Cole Habeck

Cole Habeck is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education at UW-Madison. Cole earned a Bachelor’s degree in Critical Diversity Studies, as well as a Master’s in Human Rights Education, at the University of San Francisco. Prior to joining UW-Madison, Cole worked as a Disability Accommodations Coordinator at Santa Clara University, Office of Accessible Education (OAE), where he acted as a resource to the campus and community at large surrounding topics of disability, compliance, ADA, and Section 504. During his time at the Office of Accessible Education, Cole also served as an advocate for students with disabilities, reviewed disability-related documentation, and conducted intake appointments to complete the interactive process of affording disabled students with accommodations.

As a first-generation, disabled, hard-of-hearing student and individual, Cole is passionate about accessibility, advocacy, disability justice, and educational equity issues. Due in part to his identity and lived experiences, his research has been extensive, including but not limited to examining the factors that contribute to lower success and retention rates among students with disabilities in postsecondary education, analyzing inaccessible special education policies and procedures, evaluating the influence of geographical location on access to K-12 student disability services, and investigating the impact ideologies of normality and the stigmatization of disabilities play in the reproduction of educational inequalities. Cole looks forward to continuing his research on analyzing systemic inequalities affecting students with disabilities at UW-Madison in order to identify solutions and make education more accessible to all students.