Campus Accessibility and Inclusion

In accordance with our mission, West Virginia State University will strive to provide an inclusive and accessible university environment for all individuals with disabilities.  In an effort to do so, the Univerisity has enacted Board policy #66 - Access for Individuals with Disabilities.  As part of this policy, the institution will begin the endeavor to update our Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan with a goal of doing so by 2025.  

Effective 4/23/2022, the President has appointed Michael Casey, Director of Disability and Accessibility Resources, as the institution’s ADA Coordinator/504 Compliance Officer to oversee the institution’s implementation and compliance with ADA Titles I and II as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.  The Disability and Accessibility Resources unit is responsible for overseeing all disability related resources for the institution.  

The University will utilize a team approach that will be focusing on accessibility and compliance. In addition to having an ADA Coordinator/504 Compliance Officer, the University President has appointed a team to assist in this area. The compliance team is composed of representatives from each major University department through their designation on one of three groups to be charged out of the President’s Office - the WVSU Accessibility Council, the Accessible Built Environments Committee and the Accessible Digital Environments Committee. These individuals will work closely with the ADA Coordinator/504 Compliance Officer to resolve issues regarding the needs of the various departments and the programs throughout the institution. The ADA Coordinator/504 Compliance Officer works closely with the compliance team to coordinate the implementation of plans, programs, policies, and procedures. This team will be leading the effort to complete the ADA Compliance Plan and will also oversee the ADA Transition Plan process.

The first step of the process has been the development of the WVSU Compliance Plan for Achieving ADA/504 Compliance, Accessibility and Inclusion.  This Compliance Plan is an interim step to completing the Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan. The Department of Justice refers to the “Self-Evaluation” as the evaluation of all of the Universities programs, services, activities, policies, and practices while the “Transition Plan” is the evaluation of the physical features and infrastructure. Both of these are required by the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Compliance Plan is the interim phase that helps determine what actually needs to be evaluated. 

The University is obligated under the law to develop both the Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan to ensure the University is in compliance with all of the requirements of the ADA and Section 504. The Self-Evaluation requires the University to observe all of the following requirements:
 

• Title I in its employment practices
• Title II in its policies, programs, services, policies, and practices
• Any parts of Titles IV and V that apply to the organization
• All requirements specified in the 2010 ADA Standards and 2013 Proposed Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) that apply to facilities and other physical holdings.

The Self-Evaluation focuses on the programs, services, activities, policies, and practices and the Transition Plan focuses on the infrastructure. Both requirements are found under Title II of the ADA, which has the broadest impact on the University. Included in Title II are administrative requirements for all government entities employing more than 50 people. These administrative requirements are: 
 

• Completion of a Self-Evaluation
• Development of an ADA complaint procedure
• Designation of at least one person who is responsible for overseeing Title II compliance
• Development of a Transition Plan to schedule the removal of the barriers uncovered by the Evaluation process. The Transition Plan will become a working document until all barriers have been addressed.

This Compliance Plan creates the blueprint that the University will use to complete the Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan process, as well as document the efforts that have already been made toward compliance. It also allows major decisions to be made in the methodology for the data collection. Through the Compliance Plan process, the University documents which facilities and elements need to be evaluated and sets forth the plan and timeframe to complete the process. Having the Compliance Plan in place greatly reduces the risk of access-related litigation as long as it is directly followed by the required Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan process. This document can be presented to federal agencies, if requested, as a demonstration of the University’s interim plan toward full compliance. 

Everything the DOJ requires to be addressed will be included, including facilities, programs, services, policies, practices, and public rights-of-way to improve accessibility around the University, as well as the infrastructure it is responsible for maintaining. This document will guide the planning and implementation process for the necessary program and facility modifications. 

Together the Self-Evaluation and Transition Plan are significant in that they establish the University’s ongoing commitment to the development and maintenance of programs, services and activities as well as facilities that aare accessible of inclusive for all students, faculty, staff, and the public.