Building Interdepartmental Relationships that Promote Change

Handouts Media

Presented at 9:15am in WB I on Friday, November 16, 2018.

Speaker(s)

• Christa Miller, Associate Director of Services for Students with Disabilities, Virginia Tech

Session Details

• Length of Session: 1-hr
• Format: Lecture
• Expertise Level: Intermediate
• Type of session: General Conference

Summary

Changing campus climate to better support disabilities requires a multi-pronged effort including policies, procedures, and requirements. However, it is nearly impossible to create change without building relationships with those who can make those changes. This session will focus on developing an action plan, identifying needs, and partners.

Abstract

Creating a campus climate that embraces accessibility and designs for disabilities from the beginning is an on-going goal for many in the accessibility profession. Whether it is a large public institution, small private institution or multi-campus community college, building relationships is a continuous process. Furthermore, developing interdepartmental relationships to advance the agenda of inclusion and accessibility is often messy. And yet lasting change is possible when a cooperative group of people are making an effort on various fronts.

During this working session, participants will identify 1 to 3 specific and measurable accessibility gaps on their campus. They will also develop a map describing existing relationships and potential relationships with the departments or units who may be of the most assistance in closing the gap. Lastly, participants will explore common barriers for developing positive, meaningful interdepartmental relationships.

Keypoints

1. Building relationships with departments across campus takes time and self-awareness
2. Developing a map of existing relationships and identifying critical gaps is a starting point
3. Creating interdepartmental partnerships is a team effort

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Accessible Course Design, Administrative/Campus Policy

Speaker Bio(s)

Christa Miller

Christa Miller is currently the Associate Director for Services for Students with Disabilities at Virginia Tech (VT). She has a BS Electrical Engineering (2008) and MS Industrial Systems Engineering (2012) both from VT. She started working in VT's Assistive Technologies group in 2006 as a student employee teaching students how to use assistive and accessible technologies. From 2010 to 2015, she transcribed STEM materials into Braille, and then transitioned into teaching instructors to create accessible educational materials by design.

For the last several years, she's helped VT grow their digital accessibility footprint by helping to establish the centralized captioning fund, building up the campus' Accessibility Network, creating training on PDF accessibility, and leading cohorts of individuals preparing for the IAAP CPACC Certification.

Christa is an active member of regional and national disability and accessibility organizations (AHEAD in VA, AHEAD, ATHEN, and Accessing Higher Ground). When she has the opportunity, her research interests include accessibility in STEM courses and Universal Design for Learning.

Handout(s)

• Relationships-Building

  Relationship building map