Exploring Students with Disabilities Experiences in the Classroom at a Midwestern Community College

This exploratory study featured interviews with students’ with disabilities at a Midwestern Community College. The interviews were created with the guiding research question: What are students’ with disabilities experiences with faculty at Midwestern Community College? Five participants were identified using convenient sampling. Interviews were held via zoom using semi-structured questions that aimed to gain an understanding of students’ experiences with faculty with an emphasis on Universal Design. Participants’ unique narratives provided a wealth of information about their individual experiences, which were transcribed and analyzed using inductive coding and analysis. The findings from this study emphasize the importance of communication, technology, flexibility, structure with an overarching meta-theme of COVID-19, which amplified the other findings, have had on students’ with disabilities experience with faculty. Students indicated both items the students themselves can practice, along with faculty, in order to cultivate a more inclusive education setting for students with disabilities in higher education. Findings have been presented to the Midwestern Community College Disability Support office and will inform ongoing efforts for equitable education