After breaking his leg over Winter Break, Tom Nunlist said he was not sure if he would be able to take classes Winter Quarter. The Medill senior was going to have to be on crutches, which didn’t bode well for treks to campus in the ice and snow.
Nunlist said he was directed to University Health Services’ extended taxi service, which reimburses students for taxi rides through allotted vouchers.
“Every day, I get a cab to and from campus,” Nunlist said. “I probably couldn’t go to school without it.”
The service is one of several University efforts to make accessing campus more feasible for both permanently and temporarily disabled students.
The reimbursements are available for students who are prevented from getting to class because of a temporary physical disability. It can be used for “required, scheduled, academic activities,” according to the Health Services Web site.
Nunlist said the extended taxi service isn’t well-publicized.
“I only found out about it through my roommate,” he said. “When I tell people about it, no one else has ever heard of it.”
About 20 to 30 students use the service each year, and there is no specification on the type or duration of disability that a student must experience in order to qualify, UHS Executive Director Donald Misch said. The service is typically available for no more than six weeks, he said.
“It is for anyone who needs help getting around,” Misch said. “But if someone is only on crutches for a day, usually they won’t use it.”
Other services for students with disabilities are handled through the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities, which works to accommodate the needs of individual students and “recommend modifications to improve access to University facilities and transportation services,” according to the office’s Web site.
Most of the buildings on campus are handicap accessible, said Margie Roe, the office’s director. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, all new buildings have to be accessible, but buildings “of a certain age” do not have to meet the same standards as newer buildings, she said.
Kim Streff, who spent a few weeks on crutches this winter, said navigating campus on crutches is frustrating, especially with ice.
“The best description of our campus … is handicapped-inconvenient,” the Weinberg senior said. “It seems that they just slapped handicapped entrances in random places. I just ended up hopping up and down steps a lot.”
Roe said more convenient handicapped entrances are likely to be added as University buildings are renovated.
“Any major renovation has to include accessibility improvements,” she said.
For example, Harris Hall was not originally handicap accessible, but will have improved access after current renovations are completed.
Accessibility standards for residence and dining facilities aren’t as strict as those for other campus buildings, Roe said.
“Students have to have access to food and to housing,” she said. “But all of the residence halls don’t have to be accessible, as long as enough are accessible that people have choices.”
The recently announced renovations to join Elder Hall and Hinman-Lincoln Hall will include the addition of a handicap-accessible single room with a private bathroom, Roe said. The dormitories currently include accessible rooms and communal bathrooms.
Roe said she continues to remind people to consider the needs of students with disabilities when making new plans.
“We have come a long way, but there is always room for improvement,” she said.
