Keene State grapples with maintaining accessibility on campus

Keene State College has struggled to maintain its obligation to ensure handicapped door buttons are functioning around campus, with certain locations, particularly in the Redfern Arts Center, lacking working buttons. 

Handicapped hardware must be able to be operable with one hand and without tight grasping, pinching or twisting of the wrist, as stated in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) National Network requirements. 

KSC, founded in 1909, making it 114 years old, is keeping the facilities crew busy to maintain the campus’s condition. As buildings age and break, the facilities team monitors for maintenance that needs to be done. 

Colin Burdick, assistant director of facilities, gave insight into how they stay on top of tasks.

“Within separate shops of facilities, certain shops are set with individual tasks and monthly preventative maintenance,” Burdick said. “Plumbers exercise valves as needed, electricians walk buildings to check emergency lighting tests, carpenters open and close fire doors, etc.”

 However, with recent staffing shortages, meeting these monthly maintenance requests has been a struggle, according to Burdick. 

“We are not as staffed as we were when we started preventative maintenance, and right now, we are battling tons of work orders,” said Burdick. 

As a result, students have noticed that handicapped door buttons around campus have not been functioning to the best of their ability, specifically at the lower level of the Redfern Arts Center. 

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Nevertheless, when asked about that specific building, Burdick stated “Redfern building handicapped doors have had problems in the past and many work orders have been sent out for it. The battery or transmitter has had many problems.” 

However Burdick said he “doesn’t recall having a lot of downtime for it, a week maybe over the summer. As 60 percent of public entrances within the building are in code requirement it is not out of line of clearance.” 

Lisa David, associate director of the Office of Disability Services, said within these standards it becomes situational. “Since no students are currently in wheelchairs, it becomes hard to know when something stops working. Mobility impairment at Keene State is less than 1 percent.” However, David stated she would gladly be an advocate for it in terms of future campus planning.

Meanwhile, many accommodations can be made for the students who need specific assistance, whether it is physical or mental. 

As a result, David stated, “We work with the students, how it impacts them, how impactful is it and put a plan together in terms of them being able to live and learn on campus.”

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Katie Aguilar can be contacted at kaguilar@kscequinox.com

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