Over the course of the exercises, participants will be asked to view themselves and their courses through the lens of Faculty, Staff, and Designer. It is with this holistic approach that we are then able to see a clearer picture of the collaboration needed in order to support all of our students through inclusive and equitable access.

Every community member at the institution has a part to play here. Before starting with the first exercise, let’s take a look at three key roles in the process and how they can support the process.

faculty

Faculty, whether full-time or adjunct, will deepen their practice by identifying, recognizing, examining, evaluating and ultimately developing and designing more intuitive resources for their students.

staff

Staff, from educational technology and student life to financial services and advising, supports persistence and retention. Exploring these activities will provide the resources needed to support students in their coursework by integrating similar experiences in other campus-wide support structures.

designer

Designers will deepen their practice through collaboration, as well as continuing the exploration of content from a multi-tiered perspective of faculty, staff and student in order to provide more targeted, inclusive, and equitable solutions during course development projects.

student view

Lastly, before moving on to the exercises, we must consider the reason behind this work: Supporting our students. Whether in a group workshop or going at your own pace, participants will be asked to reflect critically on a number of topics, and some of them require you – or, in some instances, a collaborator – to inspect your course content, including the syllabus, from a student point of view.

As can often happen with any work over time, the world changes around us yet time may not afford us the ability to catch up and adapt. That our work may need revisiting is a difficult and tough realization. But through pragmatic reflection, we can effect real change.