Campus can be daunting, but navigating the same space in a wheelchair complicates things exponentially.

‘Schools and any public place in general is designed for people that can walk,’ Nolan Williams, a junior in technology education, said. ‘I expect [some places] not to be accessible. Some stuff you just can’t go to.’

Williams currently crosses campus in his power wheelchair, after discovering he was unable to handle even his part-time schedule in his manually-powered chair. He said getting to class comfortably is something he learned to appreciate.

‘The feeling of rolling to class, just being you, smelling the breeze. A lot of people take that for granted,’ he said.

William Privette, a sophomore in communications, experiences similar difficulties in his manually-powered chair.

‘Every hill or slight change in flow affects how long it takes to get to class. It takes a lot of energy,’ he said, noting that he usually arrives to class tired.

Beginning with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the University formalized its efforts to make campus accessible, taking inventory of current impairments and creating a list of projects for future improvements, according to Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Kevin MacNaughton.

Though a recent audit conducted by students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gave the campus low marks for accessibility, MacNaughton disagrees.

‘I really felt that was not a very thorough study,’ he said. ‘The vast majority [of the buildings] got more accessible since 2003.’

From 2003 to 2010, accessible buildings should increase from 124 to 152, with residence halls making up the majority of currently inaccessible buildings.

According to Michael Harwood, University architect, the foremost projects on campus include increasing accessibility to the library from the Brickyard and the Court of North Carolina.

‘No way you can get up that brick hill,’ Privette said of the incline by the Court of the Carolinas. ‘I’ve tried numerous times and can’t.’

Parking also poses a problem for handicapped students, particularly when the size of campus means driving is faster transportation than rolling.

‘There are not enough handicapped spots,’ Privette said.

However, parking has never been in abundance for any student, particularly on North Campus.

‘We can’t support a lot of asphalt,’ Harwood said.

According to Harwood, the bus is the best way to connect the campus.

In this regard, Transportation also works to simplify campus for students in wheelchairs.

‘All of our buses are accessible now,’ said Thomas R. Kendig, director of Transportation.

Each of the division’s buses, in addition to having a ramp, has the capacity to kneel. To meet the curb, ‘the front of the bus comes down,’ Kim Paylor, transit manager, said.

Route adjustments and extended hours were also among efforts to make the bus system a more viable option, Kendig said. In the future, the Transportation Office plans on implementing a transit priority corridor along Dan Allen Drive.

‘The idea is that you’d have a corridor that you can run the buses on without competition,’ Kendig said.

Elevators also present a problem. Privette said he had two classes in Withers on the second floor when the elevator broke.

‘I missed class for three days,’ he said.

‘We have really focused on elevator maintenance,’ MacNaughton said of the Facilities Divison’s current efforts.

According to MacNaughton, this includes taking inventory of current problems and cutting down the response time for broken elevators.

However, Harwood realizes that the process of making campus welcoming for students of all abilities is by no means complete, with the budget being responsible for the majority of the decisions.

‘We’ve got a whole series of plans,’ he said. ‘It all comes down to funds.’

These funds, covering multi-million dollar accessibility projects across campus, come largely from the Higher Education Bond Referendum of 2000, which resulted from a need for money to cover deferred maintenance and expanding student populations on campuses across the state, according to MacNaughton.

‘We also carve out of the operating budget, which is not common at all,’ he said.

Students such as Williams eagerly await the completion of these projects.

‘The fact that you have to go through all this hassle to go through your normal school day kind of sucks,’ he said. ‘It makes me feel like separate but equal.’

Here, the University’s Master Plan, a projected look at the University in 50 years, looks to make some cultural changes by incorporating universal design, which Randall Reggi, the program manager for Design and Construction Services, calls a ‘self-imposed goal.’

‘All ADA requires is program access,’ he said, ‘and we’re almost there.’

SAS Hall, the new walkway along Stinson Drive across from Riddick Hall and the renovations to the Free Expression Tunnel all represent major steps toward building a space which increases access for students of all abilities and is aesthetically pleasing, Harwood said.

‘Universal design is not easy,’ he said. ‘It takes a lot of thinking.’

Students themselves also make a difference in the local environment.

‘If it wasn’t for some of the students here I would lose it, especially when I was in the push [wheelchair],’ Williams said.

Furthermore, accessibility or lack thereof is not unconquerable.

‘I still do everything everyone else does,’ Privette said. ‘[Being in a wheelchair] takes away from it but doesn’t let me not enjoy the full effect of college.’