In partnership with all eight of Mississippi’s public universities and the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees has launched an ADA and Accessibility Task Force. The task force will engage in a 10-month project to increase support for students with disabilities across Mississippi’s public universities.
The task force plans to begin its work this month and complete it by June 2024, when the group will make official recommendations for increasing accessibility services at its universities.
Members of the task force representing UM are Director of Student Disability Services Stacey Reycraft, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance Steven Holley and ASB President Sara Austin Welch. The task force will uphold the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, which guarantees that people with disabilities have equal opportunities to able-bodied people in all aspects of public life.
Welch expressed how much of an honor it was to be selected for the IHL initiative.
“My role on the task force is to represent the IHL’s President Council,” Welch said. “It is an extraordinary opportunity to not only be representing my peers at the University of Mississippi, but to also be representing students from each public institution in Mississippi.”
Although the task force has not yet begun working together, the group has plans to improve accessibility across various aspects of university life. Welch believes that this project will be influential in changing university life.
“This task force is incredibly important to all public universities in Mississippi, as the research conducted and findings could determine several things for our universities,” Welch said.
Junior acting major Finn Van Horn expressed how he believed the task force will be beneficial to students with disabilities.
“Problems that might seem small to able-bodied people can have a much bigger impact on the lives of those with disabilities,” Van Horn said. “We now have people looking specifically for these problems who also have the power to solve them.”
Projects to make the university more accessible are already in motion on campus. An accessibility ramp is in the process of being installed at Farley Hall, which houses the School of Journalism and New Media.
“We also have elevators in the building, but sometimes these are under maintenance. So, the ramp just increases options and access points for our community,” Andrea Hickerson, School of Journalism and New Media dean, said. “Making sure Farley is accessible and convenient to all is extremely important to us.”
The project began in mid-August and it is expected to be completed before the end of the semester.
