About DSO
Middle East Technical University is the first university of Turkey in which accessibility studies towards students with disabilities have been initiated. The first attempt in accessibility studies started in 1998 when the work group of "Accessible METU Project" was established. The members of this work group were Architect Can Çinici, Industrial Designer Assistant Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Erbuğ, City Planner Associated Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay and Mechanical Engineer Prof. Dr. Mehmet Çalışkan(Acting SecretaryGeneral). The main objective of the project was to improve the accessibility ofbuildings in the campus and circulation inside the buildings. The aim of the project was to make pedestrian ways between faculty buildings, dormitories, sport arenas and cafes suitable for transportation of students with disabilities. In 2004, long before the legal obligation for universities to establish a disability coordination service in Turkey,METU Disability Support Coordination Unit was established to investigate problems that students with disabilities faced and to develop suitable systems for the solution of these problems. Claire Özel served as the coordinator of this Unit between 2004 and 2011. The Unit involved in the studies of "Regulations on the Solidarity and Coordination of the Individuals with Disabilities in the Institutions of Higher Education" which was approved in 2006 and revised in 2010.
Disability Support Coordination Unit was reconstituted and METU Disability Support Office was established instead on June 28th , 2011in accordance with the Middle East Technical University Senate's decision dated and numbered 2011/5-2. METU Disability Support Office was charged with providing equal access to resources and services of the university for students who have special needs because of specific disabilities, and establishing an environment that supports their development. METU Disability Support Office's working procedures and principles determined as reorganizing physical circumstances of the campus depending on the special needs of students with disabilities and enhancing academic accessibility in accordance with the articles 11 and 12 of "Regulations on the Solidarity and Coordination of the Individuals with Disabilities in the Institutions of Higher Education".