University accessibility information will be accessible to all tonight.
The President’s Advisory Council on Disability and Accessibility Planning will host a public forum from 6-8 tonight in Baker University Center Ballroom A.
The forum is open to community members, faculty and students and is an opportunity to “share with the public what we’re doing and what we’re trying to create,” said Laura Myers, executive director of the Office for Institutional Equity.
OU President Roderick McDavis relaunched the council earlier this year. It comprises faculty, students and administrators. The first thing on the council’s agenda is to create a document addressing access concerns at the university.
“We want to address the access of academics and physical access as well as Web presence and the campus climate,” Myers said. “We want to know what it’s like to go to school and work here.”
The document will identify prioritized areas of need and give it to the university with suggestions for change. The council hopes to provide this plan to administration by January 2013.
The public forum will allow attendees to contribute to the request for changes.
“This is one of the methods to gather information, to gather feedback from students, city and staff to find out areas of need when it comes to accessibility,” Myers said.
The document will identify areas of need that will improve accessibility on campus for years to come.
“We need to think about where OU will be in 10 to 20 years,” Myers said. “We need to be thinking where we want to go. We know the population is getting older. People are more likely to live longer with more serious conditions and be able to go to school. We want them to be able to continue to go to school and work here.”
sj950610@ohiou.edu
