ACCESS@UCCS

ACCESS

ACCESS@UCCS

ACCESS@UCCS is a series of events to raise awareness of how to implement equity, diversity, and inclusion in teaching. Using the ACCESS model, you will be guided through inclusive teaching practices and strategies that aim to reduce barriers and create an inclusive classroom environment online and in the classroom.

ACCESS Overview

  • Overview video - This video is an overview of the ACCESS model. In this video, Angie Dodson, FRC Instructional Designer, walks through the ACCESS model and the process of creating a more inclusive classroom for your students.
  • The ACCESS Model for Inclusive Teaching - This infographic provides an overview and definition of the ACCESS model.
ACCESS@UCCS Sessions

ACCESS Week: November 7th – 10th

Sessions throughout this week focus on inclusive teaching practices and strategies that aim to reduce barriers and create an inclusive learning environment online and in the classroom. Join us in person (Columbine Hall 203) or online for these DEI focused presentations/workshops.

Civil Discourse in Anti-racist Work

Monday, November 7, 12:15-1:00 pm

Shannon Johnson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Social Work, School of Public Affairs

The use of race to organize society throughout our nation’s history to privilege some while disadvantaging others has led both to persistent racial biases at the individual level and to institutionalized racism. Defeating racism at both the individual and systemic levels requires civil discourse among folks of diverse identities. This session will focus on methods for creating space for difficult discussions in the classroom.

Video Recording | Session Slides

Trauma-informed Teaching and Learning: Principles and Practices

Tuesday, November 8, 2:00-2:45 pm

Johanna Baez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Social Work, School of Public Affairs

Trauma-informed teaching and learning (TITL) has become increasingly important as a key way to remove possible barriers to learning. Trauma-informed education includes understanding the ways in which trauma can impact students and ways to minimize the possibility of (re) traumatization and maximize educational success. This interactive presentation will cover TITL principles and practices for your classroom.

Video Recording | Session Slides | Session Handout

Sneak Peek at Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning

Wednesday, November 9, 2:00-2:45 pm

Lynnane George, Ph.D., Senior Instructor, Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Angie Dodson, M.Ed., Faculty Development Coordinator, FRC

Presented as a GIFT Exchange, this session introduces three forms of “small teaching” as a pre-cursor to the Spring 2023 Teaching Circle featuring James M. Lang’s Small teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning.

Video Recording | Session Slides | Session Handout

CollabTeach: The Unessay and Intellectual Curiosity

Thursday, November 10, 2:00-2:45 pm

Carole Woodall, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of History, College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

CollabTeach is an interactive workshop initiative that focuses on faculty engagement with critical educational strategies. This initial CollabTeach session engages with the question, "How can student's intellectual curiosity inspire unessays which center different learning preferences and expressions?" The workshop provides a space for each participant to share unessay approaches and ideas.

Video Recording | Session Slides

Archived Sessions
Recognizing and lowering barriers to access in the classroom (Communique, news publication of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, February 15, 2022)
Using Read & Write in the Classroom, Tuesday, January 25, 2022
  • Leyna Bencomo, Assistive Technologist Specialist
    • Make your classes easier to access without doing extra work! Introduce Read & Write to students on day one and minimize the number of accommodations you need to make for students. The software is free for all students and faculty.
Creating Accessible Digital Course Documents, Thursday, January 27, 2022

  • Sharon Stevens, FRC Faculty Development Coordinator

    • When creating course documents using Microsoft Word or Canvas Pages, a few simple digital accessibility principles are relevant for almost all document types. In this session, you will use a few principles to improve the readability and accessibility of your course materials and documents. Have a course syllabus, Word document, or Canvas Page open, and you will have the opportunity to apply these principles.

Week of November 8, 2021
  • During the week of November 8, 2021, the Faculty Resource Center hosted several sessions related to UCCS student diversity and inclusion in the classroom.
  • Recordings and Resources
Digital inaccessibility directly impacts students’ ability to engage in your course online (Communique, news publication of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, October 21, 2021)
Diversity and Inclusion: Implementing Inclusive Teaching Strategies in Your Course
  • Catherine Grandorff, Karin Larkin, and Suhaan Mehta, College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences
Diversity and Inclusion: Design an Inclusive Course in Canvas
Diversity and Inclusion: Supporting Students with Invisible Disabilities
  • Scott Kupferman, College of Education, and Sharon Stevens, Faculty Resource Center
Training Opportunity

The WebAIM's Online Course is designed for educators that have experience creating Microsoft documents (web development or design experience is not required). Given the proliferation of online programs and (open) educational resources, it is important we provide tools necessary for expanding accessibility for all learners. We are hoping you can share with your networks, to get a better understanding of interest level.

This independent-study online training covers principles and processes for:

  • Creating accessible document content and structure in Word & PowerPoint
  • Evaluating the accessibility of well-structured Word & PowerPoint documents
  • Optimizing the accessibility of PDFs exported from well-structured Word & PowerPoint documents with Acrobat.

Individual course enrollments are $125. Self-enrollment is available at WebAIM's Online Course page.

Resources

Last updated November 14, 2022
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