Introduction

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Advancements in technology and increased job specialization have resulted in career opportunities in fields that were once considered unattainable for individuals who have disabilities. Many of these careers require knowledge and skills obtained through postsecondary education. Although the number of individuals with disabilities seeking postsecondary education continues to increase, these students experience lower success rates than their non-disabled peers. Individuals with disabilities continue to be underrepresented in many challenging academic and career fields.

Federal legislation mandates that academic accommodations be made to ensure that qualified postsecondary students with disabilities have educational opportunities that are equivalent to others. Faculty and staff members who are familiar with disabilities, accommodation strategies, and resources are better prepared to make arrangements that will ensure that students with disabilities have equal opportunities to participate in their programs.

Since 1992, DO-IT has promoted the success of individuals with disabilities in postsecondary education and employment through direct work with students who have disabilities, and through professional development for educators, service providers, and employers. DO-IT has been recognized for its efforts through many awards, including the 1995 National Information Infrastructure Award in Education; the 1997 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring; the 1999 Golden Apple Award for excellence in education; the 2001 exemplary program award from the Association for Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD); a 2001 Bright Ideas Award from the Professional and Organizational Development Network; the 2004 Sloan Consortium Award; the 2004 BizTech Accessibility Award; several Achievement Awards from the Washington Association for Postsecondary Education and Disabilities; the 2006 Trace Research and Development Center's Catalyst Award; and the 2007 Greenberg Award for Innovation from Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities.

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) funded DO-IT Prof (grant # P333A990042). This project created these professional development materials to train faculty and academic administrators to more fully include students with disabilities in their courses. In 2009, the AccessCollege project (grant #P333A050064) project updated these popular faculty development materials.

Six Models of Professional Development

Responding to the diverse content and scheduling needs of faculty and administrators, the project team created six models of professional development for faculty and administrators:

Model 1: A 20-30 minute overview to introduce participants to basic legal issues, accommodation strategies, and resources specific to their campus.

Model 2: A 1-2 hour presentation with special focus on providing accommodations to students with a variety of disabilities and introducing campus participants to legal issues and resources.

Model 3: Tailored workshops for in-depth training on specific topics.

Model 4: A televised instruction option using a series of videos for delivery on public television.

Model 5: A distance learning "anytime-anywhere" course that provides lessons and discussions delivered via email.

Model 6: Self-paced, web-based instruction with expanded content of other models (https://www.washington.edu/doit/programs/accesscollege/faculty-room/overview).

The project teams that created and updated these materials included faculty, disabled student services staff, and administrators at institutions of higher education nationwide. Project team members chose institutional partners in their states. Team members from four-year institutions chose community or technical colleges as partners; team members from community or technical colleges chose four-year schools. Participants represent schools with a wide range of demographics (e.g., racial/ethnic diversity, size, location).

Project team members participated in multiple collaborative meetings. As part of a needs assessment, they conducted focus groups with students who have disabilities, teaching assistants, faculty, and administrators on their campuses. Representatives from team and partner schools delivered professional development programs, disseminated materials, and explored strategies for providing technical assistance to faculty and administrators. Ongoing discussion and coordination of project activities took place on an Internet discussion list and during telephone conferences.

All project materials are offered in formats that are readily accessible to individuals with disabilities. Permission to copy and distribute project products for educational, noncommercial purposes is granted as long as the source is acknowledged.

The AccessCollege project also supported the development of The Center for Universal Design in Education website to complement websites developed in earlier projects that support faculty, administrators, and other stakeholders. In addition, project staff edited the book Universal Design in Higher Education: From Principles to Practice that brought together more than forty experts to share research and applications of universal design in instruction, services, physical spaces, and technology. It was published by Harvard Education Press and provides comprehensive foundational content for those who deliver professional development to postsecondary faculty and administrators.

The professional development activities that these materials support help faculty and administrators fully include students with disabilities on their campuses and contribute to systemic change within postsecondary institutions across the nation. Ultimately, such efforts can lead to increased educational and career opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

I hope that you find these materials useful in your efforts to ensure that all students on your campus have equal opportunities to learn, explore interests, and express ideas.

Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D.
Director, DO-IT

How To Use These Materials

The enclosed videos, written materials, and handout templates were developed for those providing professional development to help faculty and administrators in postsecondary institutions become more aware of:

  • the rights, responsibilities, potential contributions, and needs of students with disabilities
  • the rights and responsibilities of postsecondary institutions
  • reasonable accommodations and instructional strategies for working with students who have disabilities
  • campus resources that help provide equitable educational opportunities for all students

These materials are for use in departmental and campus-wide presentations to stimulate discussion and action. Each presentation option can be tailored for meetings of administrators, departmental chairs, advisors, faculty, teaching assistants, and support staff. The presentations are intended for use in public and private; large and small; and two-year, four-year, and technical postsecondary institutions. Presentation lengths vary from 20 minutes to several days. The materials were tested nationwide and refined based on faculty and staff evaluations.

In addition to the presentations themselves, a synthesis of research, implementation and institutionalization strategies, presentation tips, frequently asked questions, and resources are included. The following paragraphs describe the content of this handbook.

Synthesis of Research

The content included in this handbook is based on research in a number of relevant areas. These include experiences of students with disabilities, reported postsecondary faculty training needs, adult learning, learning styles, types of learning, universal design of instruction, and systemic change. This section describes the underlying theory and research that supports the practices suggested in these materials.

Institutionalization Strategies

Setting up one training session for a department is not difficult; however, developing strategies to institutionalize faculty and administrator training requires more thought and planning. This section provides suggestions that can result in long-term improvements on your campus. Implementing institutionalization strategies will help ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to your academic programs and resources.

Presentation Tips

This section provides suggestions for making engaging and informative presentations to faculty, administrators, and staff. You will also find case studies to use in your presentations.

Presentations

Several presentation options are outlined in this section:

  • 20-30 minute overview to introduce participants to basic legal issues, accommodation strategies, and resources specific to their campus;
  • 1-2 hour presentation with a special focus on providing accommodations to students with a variety of disabilities and introducing participants to legal issues and campus resources; and
  • 10 tailored workshops for in-depth training on topics of special interest to faculty and administrators.

For each presentation option, a sample script is included to minimize the preparation that might otherwise be required. The presenter may use the script verbatim or extract ideas to customize a presentation.

The videos included in this notebook can be used in specific presentations or broadcast on public television. Handout and overhead projection templates are provided in the Presentation Tools section for easy duplication and use.

A web-based instructional option is also available for faculty and administrators. To access web-based instruction, visit The Faculty Room. A distance learning course that can be delivered via email to faculty and administrators on your campus can be found in The Faculty Room at https://www.washington.edu/doit/distance-learning-course-academic-accommodations-students-disabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions (FAQs) and their answers provide a useful reference for presenters. They represent a small sample of the articles available in the searchable Knowledge Base at https://www.washington.edu/doit/programs/accesscollege/faculty-room/overview. If reviewed before delivering a presentation, the FAQs can help the presenter prepare responses to questions commonly asked by faculty and administrators.

Resources

A glossary of disability-related terms, a list of resources, and references are included.

Presentation Tools

The presenter will find ready-to-use presentation tools included in this section.

Permission is granted to reproduce any of these materials for noncommercial, educational purposes as long as the source is acknowledged. Much of the content is duplicated in other publications, training materials, and webpages published by the DO-IT Center; most can be found within the comprehensive website at http://www.washington.edu/doit/.