The Student Association will reassess NIU’s handicapped accessibility for the first time in more than a decade Saturday as it conducts a campus-wide audit to highlight problem areas.

The walking tour and inspection of more than 15 buildings will evaluate accessibility by measuring features such as bathroom door width and the height of elevator buttons.

“We urge people to come out and give us a hand,” said Morenike Cheatom, SA campus welfare adviser. Cheatom said the SA hopes to find at least 50 volunteers and has asked the presidents of the greek councils and other student organizations to each send one representative.

John Beck, an accessibility expert from the Regional Access and Mobilization Project, will direct the audit. RAMP is a Rockford based, not-for-profit independent living center for the disabled that offers free handicapped accessibility audits and peer counseling.

Saturday’s audit will be the SA’s second attempt to reassess the campus. A previous audit, set for mid-September, was canceled due to lack of participation. Cheatom said Saturday’s audit has been better publicized, and she expects no difficulty in finding enough volunteers.

Sue Reinhardt, NIU handicapped services coordinator, said she does not plan to take part in the audit but has provided Beck and Cheatom with information from handicapped services’ “transitional notebook,” which targets known problem areas.

Handicapped Services has most of the accessibility information it needs, but Reinhardt said the new audit “will give us a better idea of where we are” compared to the last assessment in 1978.

Reinhardt said NIU is in compliance with federal laws requiring “program accessibility” to relocate a class or office to a more accessible location when needed, but problems could arise in classes which are difficult to relocate, such as those held in auditoriums or laboratories.

Cheatom said Beck will summarize the audit results and give copies of the report, including cost estimates, to Patricia Hewitt, NIU associate vice president for business and operations, and Mary Crocker, NIU associate director of auxiliary enterprises.

Hewitt and Crocker, after reviewing the report, will draft proposals for improvements and send them through administrative channels for approval and funding. Cheatom said anyone interested in assisting with the audit should attend an orientation session at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Holmes Student Center Room 305.