Wrriten by John Woodruff, Director of Accessibility Services
I recently attended an ADA webinar recently where I heard – “Compliance is the ground floor.” How true! It reminded me of a one-liner I have used on many occasions when talking to students, parents and faculty - “Access doesn’t guarantee success.” Another truism, but in reality access does not always mean equal. For individual with disabilities, (hidden or visible) having access to an accommodation, a course, or a building for that matter, does not always make it equitable. For example, inaccessible course materials and inaccessible meeting spaces on campus contribute to obstacles preventing the growing population of disabled members of the Rowan community to fully participate in campus life!
A few years ago, we intentionally changed the name of a signature event - Disability Awareness Week to Access & Inclusion Week. For the simple reason, you cannot measure awareness, but you can measure access and inclusion.
With over 2900 students registered with our office for accommodations, we recently changed the name of our office from Disability Resources to Accessibility Services. Our reasoning was to lessen the stigma of the word ‘disability’ and encourage students with ‘hidden disabilities’ such as Depression, Anxiety and PTSD, to know that they would be eligible for classroom, housing and even temporary accommodations.
Although, we proposed the office name change prior to the pandemic, the pivot to remote learning and work from home arrangements shed light on the need for all members of the Rowan community to be more flexible and embrace concepts like universal design. In addition, adopting multiple ways of educating our students and performing efficiently in our jobs be it at home or in the office.
Having a penchant for one-liners, there is another one that comes to mind – “Accommodations level the playing field”. I fully agree, but in my mind, equity guarantees more playing time on the field!
I am encouraged by new and recent initiatives resulting in a more diverse and inclusive campus at Rowan University. For instance, the launch of a Center for Neurodiversity, a new DEI Inclusive Pedagogy and Practice Certificate program, a new Student Accessibility Advisory Council and a PATH program, started two years ago, to support neurodivergent students, alum and parents.
As Rowan University continues to grow, access and equity need to walk hand in hand!
John Woodruff
Accessibility Services
Rowan University
Shortened links (hyperlink):
Office of Accessibility Services
Center for Neurodiversity
Autism PATH Program