SGA wrapped up their successful fall semester, with their annual Student Body Town Hall. This year the event was co-sponsored with Student Wellness & Health Promotion and titled, Accessibility: Physical, Educational, and Mental.
Panelists included Dr. Laura Eisneman, coordinator for disability studies minor and accessibility scholars; Helen Lawless, director of strategic wellbeing and training & interim director of student wellness and health promotion; Isabella Haigney, accessibility senator for SGA and accessibility scholar; Lynda Dellmyer, assistant director for disability support services (DSS); and Matt DeEmilio, accommodation director for DSS; all led by moderator and event organizer, Julia Hatoum, vice president of university affairs for SGA.
Among the topics discussed included not only what resources exist within DSS and student wellness, but the importance of overall acknowledgement of accessibility issues on campus.
“Why is physical accessibility important, well we want people to be able to access all of the resources that are here at the university including social resources,” Dr. Eisneman said. “I would love for student organizations and anyone sponsoring events at the university to adopt sort of an ‘access’ mindset.”
In order to develop this ‘access’ mindset in the classroom, educational activities are in the works to primarily educate faculty and staff.
“We want to make sure that faculty and staff really understand ADA compliance and what that means, and what certain accommodations mean,” Dellmyer said.
These are measures being taken to better inform professors of accessibility standards and what resources they can use to be more accessible to their students. Accessibility does not just cover physical spaces, but also mental health as well.
“The number one referral source [for the counseling office] was another student which meant that their peer was saying ‘there’s this resource on campus, either I had a good experience or heard good things about’ and could be helpful for you,” Lawless said.
Students are looking out for one another when it comes to mental health as awareness grows and SGA is responding to this increased need for accessibility.
“Right away, the creation of the Accessibility Senator proves that SGA is dedicated to diversity and really coming at these issues that revolve around accessibility,” Haigney said. “Julia and I have worked on a resolution that enhances communication between facilities, DSS, and students … and discuss how we can communicate to students when something is wrong with a facility.”
The hope is that something like a UD Alert will be sent out to notify students when something is wrong with a facility, so that those with physical accessibility, especially, will know before arriving at any particular building.
“If we really want to be inclusive, physical access is one of the central elements of that.” Dr. Eisneman said.
An important reminder reiterated by all offices was that they serve both undergraduates and graduate students. DSS is located in Alison Hall, Student Health is located in Laurel Hall, and the Wellbeing Center with counseling services is located in Warner Hall.
Do you have an idea or issue you would like dealt with on or around campus? Reach out to one of our SGA Senators.
SGA wishes the student body a happy holiday and hopes you keep up to date on our happenings as the spring semester approaches by following @udelsga on Instagram!