UGM provides disability-friendly facilities in all main buildings, this includes wheelchair-accessible ramps, disability-friendly restrooms, and passenger lifts. The university aims to always rehabilitate and improve campus infrastructure to accommodate students, staff, and faculty with disabilities.
UGM has its own Integrated Health Services Bureau, is committed to fostering an inclusive environment by providing comprehensive facilities and services for individuals with disabilities across its faculties, the Graduate School, Vocational School, and main buildings. These include accessible infrastructure such as ramps, accessible toilets, and elevators across campus, ensuring ease of mobility. Additionally, the Disability Service Unit (DSU) facilitates access to inclusive education and services, ensuring that learning processes accommodate all students. UGM has also organised initiatives like special vaccination facilities for people with disabilities, featuring drive-thru options, and has supported the provision of assistive devices such as prosthetic limbs to improve the quality of life for students with disabilities. Through these efforts, UGM demonstrates its commitment to inclusivity and support for all members of its academic community.
A wheelchair-accessible entrance can also be found at the UGM Main Library for individuals with mobility limitations, allowing them to visit the library without difficulties that might have previously hindered their participation in academic activities. The installation of elevators further improves accessibility, enabling individuals with disabilities to move easily and independently between floors. The library is also equipped with disability-friendly restrooms. Moreover, UGM Main Library provides a dedicated space for visitors with disabilities, featuring a range of facilities such as wheelchairs, braille books, magnifying glasses, and computers for accessing the Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) collection.
Each faculty at UGM makes it a priority to develop their main buildings used for teaching and learning to be easily accessible. The Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIPOL) is among those faculties actively working towards creating a disability-friendly campus by enhancing its infrastructure to better accommodate individuals with disabilities. The development of disability-friendly infrastructure at FISIPOL UGM includes installing guiding blocks, ramps, and handrails in elevators to ensure better accessibility and inclusivity. These developments were part of the discussion during the International Conference on Disability Rights (ICDR) held at FISIPOL in collaboration with Australia-Indonesia Disability Research and Advocacy Network (AIDRAN), Kemitraan Australia-Indonesia Menuju Masyarakat Inklusif (INKLUSI), and the Australian Catholic University (ACU). The topic of this biennial AIDRAN Conference is Advancing Disability Rights: Disability Inclusive Development Reimagined.
Remarkably, the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB UGM) has installed over 33 disability-friendly facilities; wheelchair-accessible ramps, disability-friendly restrooms, and passenger lifts. The wheelchair ramps enable individuals with disabilities to easily access buildings and rooms within the faculty, promoting greater independence and reducing reliance on others for mobility. The disability-friendly restrooms are thoughtfully designed with features such as handrails, spacious interiors for wheelchair manoeuvrability, and anti-slip surfaces to ensure safety and comfort. Passenger lifts facilitate seamless mobility across floors in key buildings, including the Pertamina Tower, Faculty Building, and Learning Center.
Across campus, the Faculty of Engineering has taken significant steps to create an inclusive campus environment as well, by developing disability-friendly infrastructure throughout its premises. Key facilities include guiding blocks to assist with navigation between the UGM Faculty of Engineering monument and the SGLC building, as well as ramps to replace stairs in buildings such as SGLC, ERIC, and the library. Handrails in elevators at the SGLC building ensure safer and more convenient use, while braille-equipped elevators enable visually impaired individuals to navigate with greater independence. Additionally, the faculty provides disability-friendly restrooms in the SGLC building, designated parking spaces for persons with disabilities at the ERIC building, and wheelchair availability in the SGLC building.
It can be seen that the commitment to creating an inclusive and accessible environment extends across the UGM campus. From the Department of Archeology at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences to the UGM Academic Hospital, disability-friendly facilities have been equipped in all buildings and classrooms for those with special needs. There are campaigns at the Department of Archeology to spread awareness among the academic community about supporting students with physical and mental limitations. Meanwhile, the UGM Academic Hospital plans to include sign language interpreters for patients with hearing difficulties.
References:
- Realizing a Disability-Friendly at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIPOL) UGM
- FEB UGM’s Disability-Friendly Facilities
- Campus facilities for disable special needs
- Faculty of Engineering UGM: A Disability-Friendly Campus
- Implementation in UGM Work Units: Library and Archives
- Disability Facilities managed by the UGM Integrated Health Services Bureau