Disability Support Services
The George Washington University believes in the equality of people, the value of individual differences and the boundless potential of the human spirit. To ensure full participation by everyone in the GW community, the University established Disability Support Services (DSS) in 1978. DSS assists students with disabilities to participate fully in university life so they may derive the greatest benefit from their educational experiences and attain maximum personal success.
DSS currently oversees services for more than 700 GW students with a range of disabilities, including students temporarily disabled by injury or illness. To be eligible, a student must provide DSS with documentation that substantiates the need for such services in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the ADA. Services provided without charge may include registration assistance, readers, interpreters, scribes, individualized learning specialist support, adaptive materials and equipment, assistance with note taking, laboratory and library assistance, and test accommodations. DSS does not provide content tutoring, although it is available on a fee basis through other campus resources. The University does not provide or pay for transportation services or personal attendant care.
DSS encourages all students to participate actively in making their campus culture one that is inclusive, diverse, and collaborative.
The GW Experience
Students
All in the Family
Greg and Heather Hachenburg talk about their undergraduate experience at GW, one of many sibling pairs to share in the Colonials legacy.
Creating Next Generation Leaders
GW program helps female students connect with leading women across a variety of fields and develop their roles as future women in leadership.
Where the City is a Classroom
Freshman volunteers experience life beyond Foggy Bottom...
Faculty
Fighting Neglected Diseases
GW professor works to eradicate diseases that affect the health, education and economic development of the world's poorest people.
Building the Super Computer
Pioneering lab puts GW at the forefront of high-speed computing and offers GW students unprecedented access to science and skills of the future.
Blast From the Past
Students map an ancient—and dramatic—eruption as part of a geological research program in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.
Alumni
Giving Back to the District of Columbia
D.C. public health director calls GW education the foundation of his career.
GW Opens Doors
A chance encounter with a GW alumna helped give one GW undergraduate, an aspiring broadcast journalist from Texas, his big break.
The Legend Lives On
The $2 million bequest commitment caps a lifetime of philanthropy and service to GW, establishing the Elyse B. and Donald R. Lehman Endowed Professorship in Theoretical Physics.