New SAR Facilities Open to serve students

By JIM RASBERRY/Staff Writer

The Student Accessibility Resources office (SAR) has opened newly renovated offices and student support space located on the fourth floor of the library. SAR Inaugural Director Ms. Dawn Sousa-Hearn was not available for a direct interview, but the SAR offices were able to inform Talon Student Media how the offices will be supporting students during their time at UT Tyler.

The SAR office provides various services to students in the form of accommodations to students with disabilities. These accommodations are intended to span across all campuses, classrooms, labs, and even online. SAR’s services also extend to faculty, staff, and members of the community. The services provided include things such as testing accommodations, providing extended times and a less distracting environment for testing, assistance with housing accommodations such as emotional support animals and ADA accessible rooms, deaf and hard of hearing services, live captioning or sign language interpreting, blind or low vision assistance and text to speech software. These accommodations are intended to make UT Tyler an inclusive and accessible place for all students, faculty and staff.

Sign-ups for access to SAR services are available now through an application on the SAR office webpage. The website also provides phone numbers and email addresses to contact staff directly should further assistance be necessary. The offices can be contacted via the email or at 903-566-7079. Of course, visits to the new in-person offices are also possible. The SAR office is located in Library room 460.