The Latest: Faculty Equity 💫 Student Partners 🤝 Thriving Campus ☀️

👋 Welcome to the November issue of The Latest, which is still wearing an “I Voted” sticker with pride. This month’s newsletter is 1,054 words — a 4-5 minute read. 

💫 The Main Takeaway: Faculty Deserve to Thrive, Not Just Exist

I am thrilled to announce the newly-established Disabled Faculty Equity Council at The University of Texas at Austin, which I’m honored to help create and co-chair.  

• For the first time in its 139-year history, UT Austin has an equity council for faculty who have disabilities — joining other councils that address racial, gender, and LGBTQ+ equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Why is this important? 

• Disabled experiences are often hidden. Disclosure rates among faculty (and students) are low. 

• Asking for accommodations is risky. A high "disability tax" adds to inequity in faculty success.

• Diversity initiatives need to include disability, and inclusion initiatives need to consider accessibility. 

• Key decision-makers need to be aware of ableist practices that are common on campus. 

As I told The Daily Texan, it wasn’t so much, ‘let’s start a council.’ It was, ‘there are some issues for faculty with disabilities that aren’t being addressed, what’s the best way to do it?’ 

Want to start a similar initiative on your campus? Contact me! 

🤝 Students As Partners, As People, As Progress 

Who is your "go-to" for feedback? It can be tempting to prioritize feedback from supervisors (who we are trying to impress) or people we work with (with complex and interconnected relationships). 

Have you tried the Students-As-Partners program model? It’s my go-to, especially when I’m teaching. 

• It’s an evidence-based model that leverages the power of objective, trusted student partnerships 

Check out this guest blog post about it by trailblazing undergraduate Soren Aldaco, who shares their story about the transformative power of feedback, collaboration, and a neurodiverse perspective. 

🎭 Four Ways the Theatre Prepared Me for Success in Work and Life 

My dad was an actor, a chorus member, and a director. This created a foundation for my love of all things performing arts. I did my fair share of tech work off-stage and even some small singing stints. 

• But what the theatre really gave me were essential skills and mindsets that are still part of me today. 

✅ Everyone chips in. It’s 3 am. The stage needs painting. Tonight is opening night. What to do? Time for a pizza and a painting party. Grab a roller. It’s done in no time. 

✅ We all have a role to play. Most of life is not a monologue. Figuring out how to work with a team, take feedback, and find your own voice is the key to successful collaboration. Be kind to each other, even when we miss our cue, note, line (or deadline). 

✅ Cue one, go. My best self is a stage manager. That person cues up each “beat” and knows all areas of the production. From the tech crew in the dark to the conductor in the pit, a calm steady hand (and a sense of humor) makes it run smoothly. 

✅ Life is both wondrous and ephemeral. A show goes up, and then it closes. Even the longest-running musicals at some point do come to an end. Cherish the time while you’re in it, be fully present. And when it ends, say goodbye gracefully, and carry that love with you. Put out the ghost lamp - a single white bulb 💡- until the next production (project, initiative, class). 

Because all the world’s a stage….

🔆 ICYMI: My Newest Impact Report

Just published: Transforming Higher Education From the Inside Out: The Collaborative for Access and Equity (Pilot) Impact Report 

Use it as a roadmap for how you can:  

• Design and implement your own initiative to boost access and equity on your campus 

• Attract and assemble intersectional teams to make it happen 

• Easily tweak your teaching for everyone’s benefit 

• Realize short-term and long-term outcomes for students, faculty, and staff

• Become an ambassador for accessibility in your work and at your organization  

I was recently interviewed by the Chronicle of Higher Education about the Collaborative’s process and insights. Stay tuned for that story in a future issue of The Latest! 

📕 Preparing to (Gulp!) Write a New Book 

Yup, I’m putting it out into the world. One of my major projects for 2023 is to write a new book. It’s scary to admit publicly, but essential to the commitment to myself to keep writing. 

• As part of the preparation process, I’m reading works by some awesome authors, including Alice Wong, Emily Ladau, and Sheryl Burkstahler. Who else should be on this list? Let me know! 

🌀 The Wrap-Up      

💪 First Generation Week is a celebration of strength. It’s a wonderful reminder to strengthen our commitment to first-gen students AND focus on their strengths! Want to lift them up and bring about real change? Shift your mindset. Focus on what first-gen students CAN do and avoid the deficit mindset so often used with them. First-gen student Ana Guadalupe Vielma is a fierce champion for this (working with her is a total game changer!) and this week we teamed up for the presentation Asset-Based Advocacy for First-Gen Students.  

💡 Asking good questions is my superpower. I love to do this as a member of advisory boards and task forces! Why? It's dedicated time. Everything is focused on the issue or needs at hand. It's exciting to see the brain power, and it's a time for deep thinking. That’s the passion I’m bringing to my newest appointment with the global nonprofit Cognia, where I'm very honored to serve on their Texas Advisory Committee.

⚖️  It’s not often we get to tell lawyers what to do. When the American Bar Association invited me to contribute to their National Disability Employment Awareness Month content and help law firms become more accessible and equitable, I seized the opportunity. As I wrote in my guest article, the Americans with Disabilities Act is the floor, not the ceiling, and it all begins with a better understanding of ableism. 

🌟 And Finally…

Living with disabilities is a daily master class in perseverance and problem-solving. Disabled colleagues and leaders are an untapped goldmine of talent and assets for you and your organization. 

[Image description: White copy on green background reads “Want people who can pivot, adapt and creatively address dynamic challenges? Recruit and hire disabled professionals.”]

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