This summer UMBC is partnering with the Maryland Department of Disabilities to upgrade nine teaching labs in the Meyerhoff Chemistry Building. The updates will allow students with mobility disabilities to fully participate in critical chemistry and biochemistry lab courses. 

Sinks, lab benches, cabinets, fume hoods, specialized equipment stations, and more will all be constructed that are accessible for wheelchair users. A research lab will be similarly modified to allow students with disabilities to gain research experience.

“These projects are a part of an ongoing campus-wide effort to remove barriers to access throughout our campus buildings,” Celso Guitian, UMBC’s campus planner, says. 

A lecture hall in the Engineering Building is also being renovated this summer. The changes are similar to those made in lecture halls in the Administration, Meyerhoff Chemistry, and Biological Sciences buildings in recent years to create multiple spaces for wheelchair-users with fold-down desk tablets, both at the front and rear of the lecture hall. TV monitors will help students with vision disabilities who may not be able to see the whiteboard or screen at the front of these lecture halls. And seating size variations, including standing-desk options, accommodate students of varied body types and disabilities, including supporting pregnant students and students with orthopedic challenges. Assisted listening technology and an area for sign language interpreters support students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Other projects under construction this summer include accessibility upgrades in four Biological Sciences Building restrooms and elevator upgrades in several academic buildings.

“The Office of Accessibility & Disability Services greatly values our longstanding partnership with Facilities Management to assist us in the mission of inclusive access and elimination of barriers for all UMBC community members,” says Tawny McManus, assistant vice president for accessibility. “Improving our teaching labs allows increased participation of our students with disabilities and shows them UMBC welcomes everyone here.”