How accessible are USU, Cache Valley?
It takes more than just wheelchair ramps to make an institution handicap accessible.
That is the message from disabled students and the administrators at Utah State University who manage programs intended to make USU accessible to students with disabilities.
“People need to think beyond simple access to wheelchair ramps or elevators,” said Diane Hardman, director of the USU Disability Resource Center (DRC). “Blind students need Braille materials, which sometimes aren’t available. Learning disabled students have special needs. Also, there are subtle ways people sometimes treat disabled people as if they are somehow less than (them).”
In terms of access to campus facilities, USU gets fairly high marks. Most buildings on campus are accessible, and administrators will move classrooms if a student cannot get to a class. However, some buildings are old and difficult to use. The Agricultural Science building is notorious among students in wheelchairs for its antiquated freight elevator. The Animal Science building also has an elevator that is small and hard to use.
Even in buildings with new facilities, sometimes disabled students have difficulty accessing elevators. Kim Ryan, a junior majoring in social work who gets around campus on a mechanized scooter, said sometimes students are unaware of the importance of elevators to disabled students.
“In general, people are great. But the one thing that upsets me is that sometimes the elevators are full of people and no one will get out to make room. Most people could walk, but some of us need the elevators to get where we have to go,” Ryan said.
Bill Bower, a junior environmental studies major who has cognitive disabilities stemming from a head injury, echoed the idea that awareness of issues facing disabled students is one of the most important aspects in making the campus accessible and safe.
“One time, I was taking a blind student around campus. We were walking through the Bookstore and there was a basket hanging about head-high. I walked past, but he smacked right into it. I just mention that to illustrate that often people don’t think of the special needs of disabled students,” Bower said.
Bower also noted that some students seem to believe the myth that disabled students are stupid or receive unfair advantages.
“One time in the computer lab, a friend was helping me type, which is really hard for me. I overheard someone say, ‘I wish I had a good-looking girl to do my typing for me.’ I thought that was in bad taste. I have constraints on what I can do, but I still have to prove that I do all my own work,” Bower said.
According to Hardman, USU has worked hard with help from the city of Logan to make sure disabled students can get around campus, but some areas require almost constant vigilance.
“Crumbling sidewalks are very dangerous, not just for students in wheelchairs who could actually get thrown out of their chairs, but (also for) blind students. We try to stay on top of those things, but often a student has to bring it to our attention,” Hardman said.
Hardman also mentioned that the DRC can’t always meet every request. As an example, she said that due to budgetary or time constraints, a student may have to settle for a note-taker instead of a stenographer, who types everything a teacher says. She said under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the responsibility of USU and the DRC is to provide access to the classroom and the class material.
According to April Winters, who got her bachelor’s degree in horticulture from USU in 1998, some areas of accessibility on campus are improving.
“When I was a student, the greenhouse wasn’t accessible, but I’ve heard that the new greenhouse is totally accessible, with low benches and everything,” Winters said.
Most handicapped students at USU seem to agree the system ensuring access isn’t perfect, but it works.
“I think overall USU and the DRC do a really good job given the budgetary constraints,” Bowers said.