Title: Accommodations for Campus Guests
Members: Dr. Nick Fuentes (team leader), Renée Fuentes, Angela Portillo, and Lisa Racine
About: º£½ÇÉçÇø Channel Islands (º£½ÇÉçÇøCI) does an excellent job managing student, faculty, and staff disability accommodations, but lacks a clear accommodation protocol for guests to campus events. Our team investigated ways to address the issue so the University can create a similar accessible and equitable experience for guests on the campus.
Summary of Findings:
- Disconnect between the expectations of the apex concerning accommodations the resources and knowledge provided to the midlevel staff to execute them. This disconnect leads to last-minute solutions being inappropriately executed and financed by the midlevel parties who are tasked with providing student, staff, and faculty accommodation on campus.
- Universal accessibility is embraced and expected by the University, but the resources for most individuals in the midlevel to deliver universal accessibility are not present or fully realized.
- Inconsistent messaging to community guests from campus departments hosting events, lack of communication from event hosts to current midlevel service providers, and lack of clear responsibility for funding and funding sources for campus guest accommodations contribute to confusion and frustration for º£½ÇÉçÇøCI employees and University guests.
- Other smaller schools in the º£½ÇÉçÇø system have a similar event accommodation issue. Larger schools, both state and private, with a fiscal interest in guest satisfaction have established best practices for guests requiring disability accommodation.
Summary of Recommendations:
- Further research into the need for, and feasibility of, a new position description
for an individual responsible for event-based and third-party disability accommodations.
This position description may also include other duties related to compliance. Identify
and consult with any º£½ÇÉçÇø campuses with similar positions.
- Status Update: A position description has been written and classified for this work. With the campus hiring chill, the position remains on hold but is ready for recruitment when funding permits.
- Convene a committee of campus accessibility partners to review the campus’ current
timelines, processes, and procedures that relate to the physical º£½ÇÉçÇøCI campus, and
make recommendations for improvements.
- Status Update: The existing campus Accessibility Committee consists of representatives from specialized units across the campus, with a focus on the following subcommittees: Events, Administrative, Capital Projects, and Classroom Accessibility. Through this committee’s work, content specialists are able to convene routinely to address various accessibility issues, as well as implement recommendations for improvement. The committee will reconvene for the 2024-25 AY with a revitalized charge and will also review the recommendations from this process and develop strategies to address the findings.
- Research the cost associated with purchasing items that may be utilized to provide
common disability accommodations for event guests such as wheelchairs, ramps, and
specialized wheelchair-accessible golf carts.
- Status Update: A comprehensive budget quote has been requested from University Events related to the items referenced above (quantity, brand, etc.). A determination will then be made regarding what items may be purchased this FY, and what items may need to be purchased in the future. Once items are available for general reservation, communication will be sent to the campus community.
- Consult with the Chancellor’s Office and other relevant governmental compliance officers
to identify the best practices as they relate to training for employees concerning
ADA compliance and universal design.
- Status Update: Not yet started.
- Review current event planning process to include consultation about and reconsideration
of campus guest accommodations and universal accessibility.
- Status Update: A full review of the campus guest accommodations and universal accessibility process is underway, which includes the incorporation of additional efficiencies, such as: creating a centralized funding source for all guest accommodations, the exploration of creating single vendor POs, etc.
We hope these actions will ensure accessibility at º£½ÇÉçÇøCI is no longer compliance-driven but becomes the responsibility of the entire campus. Such a shift in culture that sees disability accommodation as a social justice issue and that creating a compassionate and universally accessible community is everybody’s business.
Click here to read our full report. (, 273 K)