Accessibility Matters at Renison

After a hiatus, Renison’s Accessibility Matters Committee was reinstituted in December 2022. During the period extending from December 2022 - June 2022, the Committee:

• Reviewed and revised the Committee’s Terms of Reference
• Updated the Accessibility Matters website
• Reviewed Renison’s Multi-year Accessibility Plan
• Reviewed the 2016 Accessibility Audit, noting completed work and future needed work
• Raised the need for an institutional strategy to enhance course accessibility/an accessibility pedagogy
• Partnered with Renison’s External Relations and Communications on a Wayfinding strategy
• Created a Committee workplan for 2022-22

Archive: Accomplishments 2015-16

• Conducted thorough Accessibility Audit in spring 2016 – identified issues, as well as immediate vs. long-term solutions
• Implemented accessibility changes to our facility that could be made right away
• Launched Accessibility Matters website
• Sought Accessibility Champions within the Renison community – faculty and staff who are implementing accessible solutions and universal design practices in their classes, work and life at Renison
• Hosted Low Vision Clinic on Friday April 1^st, for Renison faculty, staff and community
• Accessible water stations installed summer 2016
• Hosted a Global Accessibility Awareness Day event on May 19^th

Mandate

Reporting to Renison University College’s President’s Cabinet, the Accessibility Matters Committee at Renison is an advisory body established to enhance equitable access on the Renison campus for students, staff, faculty, and visitors.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a resource to the university college community on issues related to accessibility;
• Serve as the Renison campus contact point for all accessibility concerns;
• Raise awareness and make recommendations to the Renison community and appropriate departmental and administrative contacts on real and potential barriers to accessibility, including sharing best practices for addressing issues and eliminating barriers;
• Provide, when needed, liaison with services on campus at the University of Waterloo to ensure that accessibility barriers are effectively responded to for student, staff, faculty, and visitor members of Renison’s community.

Definitions

The Terms of Reference applies definitions from the  Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (2005):

“Disability” means

(a) any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device,

(b) a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability,

(c) a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or spoken language,

(d) a mental disorder, or

(e) an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997; (“handicap”)

It is important to recognize in this definition of disability that some disabilities are intermittent and/or invisible. Intermittent disabilities include experiences of shifting periods of good/better health/ability interrupted by periods of poor health/ability, which can be unpredictable in severity and duration. Invisible disabilities include symptoms of disability (e.g., pain, fatigue, learning differences) that are not always obvious but that can limit one’s activities.

“Barrier” means anything that prevents a person with a disability from fully participating in all aspects of society because of his or her disability, including a physical barrier, an architectural barrier, an information or communications barrier, an attitudinal barrier, a technological barrier, a policy or a practice; (“obstacle”)

Beyond these definitions, the Committee considers the following definitions integral to enhancing equitable access for all community members:

“Equity” refers to the fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that have prevented the full participation of some groups. Improving equity involves increasing justice and fairness within the procedures and processes of institutions or systems, as well as in their distribution of resources. Tackling equity issues requires an understanding of the root causes of outcome disparities within our society. (From: https://independentsector.org/resource/why-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-matter/)

“Accessibility” is “an umbrella term for all aspects which influence a person’s ability to function within an environment.”¹ Put another way, accessibility is a measure of how simply a person can participate in an activity. Accessibility takes many forms in many places.  Physical environments, such as dwellings, offices and other buildings, elevators, ramps and sidewalks are an obvious category. Transportation is another category - an example of improved accessibility here is wheelchair-friendly buses. Web and digital environments fall into another grouping, in which enlarged fonts and speak-to-text features can be used to improve accessibility (From: http://www.accessibleuniversity.com/accessibility-basics/defining-accessibility).

Membership

Membership of the Committee consists of representatives from each of the following groups: undergraduate and graduate students with representation across academic programs (no limit), (1) student representative from Renisix, (2-3) faculty/instructors (1 each from the degree and non-degree sides), (1) chaplain, (1) resident life representative, (1) facility representative, and (1) alumni representative.

The Committee will use a Co-chair model with one Chair from the faculty/staff membership and rotating Chairs from the student membership. At the end of each academic year, a faculty/staff Chair for the next academic year will be chosen. At the beginning of each year, the faculty/staff Chair will issue a call for membership to students and faculty/instructors and confirm participation from other Renison department representatives as described above. Once the Committee membership is formed each year, student members who wish to co-chair a meeting will rotate through the meeting schedule.

Student members are normally members for 1-2 years depending on the length of their program/status in their program. Non-student members are normally members of the committee for a two-year term, September until June. The Committee must have attendance of 50% of its members to reach quorum and conduct the work of the committee. The Committee Co-chairs will represent the work of the committee at President Cabinet’s meetings.

Meetings

The Committee will normally meet once a month and additionally at the call of the Co-chairs. Proposed agenda items will be submitted in advance of the monthly meetings to the Co-chairs. The Co-chairs will then set the agenda for each meeting. The Minutes of each meeting will be distributed to Committee members prior to each meeting for review and revision.

Decision-Making

All members of the Committee are voting members. Generally, Committee members make decisions based on a consensus model. If a consensus is not reached, members are expected to vote on the issue at hand. Each voting Committee member has one (1) vote and questions are decided by a majority of votes cast. A quorum of voting members (50% +1) is required for decision making. 

Membership Expectations

Members of the committee are expected to attend meetings and read any materials beforehand (i.e., previous minutes), send agenda items to the Co-chairs, bring concerns from their various constituencies (i.e., students, staff, faculty), participate in discussions about the issues and participate in decision making.

Final version approved by Committee members February 4, 2022

• Bethany Dixon (staff representative, co-chair)
• Tim Farley (facilities representative)
• Kimberley Garec (student representative, co-chair)
• Andriy Hrabchuk (student representative)
• Meg Gibson (faculty representative)
• Vicky Ikeno (student representative)
• Stefany Kraft (student experience representative)
• Charlotte Liu (student representative, co-chair)
• Scott McLeod (chaplain representative)
• Mariam Rana (student representative)