Creating excellent learning experiences for each student

The Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence (CAFE) has now completed its 3rd year in support of the Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) Champions for Accessibility and Inclusivity (CHAI) project. CHAI serves as a model in CPP’s long-standing commitment to accessibility. The CHAI project identifies faculty from each of CPP’s eight academic colleges to serve as representatives in their own college for accessibility, inclusivity, and quality assurance. The goal is to create a faculty-to-faculty approach of promoting awareness of best practices and a focus on continuous improvement, with direct help from a team of expert instructional designers.  

The CHAI program allowed us to recognize accessibility heroes and to help other faculty become heroes. Our purpose was to create a network of empathy, both towards students who benefit from universal design and accessible course materials, and towards faculty who provide those materials.

The driving force of the CHAI project is creating excellent learning experiences for each student. We believe that the joy of learning, the freedom to grow, and the benefits of education are basic human rights at a university.  CHAI embodies the values that accessibility and high-quality instruction are fundamental tools in making these rights a reality.

Our proposal aligns with the California State University (CSU) Online Course Service goals to: 

• Apply principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), accessibility, and inclusivity to online courses toward greater success of all students.
• Create a network of faculty, staff, and administrators informed of the various quality assurance factors, tools, and resources that enable effective online teaching and learning. 

The Center for Advancement of Faculty Excellence (CAFE), formerly known as eLearning and the Faculty Center for Professional Development, assist faculty in making course materials accessible. CAFE’s goal is that every faculty member who works with us is introduced to quality assurance principles, receives support for using quality assurance resources for any course format, and is introduced and supported to use best practices for universal design, accessibility, and inclusivity in all instructional materials.

CAFE identified 8 faculty members from each of our colleges to be an “Accessibility Champion:”

• College of Agriculture
• Collins College of Hospitality Management
• College of Business
• College of Education and Integrative Studies
• College of Environmental Design
• College of Engineering
• College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
• College of Science

Many of the individuals selected had previously worked with CAFE around the topics of accessibility, inclusivity, and quality assurance. Each of our designated Accessibility Champions demonstrates accessibility, universal design, and quality assurance best practices through their own courses. To be an Accessibility Champion for one of our colleges, final selections are often based on our experience with these individuals and/or recommendations from the deans, associate deans, and department chairs of each college, and former CHAI champions.

Workshop Offerings
Beginning October 2021 through April 2022, seven synchronous workshops were presented by our Champions for Accessibility and Inclusivity, sharing best practices for accessibility, Universal Design for Learning, and Quality Assurance (QA).

Additionally, five guided versions of CAFE’s online Fundamentals of Accessibility eCertificate course in Canvas were facilitated by our Champions. These asynchronous experiences provided instruction and materials to incorporate best accessibility and UDL practices. This program also created an online community in which participants could share their own experiences and discuss emerging practices for classroom inclusion .

Workshop Attendance
Workshop attendance remains an issue, though comparatively better than our initial Accessibility Champion cohort for 2019-2020. From a positive perspective, these workshops have provided faculty with accessibility, quality assurance, and Universal Design for Learning awareness and skills to create accessible and inclusive course content. A  goal remains to increase the attendance at the workshops whether they occur online or face-to-face. However, the smaller group setting allows for more open and in-depth discussions, and higher-quality training. 

Participants Responses

• Faculty who attended CHAI workshops and responded to the survey provided the following feedback: 
  • They learn something new each time they attend 
  • They were grateful to CAFE for providing the workshop 
  • The workshop sparked their interest in accessibility  
  • The information was found informative and useful 

• All 8 of our Champions achieved Ally scores of 90% or higher for at least one course, with the average score being 93%. 

  • 9 workshops were provided by our Champions throughout Fall 2021 and Spring 2022

    5 out of 8 of our Champions facilitated a guided version of our Fundamentals of Accessibility eCertificate course for their college

  • Champions attended monthly meetings with other Champions and CAFE staff to discuss progress, issues, and ideas to better implement the program. Recordings of each meeting were made available to those who could not attend.

  • 5 out of 8 of our Champions sent college outreach messages – initially drafted by CAFE staff but tailored by Champions to each college needs– to their respective college faculty.

  • 4 out of 8 Champions nominated a future Champion for their college.

The responsibilities of our Accessibility Champions included:

• Offering accessibility and online course service workshops that address each college’s specific concerns. Accessibility Champions could choose amongst the following options to best fit their needs and the needs of their college each semester (Fall 2021 and Spring 2022) all while navigating the situation with COVID:
  
  
• Fall 2021
  • Option 1: One (1) 50-minute Accessibility and one (1) 50-minute Quality Assurance workshop (or combined 1½-2 hours). 
  • Option 2: Two-four (2-4) 15-20 minute presentations held during your college's department meetings and creation of two (2) 10-15 minute self-contained, asynchronous instructional videos covering the topics of your choice: Accessibility, Inclusivity, Quality Assurance, etc. .
  • Option 3: A combination of the above options. For example: One (1) 50-minute Accessibility/QA workshop, two (2) 15-20 departmental presentations, and one (1) 10-15 minute instructional video.
    
    
• Spring 2022
  • Option 1: One (1) 50-minute Accessibility and one (1) 50-minute Quality Assurance workshop (or combined 1½-2 hours). 
  • Option 2: Four (4) 15-20 minute presentations held during your college's department meetings and creation of two (2) 10-15 minute self-contained, asynchronous instructional videos covering the topics of your choice: Accessibility, Inclusivity, Quality Assurance, etc.

  • Option 3: Facilitate a two-three week guided version of CAFE’s asynchronous Fundamentals of Accessibility eCertificate course through Canvas, including email blasts calling for participants, embedding a recorded “welcome” video, sending relevant communications/reminders for participants, and hosting a weekly synchronous Zoom meeting for Q&A.
    
    

CAFE anticipates that being an Accessibility Champion requires at least 30 hours over the academic year, resulting in about three hours per month. More hours may be required if our Champion’s course materials need more work to reach the Ally score of 85%

CAFE supported the CHAI project by providing:

• Enhanced student assistance and instructional design support for any of their classes
• Train-the-trainer and logistical support for the college-based workshops
• Outreach messages that Champions can customize
• 1:1 support with CAFE’s “Accessibility eCertificate” Canvas Course.
• Attendance and participation at workshops.
• Campus recognition via outlets such as the CAFE newsletter and other workshop offerings from CAFE
• 2021/22 Champions received professional development funds of $2,000 (partially supported by the Chancellor’s Office) upon completion of the following: 
  • $1,000 - Any time during the academic year upon achieving an overall Ally score of 85% or greater for a single course
  • $1,000 - Achievable at the end of Spring 2022 upon completion of other activities (must be completed in time for fiscal year deadline)

Fundamentals of Accessibility eCertificate course in Canvas: 
All students should have the joy of learning, the freedom to grow, and the beneifts of education! Accessibility of course materials and Universal Design for Learning helps make that vision a reality. In this self-paced, self-enrollable certificate course, get background and practical strategies, and also develop empathy for the needs of all students. .

Remote Course Design:
This course provides a step-by-step process for creating or improving remote courses. The fully self-paced, non-facilitated, asynchronous course is intended primarily as a reference and resource. Work through at your own pace and use the parts that you need. There is a self-assessment rubric that includes equitable and inclusive practices so that you can assess your own course and decide what to improve. 

Intro to Teaching with Canvas:
For those new to Canvas or those looking for a refresher, the self-enroll Introduction to Teaching with Canvas course allows participants to walk through basic steps for using Canvas. 

“From the initial meeting, training, providing sessions for the college, I was supported by amazing CAFE mentors, and online resources. Every step was streamlined and easy to follow so that I was able to provide accessibility resources to my colleagues and staff in the department and college. It was also very helpful to improve my organization skills."

“Being a CHAI champion has made a huge impact on my overall teaching philosophy. I learned several new strategies to improve accessibility in my course curriculum, and create a more inclusive environment in my classroom. The CAFÉ team provided us with tools and resources to improve our pedagogy, and guidance on how we can empower our diverse student population at Cal Poly Pomona. I gained so much in this program, and enjoyed the opportunity to share this knowledge with other faculty in my department and college.”
 

“I was blown away by the impact that I can make with every little step I take when making my courses more accessible.” 

“I used this language last year with my COE colleagues: I invite you to make your courses more accessible using an approach that is sustainable for you. My philosophy to improve course accessibility is “one file at the time, and one course at the time.”
 

“My experience with CHAI has been rewarding on two main levels. First on my end as an inclusive educator, making my online presence as accessible as possible before the classes start made me feel less anxious about my preparedness. Previously, I would wait until a student expressed a need. Now I felt I am proactive, I am ready and if different needs emerge, I will have more time. On the other level, it was my students. I explained to my students what I was trying to do, showed them the ALLY score, and ask for their feedback and support. I received positive feedback from my students, and most of them were not in need of these adjustments. They also helped me understand making the documents accessible on my canvas pages and adopting accessible textbooks can help students with different needs.” 

"It was a privilege to advocate and serve together with CHAI faculty!" 

“The CHAI program is a wonderful opportunity to be able to share our own experiences and learn from other faculties experiences with accessibility and inclusivity. I feel very lucky to have been able to be a part of this program and contribute to their overall goal.” 

Lead: Zahra Sotoudeh, Campus OSC Lead for the CHAI program

Supporting Campus Partners:

• Director of the Center for the Advancement of Faculty Excellence
  • Victoria Bhavsar
• Instructional Designers: 
  • April Dawn
  • Eric Davis
  • Thomas Jenkins
  • Donya Rahimi
• Multimedia Developer
  • Richard Feldman

Administrative Coordinator:  Carla Tetreault