The Issues

In Queens College, students with and without disabilities struggle to be prepared for college. Regardless of academic preparation for college, many students struggle with campus life: affordability, accommodation, and access to resources.

Furthermore, while many universities, including Queens College, technically adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), institutions fall short of accommodating people with disabilities in areas such as employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and access to state and local government services. 60% of universities often receive a D or F in scoring values measuring indicators of accessibility and accommodation processes, disallowing students with disabilities to receive the access to higher education that they deserve. As a result of lack of accommodation, studies from the U.S. show that individuals with disabilities have lower employment rates and higher unemployment rates compared to individuals without disabilities.

Regarding affordability, university students often struggle with needs insecurity. Traditional education systems typically disregard prioritizing basic needs of students, including the financial and mental aspects. Most students on the Queens College campus receive some form of financial aid–but due to budget cuts under Governor Cuomo, the amount of money from the state going to student funding has declined, requiring they work in order to pay for tuition instead, among other needs. Because of this, students often have to travel far distances from campus to go to their job, taking away precious time that could be used to study, to relax, or to engage with friends. The stress that results can lead to increased dropout rates.

While surveying both students with and without disabilities around campus, we noticed a variety of unaddressed issues. We divided these issues into three categories: campus safety, access to reasonable communication, and economic hardships. We decided to address them by proposing a collaborative approach among the entire student body in order to cause systematic change.

Because of these hardships, whether economic or physical, rates of undergraduate students facing these types of insecurities begin to have a decreased academic success, and thus, higher dropout rates. We, at Nav4All, seek to promote the betterment of all students through working together. We propose the overarching research question: how can we create a student-led workforce to better accommodate students with disabilities around campus, while also addressing the financial needs of all students on campus?

Lack of Jobs on Campus

  • Budget cuts to CUNY in recent years under individuals such as Governor Cuomo and Mayor Eric Adams have led to a reduction in financial aid.
  • Students are forced to work off campus due to campus jobs not being able to accommodate a larger amount of student workers, meaning they have to travel off campus to work, directly taking away time in their day to study. Working on top of 18 credit hours is often stressful, with the rule in place being “study 3 hours for each credit hour you have”. Managing this is impossible at times.

Lack of Options

  • Dorms don’t always give people with disabilties preferential rooms, making it harder for them to get around when the elevator is not adequate.
  • Not many visually/hearing-impaired accommodating classes, or it is harder for people with learning disabilities to have enough flexibility with the same amount of rigor.
  • Technology can be outdated, making it harder for students with visual disabilities to be adequately accommodated, e.g. a professor has you refer to an online website such as Cengage, but you can’t have the problem read to you.

Campus Safety

  • There is a lack of aid on campus for people with visual impairments, making it harder for them to get around campus safely, especially given the size of the Queens College campus. When using the word “aid”, this includes a host of issues: little to no truncated domes at crosswalks, lack of campus maps accessible to people with visual difficulties, confusing navigation routes with no clear patterns, and sharp corners on signs with (miniscule) Braille, potentially leading to bodily harm.
  • The environment can be unsafe for people in wheelchairs, with a huge incline in some areas and not enough accommodation to make up for the natural terrain. Honors Hall is particularly inaccessible, with students in wheelchairs needing to go all the way around the back to access the building due to the huge staircase being the only other way in.
  • Dorms don’t always give people with disabilities preferential rooms, making it harder for them to get around when the elevator is not adequate, potentially leading to dangerous situations in trying to get down the stairs.