New Disability Coordinator Starts Working at the VMU

In setting its strategic goals to increase accessibility and ensure equal opportunities for all members of the community to participate in the academic and community life of the university, Vytautas Magnus University has restored a position of Disability Coordinator, which will now be held by Ms. Miglė Janušauskaitė. Ms. Miglė Janušauskaitė is a graduate of VMU with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Health Psychology.

VMU Vice-Rector for Communication, Mrs. Vilma Bijeikienė has no doubts that the position of VMU Disability Coordinator is necessary and important in order to create a friendly and comfortable study environment for students with disabilities.

“University’s strategy for the next seven years, which is currently in preparation, pays special attention to the community coherence and unity, which can only be achieved by creating favourable conditions for involvement and self-realisation for all members of our diverse community. Therefore, the Disability Coordinator is an extremely important position in order to listen, hear, and discover solutions to individual problems and, at the same time, to help VMU to create a more inclusive and disability-friendly environment and policy,” – said Mrs. Vilma Bijeikienė.

“I am very glad that we have selected Miglė as a Disability Coordinator – she is young and enthusiastic graduate of Vytautas Magnus university, who has already gained considerable experience. This gives us hope that VMU will once again become an attractive environment for studies, work, and self-improving for the members of various disability communities”, – the Vice-Rector shared her thoughts.

We invite you to get acquainted with the new VMU Disability Coordinator, Ms. Miglė Janušauskaitė and learn more about her work, goals, and foreseen activities.

Migle, what kind of experiences do you have in the field of people with disabilities?

Disability is an integral part of my own life. I have low vision, so I know from my personal experience what it means to have a disability and the difficulties associated with it. In order to broaden my horizons, to make new friends, and to learn more about the lives of other people with disabilities, during summers I volunteered in psychosocial rehabilitation camps, designed for persons with visual impairment.

In 2011 I started my Bachelor’s studies in Psychology at Vytautas Magnus University and here I gained not only professional knowledge, but also an opportunity to contribute to the activities of the Student Affairs Department related to students with disabilities as a volunteer. In 2015, after completing my Bachelor’s studies, I chose my Master’s degree in Health Psychology. During these studies I had several internships, during which I have interacted with people with various mental and behavioural disorders. For my final Master’s thesis, I also have chosen to analyse the topic of disability. After graduation I worked in the non-governmental sector and organisation which represents the interests of children with disabilities. In my opinion, I have a lot of professional and personal experience in this field, which will really help me while working for the benefit of VMU students and employees.

What are your goals as a VMU Disability Coordinator?

One of the main goals is that the high school students with certain disabilities, who are interested in studying at the University, would receive all relevant information about the availability of studies, learn about environment, infrastructure, and other important things of the University, which could help them make a decisive decision and reduce stress. My next goal is to help, mediate, and create a collective dialogue with current VMU students with disabilities. I wish that students would be able to focus on their studies and academic life as much as possible, rather than feel anxiety and be nervous on how to reach an auditorium, how to complete and assignment, join an internship, and so on.

What are your main areas of activities?

The position of the Chief Coordinator is intended for the management of activities related to VMU students and employees with certain disabilities. My area of responsibility is the development, planning, implementation, monitoring, and promotion of the University’s disability policy; planning and organisation of the University’s programme for the coordination and integration of persons with disabilities; responding to problems faced by persons with disabilities and consulting persons with an interest; preparation of analyses of the needs of persons with disabilities, who are studying and working at the University; coordination of projects related to the accessibility of the physical and information environment; representation of the rights and interests of disabled members of the University’s community in the governing and executive bodies of the University, in order to create a suitable working and study environment for them.

Why do you think it is important for the University to pay as much attention as possible to the integration of students with disabilities?

Openness, dialogue, attention, and friendliness are values cherished by Vytautas Magnus University. Studies must be accessible to everyone, regardless of their health problems or other factors. I believe that by implementing the policy of socially responsible University for students with disabilities, University also contributes to a greater change in our society.

University is much more than just a place to get your education. While studying and being in a university’s environment, students learn to communicate with different people, to understand new phenomena, to notice and understand what they may not have even paid attention to before. It is very important to realize that society is diverse, we all have some similarities and differences, but nonetheless, we are all human beings and have equal rights. University’s community needs to be as diverse as possible, because only in this way we will learn to look for similarities, but not differences while communicating with one another, we will stop people from sticking labels and will become more tolerant.

If you have any questions, please contact VMU Disability Coordinator, Ms. Miglė Janušauskaitė by e-mail: migle.janusauskaite@vdu.lt or by phone: (8 37) 597 6399.