In Memory of Thomas C. Barnett
This site is in memory of Thomas Barnett, who passed away June 5, 2007. In May 2007, during his senior year at Elon University, Thomas was the first student to receive the Elon medallion, an award given by the president for outstanding service to the university. Thomas raised awareness about campus accessibility at Elon and designed this website to publicize the UNC ACCESS project, a study on
wheelchair accessibility for the 16 UNC campuses.
We honor Thomas's steadfastness and service.
For more information, follow these links: pdf Elon Medallion Citation |
Thomas receives the Elon Medallion |
Friedreich's Ataxia |
Thomas wins Knowledge Trust Lifetime Achievement Award |
Overview
The UNC ACCESS (Accessible College Campuses for Everyone Site Surveys) Project is an assessment of functional wheelchair accessibility at the main entrances, elevators, and restrooms in core campus buildings throughout the University of North Carolina sixteen-campus system. The project took place from 2005-2007. There will be no additions or changes to this site, but the information will remain navigable. The menu at the top directs you to main pages, and the menu on the left side reflects the information on the page you are viewing, plus other Helpful Links.
Mission
Dr. Rachel A. Willis, UNC-Chapel Hill Associate Professor of American Studies and Economics, and Rebecca Williford (UNC BA 2004) co-created the UNC ACCESS (Accessible College Campuses for Everyone Site Surveys) Project in 2005. The primary objective of this project was to evaluate the campus experiences of individuals with mobility impairments through a detailed, standardized analysis of physical access for disabled individuals to facilities at public institutions of higher education in North Carolina. Willis and Williford trained UNC-Chapel Hill students and other community members to serve as UNC ACCESS Project Specialists. The Project Specialists led site surveys at UNC system campuses to quantify wheelchair access in core campus buildings. In addition, they interviewed and documented institutional processes and policies designed to improve the infrastructure and programs that enable disabled students to physically navigate their education. To see explanations of these procedures, see the Methodology page. The ultimate goal of this project was to find and communicate best practices so that each campus can improve functional independence and educational success.
Overall ACCESS Campus Scores
The following table summarizes the overall accessibility level of each of the 16 Campuses of UNC relative to the percentage scale developed by the ACCESS Project to quantify wheelchair access compliance. For further comparisons of specific areas' compliance across the campuses, see the ACCESS Data Comparisons page.
