Utah's Sachin Pavithran Elected Vice-Chair of the US Access Board

March 19, 2014

  http://www.cpdusu.org/blog/2014/03/pavithran-elected-vice-chair-of-the-u-s-access-board/

Sachin Pavithran

The U.S. Access Board elected Sachin Dev Pavithran to a one-year term as its new vice-chair on March 12. Pavithran, director of the Utah Assistive Technology Program at Utah State University's Center for Persons with Disabilities, was appointed to the Board in late 2012 by President Barack Obama.

There are 25 members on the Access Board, said Pavithran, consisting of 13 appointed members and 12 representatives from federal agencies such as the Departments of Commerce, Education, Labor, Defense, Transportation and Health and Human Services.

This year a federal member, Acting Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitation Services Michael K. Yudin from the Department of Education, was elected chair. Next year, an appointed member will be elected chair. The vice-chair does not automatically become chair the following year, Pavithran said.

Since his appointment, Pavithran has been chair of several Access Board committees, but now he will have to attend each of the 16 or 18 committee meetings and fill in as chair if Yudin is absent. He will also work with the executive board on budget matters and prioritizing issues among the member agencies.

"Everything we do is working on rulemaking and regulatory assessments," Pavithran said. "The Access Board brings agencies together."