.
1. Please describe your experience reviewing or coordinating accommodation requests. How do you assess needs and ensure appropriate and compliant outcomes?
2. Describe your experience applying ADA (or similar regulations such as Title IV or Title IX) in your work. How have you ensured compliance while supporting individuals effectively?
3. Provide an example of a time you had to analyze detailed or sensitive information to make a decision. What was your process, and what was the outcome?
4. Describe a situation where you had to navigate a challenging conversation between parties (e.g., student, staff, or other stakeholders). How did you approach it?
5. Tell us about a time you worked collaboratively with others to solve a problem or improve a process. What was your role?
6. This role involves managing a high volume of requests, particularly during peak periods. How do you prioritize and stay organized while maintaining accuracy and responsiveness?
The foundation for everything we do at Saint Mary's is our mission: To probe deeply the mystery of existence by cultivating the ways of knowing and the arts of thinking. Recognizing that the paths to knowledge are many, Saint Mary's College of California offers a diverse curriculum that includes the humanities, arts, sciences, social sciences, education, business administration and nursing, serving traditional students and adult learners in both undergraduate and graduate programs. As an institution where the liberal arts inform and enrich all areas of learning, it places special importance on fostering the intellectual skills and habits of mind, which liberate persons to probe deeply the mystery of existence and live authentically in response to the truths they discover. This liberation is achieved as faculty and students, led by wonder about the nature of reality, look twice, ask why, seek not merely facts but fundamental principles, strive for an integration of all knowledge and express themselves precisely and eloquently. To affirm and foster the Christian understanding of the human person which animates the educational mission of the Catholic Church. Saint Mary's College holds... that the mystery which inspires wonder about the nature of existence is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ giving a transcendent meaning to creation and human existence. Nourished by its Christian faith, the College understands the intellectual and spiritual journeys of the human person to be inextricably connected. It promotes the dialogue of faith and reason: it builds community among its members through the celebration of the church's sacramental life; it defends the goodness, dignity and freedom of each person, and fosters sensitivity to social and ethical concerns. Recognizing that all those who sincerely quest for truth contribute to and enhance its stature as a Catholic institution of higher learning, Saint Mary's welcomes members from its own and other traditions, inviting them to collaborate in fulfilling the spiritual mission of the College. To create a student-centered educational community whose members support one another with mutual understanding and respect. As a Lasallian college, Saint Mary's holds that students are given to its care by God and that teachers grow spiritually and personally when their work is motivated by faith and zeal. The College seeks students, faculty, administrators and staff from different social, economic and cultural backgrounds who come together to grow in knowledge, wisdom and love. A distinctive mark of a Lasallian school is its awareness of the consequences of economic and social injustice and its commitment to the poor. Its members learn to live "their responsibility to share their goods and their service with those who are in need, a responsibility based on the union of all men and women in the world today and on a clear understanding of the meaning of Christianity." (From: The Brothers of the Christian Schools in the World Today: A Declaration).The foundation for everything we do at Saint Mary's is our mission: To probe deeply the mystery of existence by cultivating the ways of knowing and the arts of thinking. Recognizing that the paths to knowledge are many, Saint Mary's College of California offers a diverse curriculum that includes the humanities, arts, sciences, social sciences, education, business administration and nursing, serving traditional students and adult learners in both undergraduate and graduate programs. As an institution where the liberal arts inform and enrich all areas of learning, it places special importance on fostering the intellectual skills and habits of mind, which liberate persons to probe deeply the mystery of existence and live authentically in response to the truths they discover. This liberation is achieved as faculty and students, led by wonder about the nature of reality, look twice, ask why, seek not merely facts but fundamental principles, strive for an integration of all knowledge and express themselves precisely and eloquently. To affirm and foster the Christian understanding of the human person which animates the educational mission of the Catholic Church. Saint Mary's College holds that the mystery which inspires wonder about the nature of existence is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ giving a transcendent meaning to creation and human existence. Nourished by its Christian faith, the College understands the intellectual and spiritual journeys of the human person to be inextricably connected. It promotes the dialogue of faith and reason: it builds community among its members through the celebration of the church's sacramental life; it defends the goodness, dignity and freedom of each person, and fosters sensitivity to social and ethical concerns. Recognizing that all those who sincerely quest for truth contribute to and enhance its stature as a Catholic institution of higher learning, Saint Mary's welcomes members from its own and other traditions, inviting them to collaborate in fulfilling the spiritual mission of the College. To create a student-centered educational community whose members support one another with mutual understanding and respect. As a Lasallian college, Saint Mary's holds that students are given to its care by God and that teachers grow spiritually and personally when their work is motivated by faith and zeal. The College seeks students, faculty, administrators and staff from different social, economic and cultural backgrounds who come together to grow in knowledge, wisdom and love. A distinctive mark of a Lasallian school is its awareness of the consequences of economic and social injustice and its commitment to the poor. Its members learn to live "their responsibility to share their goods and their service with those who are in need, a responsibility based on the union of all men and women in the world today and on a clear understanding of the meaning of Christianity." (From: The Brothers of the Christian Schools in the World Today: A Declaration).