Joan Fisher, assistant director for disability services in the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) at Cornell, is retiring Jan. 1 after more than 11 years on the job.
She steps down with a sense of satisfaction at the success she has achieved in helping to make the Cornell campus more accessible to those with disabilities, but also with the belief that more remains to be done. And her greatest satisfaction, she said, has been a personal one -- the knowledge that she is making a difference for individuals.
"I'll get calls from students five years later, when they're a doctor or a lawyer, just calling to say 'hi' and to thank me," Fisher said. "Those are the things you can't measure, but those are the things that give you satisfaction in this job."
Associate Provost Winnie Taylor said Fisher has made a real difference at Cornell. "Cornell has benefited greatly from Joan's expertise and creativity," Taylor said. "She has shown us what a person can do with enough energy and determination. Her sustained dedication is unsurpassed. She will be sorely missed."
OEO has experienced an explosion in the demand for services for the disabled over the past 11 years. When Fisher started in 1987, 70 students requested services for the disabled. That number grew to 604 in 1997-98.
And while OEO's services are available to faculty and staff as well as students, the majority of the case load involves students. For that reason, when Fisher retires, Disability Services will be transferred to the Office of Student and Academic Services, under Vice President Susan Murphy.
That makes sense, Fisher said, because while the caseload has multiplied and federal regulations have proliferated, her bottom line mission remains the same: "to level the playing field for students so they can fairly demonstrate their real abilities."
To that end, Fisher said, she feels she has been instrumental to progress on a number of specific goals, including:
·Raising campus awareness that students and others with disabilities are not just the concern of the assistant director for disability services, but are the concern of everyone at Cornell. "The OEO is a resource to see that improvements in accessibility are made, that things get done, but each unit and department must take ownership in the process. And that's beginning to happen," she said.
·Making buildings on campus more accessible. "I'm very proud of the progress Cornell has made in making buildings more accessible," she said. "The trustees have made a real commitment to removing barriers and ensuring that new buildings are barrier-free." However, she pointed out that the disappearance of parking lots has made it more difficult for those with disabilities to get to some buildings. "That needs to be addressed, perhaps with some kind of shuttle transportation augmenting buses," she said.
·Making the campus a welcoming, accessible place for those with disabilities. She has been working on improving signs, providing alternative formats for brochures and information pieces and ensuring accessibility to places like the Plantations, Cornell Cinema and Schoellkopf Field, so that those with disabilities "can participate in all the activities and programs that Cornell has to offer."
·Creating a campuswide network of disability representatives. There are now 21 people around the campus, in each college and unit, who act as disability representatives. They are her contact people in the units, acting as representatives for those with disabilities. They meet, discuss problems or concerns and she keeps them informed of new legislation.
·Creating a mentor program for freshmen. Each freshman now is paired with an upper-class mentor with the same kind of disability, to help ease the transition to campus life.
"That progress has been a real source of satisfaction over the years," Fisher said. "But my deepest pleasure has been in helping these students master the campus environment and go on to achieve the very best they are capable of, here and in the outside world."
More remains to be done, Fisher said. The number of cases keeps growing, regulations keep changing, new buildings keep being planned and attitudes keep needing to be informed. All of that will be a job for her successor, and Murphy said a search to fill the position is in process.
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