Campus makes facilities equally accessible
By Courtney Houpt
Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: News
The office for students with disabilities has recently formed a committee to make the campus more accessible to people with disabilities.
Enacted in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was designed to give people with disabilities equal opportunities to benefit from governmental programs, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Web site.
The current university administration wants the university to be a welcoming campus that can accommodate students of all backgrounds and lifestyles, Michelle Rigler, director of the office for students with disabilities, said.
The committee is made up of 30 members, both faculty and students, Rigler said.
Committee members are from various departments of the campus, not only the office for students with disabilities.
This, according to Rigler, is to make the committee more of a university-owned program, rather than a departmental one.
Leslie Harms, student services coordinator for the office for students with disabilities, said that this new committee's focus right now is on the physical accessibility of the campus.
"There was a sort of grace period after the ADA was enacted for buildings to make themselves more accessible to those with disabilities, and our committee is now going back to some of the changes that were made in 1994 as a response to the law," Harms said.
"We want to make sure that those changes are still effective, and we also are trying to get involved in the construction of the new buildings on campus," Harms said.
In addition to making the campus as physically accessible as possible, the ADA committee is concerned with making sure that all departmental programs that the university offers are equally accessible to students who may have disabilities, according to Harms.
"We are going to each department and checking out policies and procedures to ensure not only that the departments are accessible for the students, but also that the departments know where to obtain helpful resources."
According to Rigler, approximately 500 students are registered with the office. She said the national average of students with disabilities on college campuses is between 12 and 13 percent.
The office for students with disabilities has been in existence since the ADA was enacted, but Rigler said that the office has grown over the past three years. Rigler said the office is known state-wide and nationally as a very good generalist program.
"To be a generalist program means that we are equipped to assist students with any sort of disability, physical or mental, instead of only serving a specific area," Rigler said.
Enacted in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was designed to give people with disabilities equal opportunities to benefit from governmental programs, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Web site.
The current university administration wants the university to be a welcoming campus that can accommodate students of all backgrounds and lifestyles, Michelle Rigler, director of the office for students with disabilities, said.
The committee is made up of 30 members, both faculty and students, Rigler said.
Committee members are from various departments of the campus, not only the office for students with disabilities.
This, according to Rigler, is to make the committee more of a university-owned program, rather than a departmental one.
Leslie Harms, student services coordinator for the office for students with disabilities, said that this new committee's focus right now is on the physical accessibility of the campus.
"There was a sort of grace period after the ADA was enacted for buildings to make themselves more accessible to those with disabilities, and our committee is now going back to some of the changes that were made in 1994 as a response to the law," Harms said.
"We want to make sure that those changes are still effective, and we also are trying to get involved in the construction of the new buildings on campus," Harms said.
In addition to making the campus as physically accessible as possible, the ADA committee is concerned with making sure that all departmental programs that the university offers are equally accessible to students who may have disabilities, according to Harms.
"We are going to each department and checking out policies and procedures to ensure not only that the departments are accessible for the students, but also that the departments know where to obtain helpful resources."
According to Rigler, approximately 500 students are registered with the office. She said the national average of students with disabilities on college campuses is between 12 and 13 percent.
The office for students with disabilities has been in existence since the ADA was enacted, but Rigler said that the office has grown over the past three years. Rigler said the office is known state-wide and nationally as a very good generalist program.
"To be a generalist program means that we are equipped to assist students with any sort of disability, physical or mental, instead of only serving a specific area," Rigler said.
