Back to Home

Mission Statement

The University of Memphis Institute on Disability (UMID)

 The University of Memphis Institute on Disability (UMID) is an interdisciplinary entity currently being established at the University of Memphis. UMID will serve as a focal point for campus, local, state, national, and international educational, service, and research initiatives exploring the phenomena related to having disabling conditions. Among its central goals are the expansion of the knowledge and experience bases of students and faculty at the University of Memphis. The Institute will reach out to peer educational institutions, as well as to the wealth of metropolitan Memphis-based community organizations, to acquire input and cooperation in advancing its initiatives. In order to benefit from existing knowledge and skill bases, the Institute will actively seek national mentoring support from university- and agency-based centers that have already developed expertise in relevant topic areas.

UMID will foster cross-disciplinary educational and training opportunities. In addition, the Institute will promote the development of a graduate certificate in disability studies and an undergraduate minor in the area. Over the long term, these could develop into undergraduate and graduate degree programs, and could evolve into a doctoral level interdisciplinary degree in disability studies.

In the short term, it will also encourage interdisciplinary research projects with the offer of small competitive grants, especially focused on using existing data bases in the rehabilitation and disability research area. The Institute will also pull together interdisciplinary teams to respond to requests for applications for governmental and private funding. In the long term it will seek federal set-aside and carve-out opportunities in the areas of interdisciplinary disability research.

The University of Memphis Institute on Disability, which enjoys strong administrative support from the University, will also serve as a model for the University's creation and promotion of other institutes with foci on interdisciplinary topics, both within the University and across other universities nationwide and around the world.