Chronicle of Higher Ed Shines Teaching Spotlight on Collaborative for Access & Equity

In a special edition of its Teaching newsletter, the Chronicle of Higher Education delved deeply into the work of the Collaborative for Access and Equity and its recently published impact report — for insights to improve teaching and learning across college campuses.

In the publication, How Students Can Help Create More Accessible Courses, reporter Beth McMurtrie interviewed:

• Collaborative director Dr. Stephanie Cawthon about the project’s student-led strategies that put disability front and center in conversations about teaching practices, as well as broader discussions about diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Undergrad Soren Aldaco about student/faculty partnerships

• Faculty member Deanna Buckley about the transformation in her teaching

McMurtrie writes:

“Cawthon said it’s important for faculty members to be proactive about accessible course design, since many students don’t tell anyone about their disability. Perhaps they feel they need to handle it on their own. Or getting an official diagnosis for an accommodation request would be time-consuming and expensive. ‘The process is belittling in many ways,’ she said. ‘Someone is judging you, evaluating you. There comes a sort of stigma and questioning: Should we allow you to have access? That setup is just, like, ‘prove it to us.’”

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