Collaborating for Inclusion: Castleton University's Disability Access Committee
Castleton University, a small public university in rural Vermont, USA, has made great strides in their journey to disability inclusion by embracing concepts of universal design, and embodying its tagline of being, “the small school with the big heart”. While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates a minimum standard for access in universities, Castleton’s continued commitment to inclusion takes their approach beyond compliance and towards transformation.
Good coordination between different departments at the university is key to creating an enabling environment. This need birthed the Disability Access Committee, a consortium of individuals from departments focusing on every aspect of the student experience. Gerry Volpe, the Coordinator of Disability Services explains:
“It pulls together folks from public safety, facilities, student life, faculty, administration, with myself, and then we can all as a team address barriers to inclusion that come up. The role of the committee is to make sure that everyone has access.”
In the last six years, the university has addressed many of the accessibility challenges that come from being located on a historic campus, with buildings built dating back to the schools’ founding in 1787, but when there is a challenge, the group is able to come together and problem solve. This collaboration has enabled the committee to formulate an accessibility “wish list” allowing these items to be effectively budgeted for and purchased.
“The committee has made sure that we are all aware of our accessibility priorities and as a result, when the lecture halls were retrofitted, assistive listening devices were included from the start that we met all accessibility standards.”
In the future, the committee hopes to include these same devices in the theater on campus. The work of the Disability Access Committee doesn’t stop at tearing down infrastructural barriers.
“If a technical or access barrier comes up, then I have that group in one place, and we can solve it”.
The snowy Vermont winters pose one of these accessibility challenges, highlighting the need for this collaborative problem-solving.
“What we’ve done in the past during the winter when a student had a mobility challenge, I would work with that student, and make facilities had their class schedule. On a snowy day, I would email and remind facilities that we need to clear the paths to the student’s classes as a priority.”
The committee’s efforts have also facilitated a change to the university’s website to make it more accessible to all learners.
The future for disability inclusion is bright on campus because the Disability Access Committee is committed to continuing the search for newer, and better solutions to make Castleton even more accessible overtime.
