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/.