About Support Staff Activities

About Support Staff Activities

Support staff is the name for students who are registered with the ODE and carry out activities to promote accessibility at Tokyo University and support students with disabilities. The ODE is always looking for more students who are interested in helping out. Please contact the ODE for more details.

Flow of support staff activity

■Attend an introductory course
Introductory courses are held to introduce the ODE and give an orientation of its support activities, usually at the start of the school year. Please see the Latest News page for information on course dates.

■Registration (open year-round)
If you would like to register as a member of our support staff, please contact either the ODE, or visit the ODE’s offices at the Hongo or Komaba campus. We will explain about the support staff to you, and if you would like to register, you will need to submit a ‘Support Staff Registration’ form and a copy of your student card, as well as the type of support you are interested in giving.

■Attend a course for the type of support activity
Registered members then need to attend a course about the activity they wish to conduct, and prepare to start the support activity. The courses are taught by ODE staff or experience support staff.
e.g. Computer-assisted captioning course, note taking course, wheelchair operation course, course of guiding the visually impaired, etc.

■Begin activity

1. Support staff submit their availability to the ODE upon registration.
2. When it is decided that a disabled student will receive support, the support implementation officer from the student’s department/division contacts the support staff either individually or via the mailing list to ask for support. Depending on the type of support, the request may come from the ODE.
3. The support staff carries out support activities under the instruction of the support implementation officer from the department/division that made the request.
4. The support implementation officer from the department/division that made the request takes care of making contact when either the disabled student or the support staff is late or absent, or if a class is cancelled or there are any changes.
5. After the support activity is finished, the support staff stamps the appropriate column in the log book under the instruction of the support implementation officer from the department/division that made the request.
6. Payment is transferred to the designated bank account on the 17th of the following month.
7. Advice about support can be obtainedat any time from the ODE teachers or support coordinators.

■Training to improve skills
Training is conducted throughout the year for support staff who want to improve their skills, or registered members who are currently taking a break from activity.

■Discussion group for students with disabilities and support staff
Discussion groups are held for students with disabilities and support staff to get together and talk about their interactions and support.