To the OSU Community:

Oregon State University continues to make significant progress in its efforts to create a campus community environment that is universally accessible to all, including people with disabilities.

I am pleased to bring to your attention a new website on accessibility created by the Office of Equity and Inclusion that is an additional resource to learn about and track Oregon State’s accessibility efforts and progress.  Please visit the site for details about our efforts and plans: http://oregonstate.edu/accessibility/.  Check this site often, as it will be updated regularly to include valuable new information and features.

You also may have noticed some important and apparent improvements to parking, pathways of travel, ramps, classrooms, classroom furniture and buildings at our Corvallis campus.  The university has dedicated several million dollars to this work and will continue to make such improvements a high and on-going priority.

Beyond physical improvements, the university has also made progress in other venues.  For example, we have recently adopted university best practices for construction accessibility to achieve a level of accessibility that goes beyond what is legally prescribed. Likewise, we have incorporated accessibility workshops into our construction process to strive for universally accessible designs.  We recently made organizational improvements to the two university committees that focus on accessibility. We have commissioned a comprehensive accessibility assessment of the physical features of the main campus that began last summer. And we have made progress in IT accessibility with our adoption of a university policy on website accessibility.  All of these efforts are explained in more detail on the above-mentioned university accessibility website.

I thank and commend the many individuals, employees and volunteers – both those with and those without disabilities, who have been working very hard to realize our vision of a universally accessible university.  I also thank the members of the Accessible University Initiative Task Force that includes students, staff, faculty and community members with disabilities.  This committee prioritized the many recently completed improvement projects; prompted many of the improvements in standards and practices used by OSU; and assisted in the commissioning of an assessment consultant.

We have much more to do.  But the commitment, effort and progress of the many people who are engaged with the university to achieve these goals are undeniable.

If you would like to join this effort, or if you have any questions, please contact the Office of Equity and Inclusion in Kerr 526, by calling 541-737-3556 or by e-mailing accessibility@oregonstate.edu.