Spotlight on Adelphi's Universal Access Task Force and Its Chair: Achievements and Priorities

This task force looked ahead at this year’s priorities and looked back at last year’s major accomplishments.

During a Spring 2017 Campus Diversity Tour led by Adelphi Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Perry Greene, Ph.D., participants saw that “one of the largest areas of concern was accessibility issues” for people with disabilities. Dr. Greene developed this task force to identify and assess the access issues so they could then prioritize and act.

Last year, the group implemented many changes aimed at creating a more accessible campus. Brian Flatley, M.S. ’19, task force co-chair, said its major 2018 accomplishments included advocating for larger bathroom stalls for people who use a wheelchair, updating the AU2GO mobile app to include the locations of accessible building entrances as well as the locations of accessible bathrooms, and also updating accessibility signage around campus. Last summer, nearly 100 older accessibility logos were replaced by the new “wheelchair in motion” logos, he said.

The task force’s top priorities for this year, he said, are “building a state-of-the-art exam room for students who are given testing accommodations and ensuring that the [Ruth S. Harley] University Center renovation considers those with disabilities in every aspect of design.”

He said, “The greatest satisfaction comes when we have students and Adelphi staff volunteering their time to break down barriers and make Adelphi more accessible.”

Task Force Co-Chair: Brian Flatley, M.S. ’19

Flatley, associate director of the Student Access Office, joined Adelphi four years ago. Previously, he was a producer for the ABC News documentary unit, where he “produced a few critically acclaimed, award-winning medical documentary series.”

Dr. Greene came up with the idea to create the task force and “I offered to co-chair with him,” Flatley said.