Peer Accessibility Liaisons (Graduate)
Peer Accessibility Liaisons (PALs) support their graduate peers academically and socially in building community on Brandeis campus. Peer Accessibility Liaisons are current Brandeis graduate students who have experience effectively navigating campus resources and advocating for themselves.
The Peer Accessibility Liaisons program aims to support graduate students with disability(ies)/condition(s) in navigating graduate school while building an inclusive environment for all. Your PALs can answer your questions about accessibility support and connect you to Student Accessibility Support (SAS) in order to access academic and non-academic accommodations.
PALS hold office hours weekly and are happy to connect with you by appointment as well. PALs can support graduate students for organizing upcoming assignments, communicating with instructors, and navigating campus accessibility issues. The office hours are held during the semester and are posted below!
PALs also lead an Online Support Group for graduate students with disabilities every semester where you can build camaraderie, learn about accessibility on campus and bounce off ideas on how to be an advocate for yourself and others. For Fall 2024, the Online Support Group begins Thursday, September 5th and meets bi-weekly! If you would like to join the Online Support Group, please email one of the PALs or reach out to jaspreet26@brandeis.edu
PALs also facilitate and support programming for graduate students, centered around disability and inclusiveness making Brandeis a welcoming place for all students with disabilities.
Meet your Peer Accessibility Liaisons (PALs)!
Program: PhD in Social Policy, Heller School of Social Policy and Management
If you could go back to yourself in your first year of graduate school and offer a piece of advice, what would it be? I would tell my first-year self to spend more time exploring different areas of study by taking classes that I have never heard of before. I wish I could have let go of the expectations that I set for myself in high school, which were to be a chemistry major and to teach high school chemistry. Needless to say, it did not happen.
Fun fact: I have been doing pottery for over ten years. My dream is to one day have my own pottery studio that includes a wheel, a kiln, and any other equipment that I need.
Email: jchaikof@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 6-7 pm
Program: PhD in English Literature, GSAS
If you could go back to yourself in your first year of graduate school and offer a piece of advice, what would it be? Ask for accommodations instead of pushing yourself to exhaustion on things you don’t have the ability to do--don’t let the ‘grind’ mindset get you down. Also–stop pulling all-nighters! Just because you’re an insomniac doesn’t mean you should be on the computer until 6am; laying down and resting is better than nothing!
Fun fact:I used to work at a bookstore in NYC!
Email: asoriano@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: Fridays, 12-1 pm