Focusing on ADA challenges 

A year ago, a group of University of Houston students with disabilities signed and submitted a petition to the Chancellor’s Office detailing where the university can improve conditions for students with disabilities. 

Improving the sidewalks and ramps in the center of campus was among the many concerns in the petition. 

The University Safety and Accessibility Committee, whose purpose is to address concerns from students and how they deal with architectural barriers, met with some of the students shortly after the petition was received. 

The group toured the areas of concern with Facilities Planner Tom Brents. He listened intently to the issues described and took note of the accessibility challenges impacting student, faculty, and staff safety. 

“If you’re an able body person, you’re not going to have a realization of how difficult it is to get around campus,” said Brents. “So having those students’ input was very beneficial. It kind of opened everybody’s eyes that there’s some real concerns here on campus, and we need to be addressing them in a reasonable pace and approach.” 

After the tour, Facilities then set forth on a path to resolve the student concerns and started by using the guidelines found in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The department set a scope and established a budget, and over the past 12 months, many of the sidewalk and ramp projects were completed. 

Facilities/Construction Management chairs the Maintenance Project Evaluation Committee that sets aside funds each fiscal year to help improve accessibility on campus. 

“There’s more that we need to address that we’ve discovered on campus,” said Brents. 

Addressing students' concerns is one initiative of how Facilities/Construction Management is working with the campus community to improve accessibility on campus.