[Athen] Speaking to faculty chairs

[Susan Gjolmesli]

Hello Wink.

As Director of the dRC at our institution I believe in relationship building and educational presentations whenever and wherever possible at our college.   I'm also persistent and - well, a bit of a nag.

I send out to faculty distribution lists OCR/DOJ and federal court cases about accessibility resolutions/findings.  I have been asked to Instructional Cabinet to address certain student complaint issues.  That has led to invites to program chair meetings (all divisional  meeting) to speak and present on barriers presented by publishers for instance.  We made a simple internal video about how long it took to convert one page of a current science book.  Our AT Specialist also presented at this program chair meeting... the program chairs actually stood up and applauded when they saw firsthand how much work converting some of these textbooks can be.
They were very helpful to us in developing ideas to help us get our messages through more effectively about the procedures faculty have been asked to follow regarding alt media production for students and books for classes/timelines, etc.
As a result of a couple of Cabinet meetings we have developed several presentations, and a training that I asked our AG to present to all Divisions on accommodations and disability laws in higher education....  It has been fabulous.  In fall I was asked to speak to the all faculty meeting on Ableism...


Having our AT and DRC staff  represented on committees campus wide regarding UDL, purchasing of software/technology and on line /website content development is  essential for change .This strategy  produces invites to present in desirable venues as speakers who have content expertise.

if your campus has professional development days for faculty you might find that those planning committee members are more approachable if you and your staff are active and visible on campus.   When you then request to be part of their professional development day offerings WE find they are eager to have us present and sometimes ask us before we ask them for an invite.

I appreciate all of you so much ...  It is encouraging to me to see so many out here on this list serve with the expertise you have.  I'm an end user...not a geek for sure.  But I have been an advocate in the field of disability for 30 years - 19 of them in higher education at this college.  We are all in this together....Thank you for everything you do!

Warmest Regards,

Susan
Susan Gjolmesli, Director
Disability Resource Center, B132
Phone: (425) 564-2498
http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc/


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From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Wink Harner
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2015 7:21 AM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network; aheadmembers at listserve.com; DSSHE-L at LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU
Subject: [Athen] Speaking to faculty chairs

Hi all,

We are working on crafting a "let's get invited to speak at faculty chairs meeting" letter.

Who among our esteemed listservs have asked to be invited to faculty meetings to talk about accommodations, accessibility, accessible texts, technology, trainings, etc.? How have you worded your requests to achieve success (= the invite to speak)? Any of you willing to share a few words of wisdom, guidance, effective letter crafting? What approach have you found works most effectively?

Thanks in advance for any words of advice, copies of actual letters/emails you may have sent to faculty chairs asking to be on their meeting agenda.

Blessings,

Wink Harner
winkharner1113 at gmail.com<mailto:winkharner1113 at gmail.com>
foreigntype at gmail.com<mailto:foreigntype at gmail.com>

(Disclaimer: this email was dictated with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Please forgive any quirks, mis-recognitions, or omissions.)

Wink Harner
Assistive Technology Specialist
Southern Oregon University
541-552-8442

harnerw at sou.edu<mailto:harnerw at sou.edu>

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