Spotlight Series: Cindy Cook

On a campus dedicated to fostering inclusion and supporting all students, few embody the spirit of determination and advocacy as fully as Cindy Cook, Senior Coordinator of the Student Accessibility Services Department at Palo Alto College. Since joining the PAC family, Cindy has dedicated her career to ensuring that students with disabilities have the tools, resources, and encouragement they need to succeed.

Her journey to PAC was anything but conventional. After a layoff from a career in customer service, Cindy used her severance package to return to school. Cindy’s initial PAC experience was as a work-study student, a role she held while earning her AAS degree in 2004. Encouraged by an advisor, she completed a Bachelor of Applied Science at Texas A&M University-San Antonio in 2006. Her experiences as a student and her deep connection to the PAC community sparked a passion for education and service that would guide her career.

“I fell in love with the PAC environment, and I was determined to come back and serve here,” Cindy says. And serve she has.

After working briefly in the Gateway to College Program, Cindy found her place in the Student Accessibility Services office. Now overseeing the department, she helps students with disabilities navigate their academic journey by providing accommodations and resources designed to set them up for success, regardless of their challenges.

One of the common obstacles Cindy sees is that many students feel too self-conscious or scared to reach out for support. Cindy’s mission is to break down these barriers, educating students about their rights and needs while instilling the confidence to advocate for themselves.

"I’m here to help students learn what tools they need and how to communicate those needs,” she explains. “A huge part of my role is ensuring that students understand their disability and how it affects their learning so that they can ask for what will help them succeed.”

In addition to supporting students, Cindy works closely with PAC faculty and staff to ensure they understand and effectively implement accommodation requests. Through this collaborative approach, she ensures that accommodations are not only met but fully integrated into the student’s educational journey.

Cindy is also instrumental in expanding the resources available to students, including interpreting services and reading software that assists students with reading comprehension. Most recently, her team received training to create Braille textbooks for visually impaired students using Alamo Colleges equipment located at the San Antonio College campus. As the campus continues to grow its commitment to inclusion, Cindy remains focused on ensuring all students have access to the tools and resources needed to succeed.

This is especially evident in her work with Project Access, a program she helped create from the ground up. Project Access is designed to support students with intellectual disabilities and guide them toward a successful transition into the workforce with certificates that make them marketable to employers. 

"To see students who never thought they could go to college come on to our campus and succeed; it’s incredibly rewarding," Cindy says. "When they walk across that stage, it’s a testament to their hard work and the power of support and advocacy."

She is now working to expand Project Access and forge partnerships with local organizations to create a job pipeline for program graduates. Having seen these students’ success firsthand, she is eager to see more of them transition into fulfilling careers.

As she continues to improve opportunities for all students at PAC, Cindy lives by her motto: “There is always a way to help our students.” She encourages her colleagues to adopt this mindset, believing that, with collaboration and determination, no student’s potential should ever be limited by their challenges.

With her unwavering dedication and her heart for service, Cindy Cook is an invaluable asset to Palo Alto College and a true champion for student accessibility and advocacy.