UW joins national accessibility program

UW–Madison and Madison Area Technical College have been invited to join a select national program that aims to increase the success of disabled students on campuses.

The Division of Information Technology Learning Technology and Distance Education group, working with the McBurney Disability Resource Center, is part of a program called Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology, based at the University of Washington.

The program works to increase the representation of individuals with disabilities in post-secondary education and employment by workinf directly with disabled students; organizing professional development for faculty, staff and employers; and disseminating information.

LTDE and partners were among 20 partnerships chosen from more than 100 institutions. Criteria included demographic diversity, and whether applicants could prove they would bring exceptional effort to the project.

LTDE and partners will work with a subgroup, the Prof team, with members from 20 states and a variety of post-secondary institutions. The group will develop ways to implement a comprehensive professional development program for faculty across the nation.

The team will create and deliver at least six models of professional development, including televised instruction and a web-based tutorial. Locally, LTDE will focus on implementing a professional development program for UW System campuses.

“We’re excited about the opportunity,” says Alice Anderson, who coordinates LTDE’s disability-awareness efforts. “Although various campuses around the country have developed fragmented programs to increase faculty awareness, no one has created a comprehensive program using the multimodal delivery mechanisms that will be utilized in this project.”

As a first step toward their goals, team members met in mid-February at the University of Washington to address professional development and technical support issues and strategies. Members also began drafting professional development materials; made data collection plans, and created presentation timelines for their home institutions.

More details are available at: http://www.washington.edu/doit/Prof/abstract.html