Queen’s Law staff member honoured for work with students with disabilities

Photo by Michael Onesi

2010 Steve Cutway Accessibility Award recipients Helen Connop of Queen's Law and Michele Chittenden of Queen's Library Services with Steve Cutway (middle) at the ceremony in Richardson Hall on April 9.

Helen Connop, the Law Faculty’s Manager of Education and Equity Services, received a 2010 Steve Cutway Accessibility Award on April 9. The award, presented by Queen’s Principal Daniel Woolf, recognizes outstanding contributions from faculty and staff towards advancing accessibility for persons with disabilities at the University.

“Helen shows remarkable sensitivity to the needs of students and is known for her personal efforts to assist anyone who comes to her for support or guidance,” said Woolf at the awards ceremony. “Her dedication to removing or overcoming barriers is blatantly obvious to anyone seeing her in action, doing all this while paying close attention to a student’s need for confidentiality and privacy.”

Since joining Queen’s Law in 2000, Connop has made a significant contribution to the Faculty’s Education Equity Program, an invaluable resource to many law students, but especially to those with disabilities.

“Helen is creative, innovative and is unendingly confident that a solution can be found,” wrote one of her nominators. “I was blessed the day I walked into her office for without her assistance, motivation and encouragement, I say without reservation that I would not be graduating [this year].”

Connop also serves as a trusted resource for faculty members seeking guidance on a broad range of disability and equity-related matters.

“I'm honoured to be a recipient of this award,” Connop says, “and grateful to be working with such amazing students, staff and faculty at Queen’s Law.”

Established in 2009 by the Queen’s Accessibility Committee in partnership with the students’ AMS Accessibility Queen’s, the award marked the retirement of Steve Cutway, Artsci ‘72, a long-serving employee who is blind and who had made a generous commitment to advancing accessibility for students and fellow employees with disabilities.

“This Cutway Award is a wonderful tribute to Helen's skill and dedication, and her personal commitment to assisting our students with special needs, including those with disabilities,” says Dean Bill Flanagan.