Date: 03/07/2019
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Admin Room 104

Agenda

Call to order/Quorum

Attendance:

Review Minutes

Review Current ADA Complaints

1. Accessibility Complaint – Doak Hall – Food Pantry and Diversity Programs

Monthly Compliance Training

Legal Update

Old Business

1. Evacuation Plan Update
2. Update on Lime Scooters
   1. Specific Complaints: TTU Baseball Game
   2. Faculty Senate concerns

New Business

2. ADA drop off spot for all on-campus events
3. Building Signage

Adjourn

Minutes

Welcome

Call to Order/Quorum – 2:02

Attendance: Allan Barenberg, Kent Meredith, Todd Phillips, John Thomas, Sean Childers, Walter James (Fire Chief), Kyle Bonath (Police Chief), Elizabeth Massengale, Suzanne Tapp, Dawn Payne, Brian Brand, Larry Phillippe (chair), and Tamara Mancini

Review Minutes

Dr. Stewart made a motion to accept the minutes as written, seconded by Kent Meredith – motion approved.

Review Current ADA Complaints

1. Accessibility Complaint – Doak Hall – Food Pantry and Diversity Programs
   1. Basic issue: access to food pantry is restricted due to stairs. There is a ramp at the back door (very heavy and just barely meets width requirement); no ADA switch. Two concerns – no access to food pantry, and no access to other programs (diversity programs) in Doak. Outside door has no ADA switch, and double doors don't have ADA switch. There are also no ADA spots for parking at the back door where the ramp is. (Larry Phillippe noted that Eric Crouch, from Parking, said another ADA spot could be added.) Recommendation would be to ask the FAC (Facility Allocation Council) to allot funding for a switch at the back door and the other two double doors. All programs and food pantry would be accessible if the outside door and the double doors have ADA switches added. Sean Childers mentioned that he has Jeff Sutherland looking at the entire building and access points. Sean will have Jeff compile a formal review of the building, especially these doors, and send it to Larry, and then onward to the FAC. In the interim, we have alerted students to call Food Pantry number and staff will assist as needed.

Old Business

1. Evacuation Plan Update – We do have a plan, but no details as to how this is actually accomplished and how the people are trained. We also want to discuss what is next once there is an emergency evacuation – such as when buses leave campus. How do we coordinate this to allow for students in need to get off campus?
   1. Update on coordinating a plan – once students/staff are out of the building, what do we do next? We do have a list for Campus Building Emergency Coordinators. It is also not the final list, and we need to update the list and make it accessible for all students to be aware of and know who to contact in each building. Some issues discussed with the fire marshal and the police chief include how to evacuate students with service animals because these animals are a part of the student and cannot be separated. We need ideas for how to have a coordinated plan, and how Student Disability Services can assist, but it's not practical to just have all the students call SDS for assistance. Dr. Stewart said for sure we need to get the list updated, and then invite those people to contribute to the discussion. Also, what are other institutions doing? Dawn Payne asked what responsibility the Building Emergency Coordinators had, and Larry explained that they would facilitate the evacuation plan. Thus, we need to make sure students are aware of this list and how to contact the Building Emergency Coordinators. However, it's currently not posted anywhere. How will the Coordinators know people are in the building that will need assistance? Dr. Stewart asked if there was a way to notify the coordinators that students with disabilities are in the building, but Larry noted that this might not be practical and it doesn't cover visitors. Professor Barenberg suggested linking this to an app of some kind, maybe the TTU app. Elizabeth Massengale said that these Coordinators need to educate others in the building on where to go and how to handle the students with disabilities. Kent Meredith suggested working with close-in-proximity buildings to coordinate together as an evacuation option. This way, there will be another location for the students to be in case of inclement weather or if there is a medical issue. Suzanne Tapp noted that there are different layers in this process, and pointed out that faculty need training and this coordinator list so as to assist if needed. The need for training was reiterated. Fire Chief – noted that March 19th a.m. – fire drills are planned for the west and north side of the key and then 10:30 a.m. on the east side of the key. Invited people to visit – EMC and BMC. Chief Bonath noted that in a campus evacuation, TTUPD does not have any ADA accessible vehicles. Dr. Stewart mentioned that from a safety standpoint, for example: if the Engineering Key is evacuated, where do people go? Chief Bonath said that it depends on the emergency and the building itself. Professor Barenber asked if it would make sense to set up “areas of refuge” in certain places so that there are options for people? Larry said that we can definitely get information out to students, but then how would we alert visitors? Elizabeth mentioned that we could use campaigns like “Raiders Helping Raiders” or something similar. Dawn asked if there were already areas of refuge as part of the evacuation plan, and Chief James said yes. He also noted that in a different situation, we wouldn't want these areas known to the public (in the event of an active shooter). Kent suggested, again, to look at other universities and see what models might fit for TTU and how we can implement a plan. Again, we have a plan to evacuate the building, but then how do we get everyone safely off campus? Chief Bonath said that rarely is there a full campus evacuation, so there should be some type of evacuation option. Otherwise, there may be a need to shelter in place, etc. One idea would be to look into keeping one bus available to just pick up necessary students, or maybe use Raider Ride or Tap Ride as an ADA shuttle. This information will be sent to everyone on the committee before the next meeting, and this is probably where more frequent training will come into place as well.
2. Update on Lime Scooters
   1. Specific Complaints: TTU Baseball Game
      • Received several complaints about scooters running into people, not being parked properly, etc.
      • Faculty Senate concerns – concerned about student use and safety.
   2. This ADA Committee will want to address where the scooters are parked and how the students are using them on campus. Kent mentioned that cities all over are having this very same problem, and Transportation and Parking are working with Lime for signage and for continuing education. Examples: if you go to basketball games, there are hundreds of scooters and there is a Lime representative there to assist. Lime has actually worked well with sending people out to assist. The goal is educating our students on how to use the scooters on campus, which would be similar to bicycle use. Brian commented that Transportation and Parking worked the process well because they entered into a contract with Lime to set everything in place and work with the company for assistance. He also noted the volume is so great, and even though the vendor works as quickly as they can to fix the problems, it does take time. Also, they are testing a foil ‘sign' to put on the concrete to help set up “no dismount” zones, along with other signage. Faculty question why there is not more police at certain times on campus to regulate traffic, give tickets, and assist with issues. Chief Bonath said there is “bike patrol” but due to the volume, and the amount of violations, they could probably be dealing with Lime/scooter control all day. Professor Barenberg noted an example and asked about identifying specific areas of safety concerns where police presence might stop violations. Education is one component, but there has to be implications to the action. Brian mentioned an opportunity for a volunteer force to simply educate – there would be no authority, but the volunteer force would be an educational resource. Dr. Stewart said that is one component perhaps, but if there was a major accident, we would have to do something different. Larry mentioned that if we can identify the last rider for the ‘poorly parked scooter' then we could educate those people. Maybe Transportation & Parking could set up an email to have those pictures and complaints sent. Kent offered that UT has A-Frame signs to delegate DO's and DON'Ts – part of their education program. Possibility to use this type of signage, especially at the beginning of each semester, or maybe just as temporary signs. Todd Phillips offered that the campus is growing in numbers and so one idea might be to re-think our movement around campus so that meetings occur in off-hours to when student-heavy traffic occurs . Dawn asked about including education and information in RRO and it was noted that RRO staff was working on that. Professor Barenberg offered another idea which would be to review the time frame in between classes, lengthening it to 15-20 minutes. Also, the Lime bike usage was mentioned. The Committee will continue to monitor the education piece and get that information out to all students.

New Business

1. ADA drop off spot for all on-campus events
   1. Suggestion to designate an ADA drop-off spot at sporting events, and all campus events. Dawn shared her personal experience; how there is an old bus turn-in at baseball, but basketball is not as easy. She has experienced other events, not on TTU campus, where there are drop-off points designated with signage, noted on websites, maps of where to go, etc. Larry noted UT has “ADA Drop-offs” and routes for all events. This is a topic the Committee will need to think about discussing this further, then possibly consider this as an action item for the next meeting to move forward with a suggestion. Kent noted how the street by the Arena is blocked for commencement and no one uses the ADA spots, so maybe there is a way to revise this plan. Larry noted the complaint from the previous graduation, and how the student couldn't get to the Arena to participate. Overall, our population is getting older, so this is something we need to think about as a campus wide policy with minimal issues, easily educated, and posted information. For commencement, an idea would be to communicate that there will be one ADA bus that can pick up in a parking lot and then deliver back to the Arena. Then the question is who pays for the bus?, and so that may be something we can look at and have administrative support for funding. We will review the summary and report back next meeting on how to proceed.
2. Building Signage
   1. Charlotte suggested we have signage for animals. Tech has a no pet policy, so we would be looking to suggest signage be added across campus that says “no pets allowed/service animals only.” Sean was asked if anyone had voiced concerns, and he said he isn't aware of any concerns, but Larry noted the issue at the HSC when someone tried to bring their ESA into a clinic, saying it was a service dog. Sean said he is aware of staff/faculty with ESAs in their department, as well as groups bringing in therapy dogs for activities. Where would this signage be most helpful? Is it a Tech sponsored event? Is it a student organization sponsored event with therapy animals? Can employees bring ESAs into their work place? Todd explained that HR reviews reasonable accommodation for an ESA – so if there is documentation stating the person cannot complete their job without the support of this ESA, then HR reviews it. Larry clarified information from the CDC about specifying ESAs as dogs or cats, and ESAs are only approved under the FHA. Therapy animals for programs are an entire different issue.
3. Library – back entrance to library – is it compliant if there is only one ADA door? Yes, the building is in compliance, but switch is there and not working. It was noted that Facilities changed out all doors and equipment for East Side of building for updates and improvements. Sean has given options, but he will go back and review the switch on the back entrance. Further issue is that the inside doors are blocked due to issues with the doors inside. Sean will review this and will follow up with recommendations.

Other Items:

Sean will have Charles Leatherwood update work through the summer such as the parking lot south of Doak, the Administration Parking Lot, and the addition of the parking lot NE of Animal Science.

Adjourn: 3:14.

 

_{Submitted by T.Mancini, March 15, 2019}

Date: 09/12/2019

Time: 1:30 PM

Location: Provost's Conference Room

Agenda

1. Welcome to new committee members - Phillippe
2. Presentation from the Lime Scooter Organization – Kilcrease
3. Update on the Doak Hall ADA Accessibility Project - Childers
4. Update on the Library West ADA Accessible Entrance - Childers
5. Accessible Books for Faculty/Staff from the Library - Phillippe
6. Updates on Accessibility Issues with Graduation Ceremonies – Meredith/Phillippe
7. New Puppy Raising Student Organization - Phillippe
8. Updates on Emotional Support Animals on Campus - Phillippe
9. New ADA Compliance Committee Website:
10. New Business
11. Adjourn

Date: 11/14/2019

Time: 1:30 PM

Location: Provost's Conference Room

Agenda

1. Review of minutes from the September meeting - Phillippe
2. Updates on the Lime Scooter Organization – Kilcrease
3. Update on the Doak Hall ADA Accessibility Project - Childers
4. Update on the Library West ADA Accessible Entrance - Childers
5. ADA Complaints received: September - November – Phillippe
   1. Brick handicap ramp by Southwest Collections Building
   2. Concerns about reporting non-working ADA switches
6. Meeting with Disabled Veterans and Request - Phillippe
7. Updates on Emotional Support Animals on Campus - Phillippe
8. New Open Records Request for ADA Documents - Phillippe
9. New Business
10. Adjourn

Minutes

Welcome

Call to Order/Quorum – 1:31

Attendance: Larry Phillippe, Neil Kilcrease, Brian Brand, Ron Phillips, Matt Gregory, MaryAlice Torres-McDonald, JonMark Bernal, Melanie Hart, Todd Phillips, Mark McVay, Sean Childers, Charles Leatherwood, John R. Thomas, Jonathan Duncan, Kent Meredith, Dawn Payne, Charlotte Bingham, Rob Stewart

Review Minutes

Minutes for the September meeting were reviewed and approved.

New Business

1. Neil Kilcrease updated the committee on some new initiatives that Lime Scooter was doing to improve their service on campus and to help reduce issues that might be causing ADA compliance issues for accessibility. New dismount zones will be used to help stop students from using sidewalks and leaving scooters on the ground. One new initiative is to try and start using a fine system to discourage students from parking the scooters in non-designated areas, including by building entrances and ADA ramps. Fines will be assessed based on the number of violations. This past fall, Lime issued ninety seven warnings, thirteen $10 fines, and three $25 fines. They will report back to the committee in the spring on the effectiveness of this program. Lime did acknowledge that the fines collected would not go to TTU, and have not yet indicated for what use those might be applied.
2. Sean Childers update the committee on the progress for the Doak Hall and Library projects for instillation of electric ADA door switches. Demolition as been completed at Doak for the new switch pole and work should begin on the installation soon. At the library, new doors are being installed and the work should be completed in January. He will update the committee on the status of both projects in the spring, 2020. Charles Leatherwood reminded the committee that anyone can report an ADA switch that is not working by contacting 742-4OPS.
3. Larry Phillippe shared with the committee the two complaints that had been received since the last committee meeting.
   1. A staff member who works in the biology building expressed concerns that the brick ramps used for some of the ADA ramps were uneven and were difficult for individuals like her that used a cane for stability. The uneven bricks can cause the cane to hang which can lead to her stumbling when she is going down the ramp. She asked if a different materials could be used when new ADA ramps were build or updated. Charles Leatherwood from Operations indicated that they could certainly look at starting to use a smoother surface such as concrete when these were put in for safety concerns.
   2. A student had sent in a complaint that two ADA door switches were not working. One was in front of the Biology lecture hall and the other at the Library. Dr. Phillippe indicated that the switch at the library was being rebuilt, along with the entire west entrance, so that one was being resolved. The other one would be forwarded to Operations. Charles Leatherwood again reminded the committee that they should call in any switch they find not working to 742-4OPS. Dr. Phillippe also reminded the committee members that as they were walking around their buildings and on campus to always push the ADA switches to make sure they were working, as he often found that when they were not, people were not sure who to call about it so they just didn't follow up with anyone. Thus, some switches were not working and had never been reported.
   3. A TTU student who was also a Veteran had asked in an appointment with Dr. Phillippe if there was any way that the campus could look at identifying high use buildings and come up with a way to make more than one door accessible with an ADA switch. His concern was that when he was running late to a class that while most buildings had two or more ramps leading up to a door, most buildings only had one door with and ADA switch that he needed to use to get in. He felt like this was not equal access and wanted to know if there was a possibility that more switches could be installed. The committee discussed some options for this. While the switches are very expensive and can take some time to get installed, they discussed options for looking at this. One first step would be to identify the buildings that are highest use by all students, such as the library, Student Union, and Holden Hall, and then do an analysis of the number of switches available and then consider looking at ways to find funding to help install more ADA switches. One additional suggestion was by John Thomas, and that was to come up with a campus map that could easily be accessed by students that showed all entrances to buildings on campus that had an ADA switch, and then which doors had ramps. Dr. Phillippe will look in to this and report back to the committee in the spring.
4. Larry Phillippe updated the committee on a new lawsuit that had been filed on behalf of young girl who was attached by an Emotional Service Animal in the Portland airport. He indicated that one of the defendants in the suit was the airport for failing to enforce their own policies, but that they were also looking at the health professional who issued the letter of certification for the animal since they had verified this animal was needed by the defendant in the law suit. A key point is that mental health professionals who now issue these letters for individuals for emotional support animals may now be held liable for any damage or injuries caused by the animals. Dr. Phillippe was hopeful that this would start a dramatic trend in mental health professionals issuing the support letters without carefully considering the consequences.
5. Dr. Phillippe notified the committee that an Open Records Request had been submitted to TTU from a journalism student at the University of Texas-Austin student newspaper requesting all documents related to TTU's disability services policies from 1999 to the present. No other information was available.

Other Items:

No other items were presented.

Adjourn: 2:55.

 

Date: 02/18/2020

Time: 1:30 PM

Location: Admin Room 104

Agenda

• Welcome

• Welcome to new members

• Review of November Minutes

• Review of Current ADA Complaints - Phillippe

1. Exams administered at the same time as the class
   1. ACT was not open after 5:00
   2. Student complained he was not getting same access to faculty for questions.
   3. New Process for evening testing has now been established.

2. Inaccessible videos and materials for online class (ENGINEERING)
   1. Student filed a formal complaint that materials were not accessible.
   2. Videos were being recorded live, then posted to the online version of the course.
   3. Delay in getting the videos and lectures accessible delayed student course completion.

• Lime Scooter Updates – Neil Kilcrease & Craig Cotton

• Strategic Plan for TTU Online Instructional Accessibility – Phillippe, Hart

• Update on ADA entrance switches at Doak and Library West Entrance – Childers, Leatherwood, Brand

• New Campus ADA Building Accessibility Map – Phillippe, Thomas

• New Wheelchair Lifts for Student Recreation Center and Outdoor Aquatic Center

• Old Business

• New Business

• Adjourn