Accommodation requests are climbing. Documentation keeps piling up. And the people running disability services are trying to make sure every student still feels seen, not just processed.
Two leaders at HBCUs have lived in exactly that spot, and both decided to do something about it before burnout made the decision for them. Aise Cannon is the Access Manager in the Office of Individualized Learning and Accessibility Services at Morehouse School of Medicine. Derriya Sankey is the Director of the Office of Accessibility and Veteran Affairs at Alabama State University. Their campuses look different and their caseloads run different, but the throughline is the same. They paid attention to what the data was telling them, and they made a change.
At Morehouse School of Medicine, accessibility had once been handled by HR for students, faculty, and staff alike, a setup that carried real conflict and real risk. After a compliance matter rose above the institution and cost money, leadership stood up a dedicated office for students. Cannon walked into that office in 2023 with no prior accessibility background, and over time the team shrank from three people to two to one. She became the sole person running it.
"It just looks different day to day," Cannon said. "I just try to not make everything bigger than what it is."
At Alabama State University, Sankey inherited a fully manual operation. Students filled out packets in person, emailed packets, mailed packets, and she kept up with all of it by hand. As demand grew, the math stopped working. Every accommodation letter had to be built one at a time. For a single semester serving 127 students, that meant 127 letters created from scratch, on time, before classes started.
Neither leader pitched a tool. They pitched evidence.
Sankey built a proposal around the trend lines, the rising number of students needing services set against flat staffing. Before she ever landed on a platform, she sat down with peers at Auburn University, who walked her through how Accommodate worked for them and even showed her a sample student record. "I didn't start anything without the data," she said. Her leadership team runs on evidence, so that is exactly what she brought them.
Cannon's path ran through a consultant her dean brought in, who studied the office, wrote a full report, and pointed to Accommodate based on firsthand experience at another institution. That report became the blueprint for building and scaling the department.
The first thing both felt was relief.
At Morehouse School of Medicine, letters that used to go out by paper mail now go out in a few clicks, with approved language already built in. "I couldn't breathe a little bit," Cannon said, describing the moment it clicked. The flood of appointment emails that once forced her to spin up a separate inbox now routes through the portal instead.
At Alabama State University, the whole process moved into one place. Students review requests, submit documentation, book the testing room, schedule accommodations, and arrange assistive technology loans through the portal. Faculty get their own view, limited to the students in their courses.
"It cuts down on time, it cuts down on phone calls, it cuts down on office visits, it cuts down on confusion," Sankey said.
Reporting changed just as much. What used to mean wrestling a sprawling spreadsheet now takes Cannon under 30 minutes, built-in and custom reports she can hand to leadership on a tight turnaround. Sankey uses that same reporting muscle to make her case for resources, including pulling request data to justify more ADA rooms as the campus builds new dorms.
The growth is real. Alabama State University served 249 students in 2025 to 2026, up from 86 three years earlier, a 183 percent jump in accommodation requests. Morehouse School of Medicine carries a caseload close to 200 and counting.
What did not change is the human part. Both leaders still meet with every student. Cannon runs intake and outtake appointments, signs acknowledgement forms, and offers standing biweekly or monthly check-ins for anyone who wants them. Sankey keeps the one-on-one intake interview at the center of her process. Automating the busywork gave them more room for students, not less.
Behind both offices is a client manager who stays in the picture long after launch. Cannon works with Stephanie, who keeps open training blocks on her calendar. Sankey works with Alicia, who is reachable within the hour. "It's almost like they don't just leave you," Cannon said.
Asked to sum up the change in a single word, the answers said it all.
For Aise Cannon, peace. For Derriya Sankey, evolve.