RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) recognized that census data, national polls, and other studies have documented that, as a result of discrimination, people with disabilities, as a group, are severely disadvantaged socially, vocationally, economically, and educationally; and

WHEREAS, the ADA stated, "the Nation's proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals"; and

WHEREAS, United States Census data shows that in 2004, 22.6 per cent of Americans with a severe disability, twenty-five to thirty-four years old, received associate degrees or some college equivalent compared to 17.1 per cent in 1995, and 6.4 per cent received a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2004, compared to 4.6 per cent in 1995; and

WHEREAS, a 2000 National Organization on Disability/Harris poll found that among those adults with disabilities of working age (eighteen to sixty-four) thirty-two per cent work full or part-time, compared to eighty-one per cent of those without disabilities, and there had been a significant increase in the percentage of people with disabilities who are able to work and are working from forty-six per cent in 1986 to fifty-six per cent in 2000; and

WHEREAS, studies show that over an adult’s working life, more education correlates to higher levels of income; and

WHEREAS, because of emphasis on special education and related services, more students with disabilities will be graduating from Hawaii’s public and private schools than ever before; and

WHEREAS, this increasing pool of young persons with disabilities can contribute to the revitalization of Hawaii’s economy if given the opportunity to pursue post secondary education; and

WHEREAS, for students with disabilities, attending college involves answering many questions more complicated than which field to study, such as personal assistant support, buildings, sidewalks, and classrooms accessibility, accessible transportation and living quarters, and financial assistance; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Regents policy on nondiscrimination applies to specific groups, including persons with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of the University of Hawaii (UH) at Manoa to comply with the applicable federal and state statutes which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability status in university programs, services, activities, and employment practices; and

WHEREAS, ten per cent of freshmen at the UH at Manoa in a recent national survey identified themselves as having at least one disability, which means there could be as many as five thousand UH students with disabilities; and

WHEREAS, there has been an increase in enrollment at all campuses and a corresponding increase in the number of students disclosing disabilities of greater severity and complexity, particularly with learning disabilities and psychiatric disabilities; and

WHEREAS, the UH has policies and resources that support its strategic goals to ensure equity of access and diversity, comply with federal non-discrimination requirements, and support the educational aspiration of this student population through programs and staff such as equal employment officers, offices for students with disabilities at each of the campuses, and a systemwide Commission on Disability Access; and

WHEREAS, although the UH has long been noted for its services for students with disabilities, such as the UH at Manoa Kokua Office and UH at Hilo’s University Disabilities Services Office, all campuses have lacked the resources and support to provide more than the basic accommodations for students; and

WHEREAS, the generally accepted definition of "access" includes "physical access" as well as "programmatic access" to enable students with disabilities to participate more fully in the general curriculum; and

WHEREAS, colleges around the country have provided a variety of services and accommodations, including accessible classrooms and furniture, adaptive equipment assessment and referral, liaison with faculty and vocational rehabilitation offices, alternative testing formats, grievance resolution, housing advice, TTY network, curriculum modifications, laboratory and library support, mobility assistance, note takers, paratransit service, parking accommodations, priority or online registration, referrals for personal assistance services, sign language instruction and interpreters, career counseling, community mental health programs on site, crisis intervention, disability management advice, electronic access to libraries and course syllabi, specialized tutoring, peer mentors, support groups, pools of personal care attendants, on-site therapists and rehabilitation professionals, internships, work-study programs, overseas study, test-taking centers, wheelchair rescue/repair/loan programs, and workshops in self-advocacy, financial management, and other disability lifestyle issues; and

WHEREAS, the UH programs have been consistently under-funded and require resource augmentation and support at the campus and system level to provide students with disabilities an opportunity to succeed; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the University of Hawaii is requested to create a task force that will assess the needs of each campus’ support for students with disabilities, assess each campus’ ability to provide accommodations to students with disabilities in the area of any service and curriculum that students without disabilities have access to, provide recommendations for budgetary consideration, and develop a system-wide comprehensive plan to support students with disabilities to achieve the same academic standards as students without disabilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include the UH Commission on Disability Access, representatives from each campus' student affairs or disability services office, Disability and Communication Access Board, Hawaii Disability Rights Center and the UH Center on Disability Studies; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force utilize the Association on Higher Education And Disability's (AHEAD) "Professional Standards and Performance Indicators" program standards to describe the breadth of skills and knowledge required of personnel administering any office for students with disabilities as well as the minimum essential services that each campus should provide; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force include in its assessment for disability access, the findings and recommendations of the Capacity Building Institute on Students with Intellectual Disabilities and Postsecondary Education coordinated and sponsored by the State Council on Developmental Disabilities and the UH Center on Disability Studies on February 27, 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the UH is requested to submit its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2006; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Interim President of the UH, Chair of the Board of Regents of the UH, the Chancellor Faculty Senate of the UH, Student Caucus of each campus of the UH, the UH Commission on Disability Access, Executive Director of the Disability and Communication Access Board, President of Hawaii Disability Rights Center, and the Interim Director for the UH Center on Disability Studies.

Report Title:

UH; Disability Access; Task Force