The exceptionally detailed agreement reached Wednesday by Duke and the U.S. Department of Justice wrapped up years of negotiations about campus accessibility, but much of the University's work lies ahead.
The 29-page document resolves the 1996 complaint filed by a then-student who argued that Duke had not made the campus accessible to people in wheelchairs. Under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, private institutions with public accommodations must be accessible to people with physical disabilities.
The agreement lays out a clear timetable for several million dollars of improvements ranging from building ramps to adding accessible water fountains and vending machines. It also requires Duke to perform exhaustive surveys of its current accommodations within 180 days and to submit the assessments to the Justice Department for further review.
In addition to paying the government $25,000 and $7,500 to the complainant, the University must also submit progress reports on completed work. "This is a very comprehensive approach to accessibility issues University-wide, and it gives us the opportunity to make some real progress," said Mary Franks, director of programs for persons with disabilities. "This is a multi-year commitment, and... the proposals that will be implemented will serve the University well in the coming years."
In the short term, administrators will focus on making sure students with disabilities can park on campus, navigate its paths, access most buildings and use facilities once inside. 'This settlement agreement and the ongoing negotiations have taken place over a couple of years," said Franks, who has spent the past year attempting to adopt a more systematic approach to ADA compliance. "So some of the things that may be in the settlement agreement have already come about."
In the past year, specifically, the University has moved ahead with curb cuts and automatic doors and ended the controversy over the Nelson Music Room by installing a chair lift to negotiate the steep stairs.
As far as the requirements for handicapped parking spaces, Duke is currently in compliance, said Chuck Landis, manager of Parking Services. "Most of the parking changes are already done," he said, "and have been done over a long period of time."
That may change, however, as construction begins in the Ocean lot and administrators find or build additional spaces. Landis said that if parking is pushed toward the periphery of campus, there will be even more emphasis on ADA-accessible shuttles and bus stops. "Personally, I'd rather keep [handicapped parking] near the buildings, but, of course, there are plenty of places where they put everyone, whether they are disabled or not, on a shuttle bus," he said.
Steve Burrell, who oversees Duke Transit, said the University has a van to assist people with physical disabilities and its buses are wheelchair-accessible. "We're in compliance today...," he said. "So far as I know, we're good to go."
But the University has a long way to go in making its buildings accessible, or even being capable of meeting the "minimally accessible" standard in the agreement.
"The term 'minimally accessible building' means an individual using a wheelchair can readily enter the building and navigate all or nearly all of the first floor, although other floors and elements (such as restrooms) may not be accessible," according to the agreement. As of now, the East and West Duke buildings, Gilbert-Addoms and Wilson dormitories and Kilgo, Craven, Crowell and Few quadrangles all fall below this minimum standard.
The report calls for substantial, campus-wide improvements within two years-especially in academic buildings, sports venues and auditoriums. In dorms with accessible halls, all common areas and at least 50 percent of all rooms must be wheelchair-accessible, so students with disabilities can visit friends.
The agreement makes exemptions for the above quadrangles, meaning that the restrictions do not apply to most of West Campus. "The reason for that is that the dorms are scheduled for renovation, and the feeling is that when that happens, they will be in compliance," said Diane Alexander, who coordinates services for students with disabilities. "So we don't want to spend a lot of money to change what will have to be ripped out in a year or two."
The entire project will cost "several million dollars," estimated Executive Vice President Tallman Trask, although the extent of required renovations cannot be known until the surveys are done.
"We had a long, but I think good, process of negotiations with the Department of Justice," he said. "[The required renovations] are more than where we started and less than where they started."
All in all, administrators view this agreement not as a punishment but as a blueprint for improvement. "I think this agreement will complement our systematic approach," Franks said. "It certainly gives us a framework from which to operate, and I think we will be able to see this agreement as an opportunity to move quickly on projects we have prioritized."
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