I am a rising senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
and I am beginning research for my honors thesis. It's in political
science, and my research question is to find why some colleges and
universities in North Carolina are more compliant with Section 504 than
other colleges and universities in North Carolina.
First, I'll be generating a data set that measures different levels of
compliance at about 8 different universities in North Carolina (a mix of
private and public schools). Then I will conduct different statistical
analyses of the numbers, so it's important that I can quantify the
different levels of compliance. Because of restraints on my time and
resources, I'll probably focus on accessibility for individuals with
mobility impairments, especially for wheelchair users.
At each campus, I want to measure:
*percent of students who have a disability
*percent of the university's total budget that is allocated to disability
services, ADA office, barrier removal projects, etc.
*percent of residence halls, classrooms, dining halls, and libraries that
are wheelchair accessible
*athletic teams for students with mobility impairments
*accessibility of study abroad programs
*efficiency of paratransit system
*accessibility of campus website
My question is whether these are the best and most accurate measures of
504 compliance. I'm still reading up on this legislation and trying to
understand it. We don't have a faculty member who is an expert on this
topic, so I'm hoping that someone on this listserv will have some ideas
and expertise that can help me be sure I'm heading in the right direction.
Thanks so much for any help you can give on any aspects of my research.
Rebecca Williford
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