Kari Hirst helps PVCC Students Succeed

Meet Kari Hirst, director of Student Accessibility and Accommodations. She helps students with last names start with the letters R-Z who have disabilities like autism and impaired hearing become successful college students. She also helps nursing students.

She said, “Students should feel comfortable reaching out to the Office of Student Accessibility and Accommodations as early as possible in their academic career at PVCC. They are also welcome to reach out as needs arise or change.”

Her office is in the PVCC Main Building in Room 136A. Her office is very comfortable and beautiful, with lamps for soft lighting, cushioned chairs, and art on the walls. The art throughout her room consists of a purple clock made in Prague, Czech Republic, and a fabric reproduction of one of Monet’s water lily paintings. Much of her office decor comes from her love of traveling and art. She also has fidget toys and candy to share with students who visit her office. Her desk is pretty minimalistic but has an Eiffel Tower lamp and a photo of the Winged Victory statue from the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

Her reason for wanting to work as a disabilities service director was because she took psychology classes in high school and was fascinated by how the brain works. She then studied psychology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where she got a bachelor of arts with a major in psychology. She then went to the University of Maryland, Baltimore where she got her master’s degree in social work. She then worked for the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) for 13 years.

Hirst became a licensed clinical social worker and therapist working for DARS and helped people in high school and college. She worked to help students at many county schools in central Virginia like William Monroe in Greene County, high schools in the Charlottesville and Albemarle area, along with the Fluvanna County High School, Louisa County High School, and even special education schools like Ivy Creek and Keys Academy.

Hirst was inspired to work at PVCC because she likes to help young adults. She met Susan Hannifan, the previous disabilities services counselor, when having a meeting at PVCC with her and a student they both worked with while Hirst worked at DARS. Afterwards, she wanted to have one of Hannifan’s roles when she retired. Hirst has worked at PVCC since Hannifan retired after the spring semester of 2022.

Hirst said, “I have enjoyed really being at PVCC and the community with the faculty and staff here and enjoy working with students every day.”

To contact Hirst, email her at khirst@pvcc.edu or call her at (434) 961-5281.