It was hilariously terrible. She told me that my position was rare, and that she has to make decisions that are best for the majority of students. When I said that's an equity issue, she said "No: it's a budget issue" ...I asked where the money was coming from and she refused to tell me: "The last thing I need is students pestering the government. It's still under negotiation and they might not give us anything; you don't want that to happen, do you?" ... Too bad it wasn't "On the record" So I could quote her, officially.
Hunter Thompson would've said there's no such thing as "of the record", but "then people usually stop talking to you so" so that may not be the way to go.
And she doesn't seem to willing to talk much anyhow.
Anyway, hope you don't mind but I did a quick look around and found some stuff that may or may not be useful.
On the rareness of your position:
http://www.ldac-acta.ca/learn-more/prevalence-of-lds/prevalance-of-learning-disabilities.html
Prevalance of Learning Disabilities
1. According to Statistics Canada, more children in this country have a learning disability than all other types of disabilities combined.
2. According to Statistics Canada, of all the children with disabilities in this country, more than half (59.8%) have a learning disability.
3. Statistics Canada reports that 3.2% of Canadian children have a learning disability ? that?s the equivalent of one child in every school bus full of children.
4. Statistics Canada reports that as children make the transition from home to school, the number diagnosed with a learning disability grows by nearly 25%. These transition years are a key time during which we need to assess children and begin accommodating those with learning disabilities so they can reach their full potential.
5. According to Statistics Canada, more than half a million adults in this country live with a learning disability, making it more challenging for them to learn in universities and colleges, and on the job.
6. According to Statistics Canada, learning disabilities increased considerably between 2001 and 2006 among Canadians aged 15 and over by almost 40 per cent to 631,000 people, making it one of the fastest growing types of disabilities in Canada that isn?t related to aging.
Dalhousie has 15367 enrolled students (
http://www.edwiseinternational.com/2010/study-in-canada/universities/dalhousie_university.asp). So let's say 3.2% of have a learning disability. That makes a total of 492 students who are affected by this decision.
In the Student Services Annual Report 2010 (
http://studentservices.dal.ca/Files/SSReport10.pdf) services regarding Career Counseling got a student satisfaction rating of 100%. All well in that department I'd say, and yet
With $150,000 in financial support from the Vice-President, Student Services, new technology is being installed to provide one-stop, integrated online career and employment services.
So everybody's happy, yet she invests.
Services for students with disabilities on the other hand went from an approval rating of 59% in 2007 to 86% in 2010. So someone did something right over those years. If Miss Datta's contract is set to expire, she might have well been hired somewhere around 2007/2008.
This article seems very illustrative for the need of a person like Neera Datta.
http://thecommoner.kingsjournalism.com/?p=4496
Apparently, past schoolyear, there were 735 students who registered for the services. Quite a lot more than those 492 I estimated earlier. And according to that article, 1 in 10 Canadians have a learning disability. Rare?
And to close, a quote from the Vice President herself:
http://www.dal.ca/news/2011/03/11/four_students_honoredwithgovernorsawards.html
?I?m humbled by the contributions of these students,? she said. ?We could not be the university we are today without the strong dedication to helping others that our students demonstrate.?
Yes, we need a strong dedication to helping others. The budget should be a reflection of that dedication.
All this sort of reminds me of the time we got a teacher suspended with the Student Counsil at high school. And the slogan reminds me of the time the principal publicly warned me to be dressed up and on my nicest behaviour for graduation day. So I wore sandals, shorts and a t-shirt saying "Choosing Personality" , the school's slogan. She was not amused. :lol:
