From Vol. 90, Ed. 08 May 2, 2024
Accessibility on university campuses is necessary to foster an inclusive and equitable community for students with disabilities. Though WCU promotes an environment of diversity and inclusivity, there are still shortcomings in the university’s accessibility isolating disabled students.
Of the 766 students registered with WCU’s Office of Accessibility Resources (OAR) in the fall of 2023, 38 were registered with mobility impairment. Reports of accessible features not working, such as elevators and automatic doors went unanswered, making these students feel overlooked.
A student, who wanted to remain anonymous due to the discussion surrounding their disability, feels excluded from daily privileges that their peers don’t have to worry about.
“A main struggle on campus is the number of stairs without ramp options and elevators being out of order,” they said.
The automatic door to the residence hall they live in has been malfunctioning all semester, according to the student. “I’ve tried talking to RAs about it, but no one really seems to care.”
The student-run organization Accessibility Western advocates for the ease of access for students. Their president, Logan Schwab, a third-year recreational therapy major, guides the club in their mission to educate WCU’s community and creating a safe space for students, faculty and staff.
“Accessibility Western is a club dedicated to looking at what accessibility looks like on campus,” said Schwab. “It’s the ease of access for other people, specifically people with disabilities, injuries, and illnesses, acute and long-term.”
Accessibility Western was created by students who noticed the accessibility issues around campus. The founders also realized the unique accessibility issues that come with a university campus located in the mountains.
For many disabled students, on-campus housing presents multiple unique issues such as the extra cost for accessible rooms and the accessibility of specific residence halls.
“Have you taken a wheelchair up to Allen? You can’t,” Schwab said. “There are no ramps, there are stairs that are uneven, and the railing is missing in some areas. There are blind spots, there’s some sidewalk and so if you’re a student with a physical disability, specifically a mobility-affected disability you’re going to experience a really hard time getting up to that dorm.”
WCU offers the Office of Accessibility Resources (OAR) as campus-wide service that provides accommodations for students with disabilities and supports the rights of students. OAR is a direct product of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Their mission is to ensure students have equal access to the university’s opportunities and programs.
While OAR faculty do their best to advocate for accessibility, their requests will often go unattended for weeks at a time. President of OAR Wesley Satterwhite worked this year to ensure better communication with faculty.
“Our office has done some training and department meetings. I’ve also done some webinars geared towards faculty about accessibility and accommodations,” she said.
To ensure success for students, Satterwhite also aims to educate students.
“We have a goal of creating a webinar for incoming students to be able to gain more information and orient them specifically to our office,” she said.
OAR hosts a table at the orientation fair to reach incoming students, but for Satterwhite this does n
ot feel like enough. “My goal is to really try to reach more students with information about our office and how it operates,” Satterwhite said.
Dorm rooms that are designed to meet the needs of student
s with disabilities or illness, both temporary and permanent, are known as ADA rooms. WCU offers no additional information about ADA rooms, however students need to know the dimensions of ADA rooms, the layouts and accessible features, to determine which dorm will be best for them.
OAR is not consulted in the planning of new buildings or construction on campus until the blueprints have already been drawn out.
“Our really nice Apodaca building – which is beautiful and costs a lot of money – doesn’t have the best accessibility features,” Satterwhite said. “The elevator that goes to all floors is way on one end and the ramp for the entrance is kind of off to the side as if it’s a second thought.”
Satterwhite feels that the voices of disabled students being excluded during construction planning leads to accessibility falling short.
“I believe they are building things that are minimally compliant, but I wouldn’t say that they’re the most accessible.”
SGA senator Knox Hambleton is also doing what he can to prioritize increasing accessibility on campus. As the chair of the Safety and Accessibility Committee for the 100th session of SGA, he helped ensure the installment of automatic door-opening mechanisms in Judaculla Hall.
Hambleton will remain on the Safety and Accessibility committee next semester.
“I have a few project ideas for next year, including a proposal for WCU to hire an Accessibility or ADA Coordinator to better manage the accessibility of campus facilities,” he said.
Hambleton highly recommends those who have ideas on how to improve campus attend SGA Senate meetings at 6 p.m. on Mondays in the UC Multipurpose room.
Students who see or experience issues regarding accessibility are encouraged to report them to OAR through the WCU website on the Academic Services page. They can also be reached by email at accessibility@email.wcu.edu.
