PACBIC committee meetings will resume in Fall 2024. Details to come.
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President's Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community (PACBIC)

Disability, Inclusion, Madness, Accessibility, NeuroDiversity (DIMAND)

Disability, Inclusion, Madness, Accessibility, NeuroDiversity (DIMAND) Working Group endeavours to identify and recommend to the University, through PACBIC, the prevention and removal of barriers that persons with disabilities encounter on the main campus and other McMaster sites as well as through programs, policies, practices, and services provided by the University. 

DIMAND will:

  • Provide forum for discussion, reflection and learning on issues of inclusion and accessibility.
  • Work collectively to provide commentary on systemic ableism and saneism within existing PSE policies, systems, and environments.
  • Collectively work together to raise awareness in public forums through the development of events and event series, to amplify marginalized scholars, professionals and community members working in disability, accessibility, and critical disability / mad studies fields.

We are a disability justice focused working group comprised of members who bring scholarly, professional, and lived lenses of accessibility and disability inclusion, and critical disability and critical mad studies working to identify, anticipate and proactively address issues affecting Disabled, Neurodiverse and Mad people within the University community and relevant to those seeking access to the University to advise PACBIC on such issues. We are comprised of undergrad and grad students; employees; instructors; faculty; tas; RAs, etc. (part-time and full-time).

DIMAND focuses on the following goals throughout the academic and fiscal year:

  1. Provides space for McMaster’s disability community to meet and discuss current concerns.
  2. Coordinate and advertise various disability community events, including:
    1. National Accessibility Week at the end of May/Start of June
    2. International Day for Persons with Disabilities on December 3rd

Anyone within the McMaster community who experiences disability, disablement, chronic illness, and/or a health, mental health and/or addiction concerns. Allies to these communities are also welcome in the group. (Staff, students, faculty / instructors).