Spring Break
Make Homewood accessible
Issue date: 4/3/08
Conducting sophisticated, original research that penetrates the transcendent social and political challenges of our time is certainly this University's strength. And, unsurprisingly, our administrators love to talk about it (especially in front of donors). They take the research this University's social and natural scientists conduct seriously, and so they should.
But the University seems decidedly less enthused when students conduct that research, and when their findings are about the University itself.
Such is the case when it comes to making this campus more accessible to people with disabilities. Student researchers concluded in the fall that a number of buildings and other spaces on this campus are inaccessible and, at worst, treacherous for disabled persons. Some of the research teams even alleged that certain University buildings failed to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Administrators have promised to take these students' findings seriously, and remedy one of this University's most egregious transgressions. They have created an Office of Student Disability Services and appointed a director who is experienced and seems earnest about his task.
But the University's efforts cannot stop there. Working with disabled students on an individual basis is certainly a valuable service, but there are broader and more systemic problems involving disability access on this campus that the University must address. The Office of Student Disability Services has neither the funding nor the mandate to confront these problems and develop long-term strategies to correct them. It should.
This is not merely a lofty prescriptive ideal - it is based on empirical data collected thoughtfully and assiduously by student researchers. The administration has met to discuss the issue with the professor overseeing the project, but it now needs to take the next step toward actualizing vague affirmations of responsibility.
The University must give the Office of Student Disability Services the staff, resources and authority needed to develop a long-term program for identifying and remedying problems with disability access on campus. It is not just a moral imperative, but an opportunity for the University to show that it takes student research (and self-evaluation) seriously.
But the University seems decidedly less enthused when students conduct that research, and when their findings are about the University itself.
Such is the case when it comes to making this campus more accessible to people with disabilities. Student researchers concluded in the fall that a number of buildings and other spaces on this campus are inaccessible and, at worst, treacherous for disabled persons. Some of the research teams even alleged that certain University buildings failed to comply with the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Administrators have promised to take these students' findings seriously, and remedy one of this University's most egregious transgressions. They have created an Office of Student Disability Services and appointed a director who is experienced and seems earnest about his task.
But the University's efforts cannot stop there. Working with disabled students on an individual basis is certainly a valuable service, but there are broader and more systemic problems involving disability access on this campus that the University must address. The Office of Student Disability Services has neither the funding nor the mandate to confront these problems and develop long-term strategies to correct them. It should.
This is not merely a lofty prescriptive ideal - it is based on empirical data collected thoughtfully and assiduously by student researchers. The administration has met to discuss the issue with the professor overseeing the project, but it now needs to take the next step toward actualizing vague affirmations of responsibility.
The University must give the Office of Student Disability Services the staff, resources and authority needed to develop a long-term program for identifying and remedying problems with disability access on campus. It is not just a moral imperative, but an opportunity for the University to show that it takes student research (and self-evaluation) seriously.
Be the first to comment on this story