Institutional Change Associated With DO-IT Interventions

DO-IT projects have contributed to implementation of changes that make postsecondary campuses more inclusive of students with disabilities nationwide. Listed below are examples of changes at DO-IT's host institution, the University of Washington (UW), and of other postsecondary institutions participating in DO-IT projects. Although all changes are associated with DO-IT efforts, no cause-effect relationship can be determined. These examples can be used to stimulate inclusive practices at other schools.

University of Washington

Data routinely collected at the UW that suggest impacts for DO-IT interventions to create a more welcoming and accessible environment for students with disabilities in general and specifically for the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Institutional Change: DO-IT efforts have contributed to systematic changes at the UW: diversity issues are more broadly defined to include disability in the College of Engineering and the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (which instituted an Advisory Committee on Disability Issues); a course syllabi statement was adopted that encourages students with disabilities to talk to the professor about accommodations; a user group and website were developed to guide UW webmasters on accessible web design; the Adaptive Technology Lab grew into the Access Technology Lab to increase consulting on accessible design; videos of campus leaders on the UW website include captions; technology units routinely develop web-based tools with accessibility features; sign language is accepted for language credit; a disability studies program was established; disability-related content is included in new faculty orientations; technology fee funds collected from students are used to purchase assistive technology; and the distance learning program adopted universal design policies.

Institutional Changes at Other Institutions

Listed below are changes that are associated with interventions employed within specific DO-IT projects and programs, that include DO-IT Prof, DO-IT Admin, and AccessCollege.

Highline and Seattle School Districts and Spokane Community College institutionalized annual transition events.
Changes in teaching practices of 33 precollege teachers to be more inclusive of students with disabilities in STEM fields have been documented as part of AccessSTEM.
AccessSTEM was successful in getting the Northwest Engineering Talent Expansion Partnership (NW-ETEP) programs to recruit participants with disabilities and collect disability demographic data.
University of Wisconsin–Madison's Provost will be placing a statement addressing compliance with the campus policy on accessibility on all Technology Enhanced Licensing grants.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is currently working on a new procurement policy that addresses accessibility.
At the University of Wisconsin–Madison an engineering graduate student is working on making all campus student websites accessible.
Grant certification and travel applications at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are now online.
All project managers for web-based applications at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are now required to assess accessibility early on in project design, including registrar applications for students.
The Campus Accessibility/Usability Committee was formed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and was instrumental in the development and hiring of a new provost position for equity and diversity that now includes disability as part of diversity.
The new faculty orientation at the University of Wisconsin–Madison now includes information on the campus policy on web accessibility and information on Disabled Student Services and Do-It UW-Madison .
At Florida State University the Director of Disability Services is now part of the regular teaching assistant trainings in four major university departments.
Every academic department at Florida State University uses a campus-tailored DO-IT publication Working Together: Faculty and Students with Disabilities (for an example of the template for this brochure see http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/teachers.html) to promote accessibility for students.
Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) re-designed their campus map to reflect all accessible routes and doors.
Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) is developing an accessible web portal for student, staff, and faculty access to all services online that is currently being beta tested.
Johnson and Wales University - Rhode Island is in the process of making all textbooks on campus available through e-text. Many of their texts are available only through their campus and were written by their faculty. They procured hardware and software to convert all of these textbooks to electronic format themselves.
It is mandated that syllabi at Johnson and Wales University -Rhode Island use inclusive language and provide information about services for students with disabilities.
The Multi-cultural Center and Women's Center at Johnson and Wales University - Rhode Island now include disability in their diversity programming.
Accessible equipment has been purchased for computer labs at Johnson and Wales University-Rhode Island.
There has been an increase in accessible housing for students with disabilities at Johnson and Wales University - Rhode Island and campus signage is now universally designed.
Content on the university website at Johnson and Wales University - Rhode Island now includes inclusive people-first language.
An AccessCollege team member was asked to chair the President's Commission on Diversity at Green River Community College.
At Green River Community College the campus maps are currently being redeveloped to show accessible routes and buildings.
The Capital Improvement Planning Team at Green River Community College now includes the Disabled Student Services Director and an AccessCollege team member (Dean of Student Services) and is incorporating universal design and accessibility into short- and long-term planning.
AccessCollege team member at Green River Community College was appointed to the President's Executive Team and is bringing issues of universal design and accessibility to policy and practice discussions and development.
At Green River Community College Critical Incidents teams have been developed to address incidents of bias or harassment in the areas of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion and disability on campus.
At Green River Community College the Disabled Support Services office was awarded at $2,500 grant from the Vice President of Instruction to work with faculty to create alternative/universally designed teaching strategies.
At Green River Community College universal design processes have been implemented for all student service offices through intensive 3-stage staff workshops.
The University of Florida is implementing a technology fee of which part will be used to buy accessible computer software and hardware on campus.
University of Florida has begun to video caption all pre-recorded materials for classes and campus presentations.
Arizona State University has adopted the 11 Campus Accessibility Indicators developed by AccessCollege on all four of their campuses.
Arizona State University is working to develop and implement a policy that mandates universally designed and captioned video/Web content on their campuses.
University of Minnesota-Duluth is working to redesign structural barriers to make their campus more accessible.
University of Minnesota-Duluth adopted a statement for course syllabi related to accommodations for students with disabilities.
University of Minnesota-Duluth is developing a campus policy and implementation plan on accessibility.
University of Minnesota-Duluth is developing a Faculty Mentorship Group to train faculty on universal design and accommodations and pair them with students with disabilities on campus and to educate faculty peers.
At Des Moines Area Community College all syllabi now contain an accommodation statement for students with disabilities.
Des Moines Area Community College has implemented a scheduled universal design and accommodations training for all faculty and adjunct faculty on their campus.

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