Among college officials, it's widely known that many campus
facilities do not comply with standards for accessibility
required by the Americans With Disabilities Act. Most colleges
focus on the issue when they are adding new facilities or when
they receive complaints from students or employees.
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The U.S. Justice Department has become interested in the issue,
however, and some colleges may be experiencing more scrutiny
than they are used to about the ADA. The department this week
announced a settlement
(http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=69342)
in which the University of Chicago has pledged to make a series
of improvements in facilities over the next four years and to
regularly report its progress. The university denied the
Justice Department's contention that it was violating the law,
but agreed to make the changes nonetheless.
Chicago may soon have company. Its review was focused on Title
III of the ADA (http://www.ada.gov/t3hilght.htm), which
deals primarily with facilities. About 10 other colleges are
currently undergoing similar reviews, according to Cynthia
Magnuson, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department's civil
rights division. To date, only the Chicago review, which has
been completed, has been announced.
Magnuson said that the reviews have not necessarily been
prompted by specific complaints — and Chicago officials stated
that their review was not prompted by a complaint.
But Magnuson described the review process as "not random" and
said that institutions are selected for reviews because "we're
aware of certain problems." Department officials hope that the
reviews will lead to improvements not only at the institutions
being studied, but more generally in higher education, she
said.
The compliance agreement with Chicago notes that the university
must make improvements both in older and newer facilities
(and meet those standards for any that are constructed in the
future), and suggests that considerable work may be necessary.
Among the tasks cited by the Justice Department for Chicago
are:
- Changing elements of facilities — including doors, restrooms,
signage and entrances — that act as barriers for people with
disabilities.
- Ensuring that all buildings and facilities in which programs
are offered to the public and students meet accessibility standards.
- Creating systems for changing facilities or moving events if
a person with a disability registers for an event.
- Reviewing and possibly changing evacuation procedures and transportation services.
- Ensuring that 3 percent of units (and adjoining bathrooms) in
dormitories are accessible to people with disabilities and
that a "reasonable number" of housing units have first floor
common areas and bathrooms that could be used by visitors
with disabilities.
A spokesman for the University of Chicago said that the
institution is currently trying to figure out how much all the
changes will cost. The spokesman stressed that many Chicago
facilities are already in compliance with the law.
The Justice Department's new emphasis is something colleges
need to watch, said Sheldon E. Steinbach, vice president and
general counsel at the American Council on Education. "This
seems to be new. It's possible that the department is looking
to more aggressively enforce ADA," he said.
If the Justice Department does start to look at more colleges,
Steinbach said that he thinks many institutions could be facing
very large bills to pay for changes. Institutions in urban
areas and older colleges are "particularly vulnerable," he
added.
The irony, Steinbach said, is that most colleges have been
working very hard on their own to make campuses more accessible
and welcoming to students with disabilities, but much of the
activity has taken place on a case-by-case basis. "We were
doing this long before ADA," he said.
Richard Allegra, associate executive director of the
Association on Higher Education and Disability, said that he
welcomed an increased emphasis on complying with the ADA. "If
a college is going to say that we are here to educate the
students, and there are barriers to some students," he said,
"they are not meeting their mission."
— Scott Jaschik
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