ESU alum named new Disability Services Director

After serving only three months as interim director of Disability Services, Shanti Ramcharan, an ESU alum, was recently appointed director of Disability Services.

Ramcharan, was appointed after a national search was conducted during the fall semester.

"The search committee did an excellent job selecting candidates from a national pool. Shanti was recommended by the committee as the choice for the position, and I agree wholeheartedly," said Dr. Robert Grover, associate vice president for academic affairs

and dean of graduate studies. "During her time as interim director she did an excellent job and worked very effectively with students and faculty. I am confident that she will provide progressive leadership to the campus in her position as Director of Disability Services. We are very fortunate to have her on the staff at ESU."

A Topeka native, Ramcharan graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in rehabilitation services education from ESU. She was named Outstanding Graduate Student in 1999 in the rehabilitation counseling program and earned her master's degree in rehabilitation counseling also from ESU.

Before accepting her current position, Ramcharan served as program coordinator for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Flint Hills for five years.

Ramcharan said her main duty is to review student's cases and determine eligibility for accommodations.

"Every disability is different and every student is different," she said. "As a student-centered university our role in this office is to help students make the most of their time here and equip them with the lifelong learning skills they need to be successful after they graduate."

She said one of her goals is to work more at engaging students in the social side of college life.

"Academics are the most important part of a college experience, but there is so much more to a college experience than that," she said. "We work with all the different student offices on campus to help students with disabilities be integrated fully into everything they want to be involved in."

Ramcharan emphasized the importance of working with students without disabilities, as well.

"Every student who graduates from ESU is someday going to be teaching students with disabilities, or marketing products to people with disabilities, or supervising people with disabilities," she said. "Awareness is the key to educating people about the different types of disabilities."

Working with students is what motivates Ramcharan. "Each student has a different goal, a different set of challenges, just like students without disabilities," she said. "I really enjoy getting to know them and hearing their different perspectives and helping them achieve their goals and dreams in life."

Michelle Peters, Ramcharan's predecessor as Disability Services director, left in September for a job at Drexel University.

Last Updated July 2, 2007>