The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act mandate an equal opportunity for students with disabilities — they are entitled to use campus facilities and to benefit from all campus services. When it comes to physical access, the "individual accommodation" response is not enough. Public colleges need a plan for "program access," and private colleges need to remove barriers and ensure equal opportunity. In recent years, the federal government and individual litigants have ramped up efforts to ensure equal access to facilities:

• The Department of Justice (DOJ) now conducts comprehensive compliance reviews of access to selected campuses and has entered several enforceable settlement agreements.
• Individuals are increasingly "taking it to court" and not just relying on the federal government for enforcement.
• In 2008, the Department of Education made its first referral of an administrative complaint for litigation to DOJ. DOJ joined in private litigation and secured a consent decree requiring changes to the largest university stadium in the country.

Our expert panel will cover both the legal and the practical issues related to facilities access including:

• ADA and Section 504 facilities access requirements
• Litigation enforcement update
• Responding to OCR and DOJ investigations
• Examples of common problems and planning for compliance

Please join us for this in-depth review of facilities access.  Panelists include NACUA member Andrea Gunn, Irene Bowen of ADA One and James Terry of Evan Terry Associates.  The program will also include opportunities for questions.