Semester 2 2017 Thesis 9
Designing the Inclusive University
Andrew Martel
An important indicator of an inclusive and supportive university is that the percentage of its staff and students with a disability is consistent with that of the general community, where around 1 in 5 people are recognised as having a disability. Unfortunately, most higher education institutions – including the University of Melbourne – do not meet these standards. Pro‐active hiring practices and scholarship programs can go some way to redress this imbalance, but once on campus it is the physical and technological environment that intimately affects the day‐to‐day experiences of people. Difficult, stressful and embarrassing environments greatly contribute to low rates of job retention and poor student outcomes.
This studio investigates and champions how sensitive and knowledgeable design interventions can impact to improve the experiences of all of the users of the University’s spaces, but particularly for people with vision or hearing impairments, or cognitive disabilities like anxiety, depression or autism. The studio will receive input from the University’s Building Services, HR, and Disability Support Services, as well as disability service providers such as Vision Australia, experts in workplace design, and most importantly, first‐hand knowledge of the experience of people with disabilities who work and study at the University.
Students will investigate a range of disabilities with a focus on how the characteristics of those disabilities impact on people’s ability to successfully work or study, and then critically examine a teaching, learning or work space on the Parkville campus to identify potential issues and then propose a comprehensive design program to mediate those issues. When combined across multiple disability profiles and types of university spaces, the output of the studio will be used by the University to develop a method to allow it to assess a continuing improvement program towards a best practice integration of support and the built environment for inclusivity and equity.
Studio Partners:
Melbourne Social Equity Institute
Vision Australia
Scope Australia
University of Melbourne Disability Liaison
University of Melbourne Building Services
University of Melbourne Human Resources
ST1/09 Monday 2:15pm - 5:15pm, MSD Room 449
ST2/09 Wednesday 2:15pm - 5:15pm, MSD Room 139