Chappell-Williams

Are assistive listening devices available for lectures on campus? Do you need a special permit for handicap-accessible parking spaces? What services are available for faculty and staff members with disabilities? Answers to such questions can be found on the university's disability Web page at http://www.cornell.edu/disability/, one of several university initiatives launched since the 1990s to address issues that individuals with disabilities face.

Haenlin-Mott

Since 2000 the university has established three departments -- the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality (WDELQ), Medical Leaves Administration and Student Disability Services -- and added a disability coordinator position in Facilities Maintenance Management to advance disability issues on campus. These four offices work to provide disability accommodations for faculty, staff, students and visitors to the university; address physical accessibility needs; and provide education regarding disability issues.

Fahey

In 2004 the university ramped up its efforts by convening a task force to explore what more the university could do for individuals with disabilities. Two recommendations emerged: Create a Web page on disability issues and develop a strategic plan to guide the university in addressing disability issues. The Web page was launched in 2007.

To jump-start the strategic planning process and develop shared responsibility in evaluating, monitoring and planning the delivery of disability access, an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator Team has been formed, comprising Lynette Chappell-Williams, director of WDELQ; Katherine "Kappy" Fahey, director of Student Disability Services; and Andrea Haenlin-Mott, ADA coordinator for facility services. The group has drafted a framework for the strategic plan, which has been approved by an executive oversight committee.

"We wanted to ensure broad representation of students, staff and faculty in the formation of this plan right from the beginning, because once developed, the strategic plan will help us prioritize our actions," said Haenlin-Mott. "The plan is being developed to continue our ongoing efforts to comply with federal, state and local disability laws so that the university will continue to receive federal and state funds. It will also promote Cornell's policy and its philosophy of inclusiveness."

Noted Fahey, "In Student Disability Services, we work with students with a broad range of conditions whose disabilities impact them in various aspects of student life, including academics, housing and transportation. Many of the students we accommodate do not have obvious disabilities."

The strategic plan will focus on six key areas:

1. The physical campus: To evaluate and prioritize paths of travel, accessible restrooms and elevators, signage, building renovations, transportation and accessible academic program space.

2. Education programs and services: To identify procedures to provide disability accommodations and examine policies to ensure nondiscrimination in education programs and training.

3. Communication: To design public communication materials for accessibility by persons with disabilities, to convert communications to alternate formats upon request and to represent persons with disabilities in communication materials.

4. Employment: To ensure that information on the process for requesting disability services and employment accommodations is widely disseminated to faculty, staff and student employees.

5. Technology: To make Web publications compatible with standard adaptive software for accessibility; provide captioning or other alternatives for television and video; make assistive listening devices available in large lecture halls; evaluate electronic building access technology for accessibility; and equip campus labs with assistive software.

6. Emergency planning: To develop department plans to evacuate faculty, staff, students and visitors with disabilities from buildings in an emergency.

Six teams of Cornell faculty, staff and students will develop and implement plans to address these priority areas, with the ADA Coordinator Team serving in an advisory role. The teams will be headed by Haenlin-Mott (physical access), Michele Moody-Adams and Fahey (education), Alan Mittman (employment), Mike Powers (communication), Barbara Freidman (technology) and Peggy Matta (emergency preparedness/evacuation). In March, the teams will begin meeting to develop the strategic plan.