1. Provide a justification for the creation of this program. How will this program enhance the curriculum of your department/college and the university? The society and careers for which we prepare our students increasingly require sensitivity to exclusion in work and learning environments. The need for a great range and sophistication of accessibility solutions is frustrated by widespread ignorance about the scope and complexity of disability and simple oblivion to the practical complications of temporary or situational limitations facing individuals and their caregivers. Legislation and court cases demand compliance with standards of universal design in facilities and communication, but inaccessibility remains common problem. It is time to recognize this significant part of our population as one that deserves an academic voice. For this reason, we propose the Accessibility Studies Program, a multidisciplinary unit offering specialized courses and training modules, a professional development certificate, and opportunities for undergraduate and graduate research, service learning, and professional development. Students will gain an applied focus to complement their chosen academic majors that will broaden and deepen their university experience as described in the CWU Core values of access, engagement, and inclusiveness.
2. What specific need(s) is (are) being addressed that is (are) not being met in other programs?
The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed a quarter century ago prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodations, commercial facilities, telecommunications, and state and local government services. Providing adequate accessibility requires the integration of social, physical, and life sciences as well as humanities and education to address difficulties are reported in six categories by the American Community Census: hearing, vision, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care, and independent living. Each of these topics is an academic field which in turn intersect with many others, but there is no comprehensive approach at CWU to study that integration and its practical application with an accessibility perspective. Some pre-professional programs at CWU do include topics of accessibility, but in a narrowly defined context and then often with a reactive rather than proactive perspective. For instance, Human Resources and Marketing in the School of Business, Social Services, Social Work, and Museum Studies in the College of the Sciences, and Special Education, Public Health, and Safety and Health Management in the College of Education and Professional Studies all include some concern for ADA compliance, but the principles of universal design and accessible information are not taught as much as the awareness of federal guidelines for responsibility to prevent accidents and guarantee equitable treatment. Requisite skill sets are addressed in such programs as Graphic Design, Technical and Creative Writing, Non-profit Organization Management, and Communication in the College of Arts and Humanities, but their practical application is not necessarily focused on contexts of accessibility. This may explain why each of the faculty and administrators consulted during a recent ‘listening tour’ all agreed that the proposed Accessibility Studies program certificate would be a welcome enhancement to their students’ curricula, but not a duplication.
3. Document the demand for this program.
According to the US Census Bureau, about 56.7 million people — 19 percent of the population — had a disability in 2010. At CWU alone, over 800 students have registered with Disability Services, and many others do not choose to be so identified. This is half the proportion of the larger population, but it is still greater than any other public institution, confirming the census report that persons with disabilities are less likely to gain a postsecondary education. As the general population becomes increasingly geriatric, there will be even more need as indicated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Disability remains the most common basis of housing discrimination complaints filed with HUD and its partner agencies. Last year alone, HUD received 4,548 disability-related complaints, or nearly 55 percent of all complaints. Thus an important skill set to be gained in this program is the competence to recognize violations of law related to entitlements of persons with disability. There are many jobs requiring skills of analyzing the challenges facing people with disabilities and designing solutions in order to serve them. The CWU Disability Services office has experienced an alarming trend of first training its workers in those skills only to lose them very soon to higher paying careers elsewhere
Competence to recognize issues of compliance with ADA and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act is increasingly valuable to employers. Lawsuits involving disability discrimination claims topped the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s list of litigation in 2015 according to EEOC enforcement data released Feb. 11, 2106. The EEOC expects every employer to have in place policy that tells employees how to request a reasonable accommodation. The EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan highlighted disability-related issues, those priorities include “Eliminating Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring”; Accommodations were the primary “Emerging and Developing Issues.” Managers, who may not understand the implications of their statements, actions or lack of action when dealing with injured, ill or pregnant employees, may increase the risk of litigation for employers. This training should ensure that managers know how to recognize requests for accommodation (or leave under other applicable statutes) and then connect employees to the right person who can assess their needs.
Specialists will be needed to work in a wide variety of industries to ensure that employers are adhering to both existing and new regulations. In addition, technological advances will allow for the use of new machinery, and specialists will be needed to create the machinery, as well as procedures to ensure its safe use. In addition, specialists will be necessary because insurance costs and workers’ compensation costs have become a concern for many employers and insurance companies. An aging population is remaining in the workforce longer than past generations did, and older workers usually have a greater proportion of workers’ compensation claims. Thus there is a documented need for a knowledge base regarding accessibility in all experiential environments.
Developing expertise in the field of compliance is inconsistent across professions. Occupational Health and Safety Specialists inspect workplaces for adherence to regulations on safety, health, and the environment. They also design programs to prevent disease or injury to workers and damage to the environment, but the focus is on liability for physical health and safety from the facilities perspective more than a concern for an individual’s entitlement to full participation in the functions of employment, recreation, learning or other purpose for being in the environment at all from a social justice perspective. Conversely, the technical aspects of designing accessibility is rarely addressed in the business, social science, education and humanities careers that administer many such environments. Broadly stated professional requirements may include the need for effective communication and engagement, but these do not directly address the common if unacknowledged scenarios of barriers to full access. The issue can be reduced to one of granularity. The proposed Accessibility Studies certificate will document a familiarity with the scope of laws and conditions most commonly encountered in public venues of employment, learning, recreation, commerce, and independent living. They may be seen as preparatory for more specialized areas of expertise but nonetheless adequate for compliance expected in routine interaction. National certification efforts are still in development, as seen in the newly formed International Association of Accessibility Professionals.
The following department chairs and program coordinators have indicated their support of the proposed program in the form of recommending its courses to their students.
- Marji Mogan, Chair, Communication
- Rebecca Pearson, Chair, Health Sciences
- Wendie Castillo, Program Director, Special Education
- Craig Revells, Program Director, Public Policy
- Eric Cheney, Chair, Sociology
- Josh Welsh, Program Director, Creative & Professional Writing
- Stephanie Stein, Chair, Psychology
- Ian Loverro, Chair, Curriculum, Supervision, & Educational Leaderhsip
- Kathleen Barlow, Chair, Anthropology
- Denise Shaw, Chair, Learning
- James Avey, Chair, Business Administration
- George Drake, Chair, English
- Gregg Schlanger, Chair, Art
- Stuart Boersma, Chair, Mathematics
- Marji Morgan, Chair, Communication
- Robert Lupton, Chair, ITAM
- Sathy Rajenddran, Program Director, Safety & Health Management
- Patricia Cutright, Dean, Library
- Mark Auslander, Program Director, Museum Studies
- Scott Robinson, Chair, Theatre
- Cesar Garcia, Program Director, Non-Profit Organization Management
Finally, Accessibility Studies Program seeks to be an active partner with Disability Services and other agencies and centers found within the Office of the Dean of Student Success. As with other interdisciplinary programs, Accessibility Studies would participate in public service functions, and the agencies on campus could serve as meaningful placements for cooperative education and internships. However, the primary purpose to seek such active partnership is to exploit the expertise evident in the current practical applications of all dimensions of accessibility necessary for all students to be fully engaged in the learning and living environment that is CWU.
- Scott Carlton, Director, Academic Advising
- Ruben Cardenas, Director, Veterans Center
- Wendy Holden, Director, Disability Services
- Chris Schedler, Director, Multimodal Learning
- Bruce Simpson, Employer Outreach Liaison, Career Services
- Gretchen Hill, Director, Cooperative Education
- Mel Palm, Director, Extended Learning
