UC reports progress and continuing gaps in disability services; students call for transparency and staffing

University of California officials reported Wednesday on systemwide steps to implement recommendations from a 2024 advisory work group on students with disabilities, while student leaders described persistent access gaps and asked for greater transparency and resources.

Provost Catherine Newman introduced the update and Jeannie Kim, director of student mental health and well-being, reviewed system and campus actions to implement the Transforming Culture and Practice report. Kim said the system has established a new Office of Civil Rights, is recruiting a systemwide director of disability rights and that all 10 campuses have processes for removing the incomplete (I) notation once coursework is completed. "Currently all 10 campuses have a policy and process in place for students to remove the I notation with the completed grades," Kim said.

What students told the committee: Alexis Applebaum, the University of California Student Association (UCSA) disability justice officer, and Ryan Manriquez, president of the UC Graduate Professional Council, gave firsthand accounts. Applebaum urged more reliable campus mobility services, described long waits for accommodations and said "students with disabilities are not struggling because of their disabilities. They are struggling because the systems in place in the University of California are failing to provide equitable access." She also said two campuses had previously retained a permanent transcript flag after incompletes were cleared; Kim and student speakers said that, starting fall 2025, newly assigned incompletes will no longer carry that permanent flag once the course has been completed.

Manriquez highlighted emergency-evacuation planning and described developing an emergency-evacuation preparedness policy at UC Berkeley that includes individualized evacuation plans and strategic placement of evacuation chairs. He said the policy is being implemented at Berkeley and urged other campuses to follow: "Our very lives depend on it," he said.

Data and capacity: Kim presented system survey figures showing higher self‑reported disability prevalence in student surveys (about 29% undergraduates and 31% graduate/professional students) than the share of students who seek accommodations through disability service offices (approximately 10% of undergraduates and 8% of graduate students as reported by disability service offices). Kim and students said reasons include stigma, the time and complexity of seeking accommodations, and limited staffing.

Student recommendations: Applebaum and Manriquez called for public, accessible data on hiring and service capacity, shorter wait times for accommodation processing, more DSP (disability services program) staff, expanded proctoring and academic spaces, and faculty liaisons to support disability access. Applebaum asked for a systemwide public dashboard to track implementation progress and to hold campuses accountable.

Regents' questions: Regents asked which campuses are models; student speakers highlighted UC Berkeley's disability cultural center and programs as examples but noted inconsistent data and the need for standardized collection across campuses.

Next steps: UCOP officials pledged to improve standardized data collection and to continue working with campuses to implement the advisory group's recommendations. Kim said the Office of Civil Rights will provide guidance once the systemwide director of disability rights is in place.

Ending: Regents and student speakers framed the issue as both operational (staffing, proctoring, evacuation chairs) and cultural (stigma, inclusion) and called for sustained funding to ensure timely accommodations and better data.