SUNY Accessibility Advocates & Allies Faculty Fellowship Program

The Provost's Office and Office of Student Success have created the SUNY Accessibility Advocates & Allies (AAA) Faculty Fellowship program, a community of faculty leaders and champions committed to promoting and growing accessibility practices in and out of the classroom on their campuses. During this program fellows will:

Explore models and strategies to build and expand a culture of access on their campuses;
Share their expertise and experience as they identify obstacles and work towards solutions to broaden adoption of accessibility practices;
Connect with other communities of practice and campus leaders with a shared vision, including but not limited to: Disability/Accessibility Directors, EIT Accessibility Officers, Chief Diversity Officers, Chief Information Officers, Teaching Center Directors, Directors of Online Learning, SUNY Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology, Instructional Designers;
Grow as faculty leaders as they coordinate with campus leadership to design and execute a plan to engage their campus community in the work of access.

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The inaugural 2025 cohort will be facilitated by Rebecca Mushtare. Rebecca is the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and a Professor of Interaction Design at SUNY Oswego. Rebecca’s primary research areas are inclusive design, design for older adults, and digital accessibility. At SUNY Oswego she co-founded the Workgroup on Accessibility practices in 2016. She has been involved with a number of institutional accessibility initiatives including co-founding and facilitating the first cohort of the SUNY Oswego Faculty Accessibility Fellows program, as well as co-facilitating the 10-Day Accessibility Challenge. Rebecca has also served on the SUNY Empowering Students with Disabilities Task Force, and the SUNY EIT Accessibility Policy Implementation Team. Rebecca is also co-founder and co-host of the Tea for Teaching podcast.

Fellowship Structure & Requirements

Fellows commit to participating in the fellowship for a calendar year (2025). Each cohort includes up to twelve (12) fellows. This is a term-limited, service-based appointment; it is not to provide support for individuals to advance their research or scholarship in this field. A direct stipend of $6,000 will be provided to the candidate by SUNY System Administration to account for time beyond their regular load.

The fellowship is organized into three phases of four months each: discovery and analysis, design and development, and implementation and evaluation. Each phase has specific outcomes and deliverables tied to it, including intermittent program assessment and personal reflection.

Discovery & Analysis:

This phase occurs between January and April 2025. Fellows meet virtually every other Tuesday from 9:00am-10:00am. During this period, fellows will:

Expand their knowledge and understanding of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and digital accessibility principles through curated Skills Refresher pathways;
Review relevant practices, initiatives, resources, and supports that currently exist within SUNY;
Identify and document existing campus resources and accessibility work in a Campus Accessibility Practices Report;
Connect with potential campus partners;
Investigate how campus budget and resource allocation works;
Explore models and strategies for advocacy and spearheading change on behalf of students with disabilities.

Design & Development:

This phase occurs between May and September 2025. Fellows meet virtually every other Tuesday from 9:00am-10:00am. During this period, fellows will:

Draft a Faculty Engagement Plan to build or enhance a culture of access customized for the campus’ unique characteristics;
Review and provide feedback on plans and materials developed by peers in the cohort;
Seek approval and support from campus leadership on campus plan;
Develop necessary materials for implementation.

Implementation & Evaluation:

This phase occurs between October and December 2025. Fellows will meet one Tuesday per month from 9:00am-10:00am. During this period, fellows will:

Execute and evaluate the fall semester component of the plan;
Document implementation experience in a Case Study;
Provide support and feedback on plan implementation to members of the cohort;
Share experiences and seek support from peers in the cohort;
Reflect on personal growth and campus community growth.

Timeline

Nominations:
August-September, 2024

Selection:
November, 2024: Cohort 1 Announced

Discovery & Analysis:
January-April, 2025

Design & Development:
May-August, 2025

Implementation & Evaluation:
September-December, 2025

Who is eligible for this opportunity?

SUNY Faculty who:

Are tenured or tenure track;
Have familiarity with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) or Digital Accessibility
Are available to meet virtually throughout the 2025 calendar on Tuesdays from 9:00am-10:00am;
Are available to attend the Fellows Kick-Off meeting in person at SUNY System Administration in Albany, NY January 8-9, 2025. (Travel and expenses to be arranged for/reimbursed by SUNY System).

Nomination Process

Nominations should be submitted online via the SUNY Accessibility Advocates & Allies Faculty Fellowship Program Nomination form.

Nomination Form

Follow the instructions provided to complete the questions, provide the information and submit the additional materials requested. Incomplete nominations will not be considered.

The nomination dossier must include the following documents:

Letter of Support from campus Chief Academic Officer (Provost or VP Academic Affairs) (.pdf or .docx file) that includes the following:
- Confirmation the applicant is tenured or in a tenure-track position and that involvement in this fellowship would count toward their tenure and/or promotion;
- Highlight ways the institution's leadership will support this faculty member as they endeavor to engage faculty in UDL and accessibility principles;
- Confirm that this faculty member is positioned to be a leader in this space.
Letter of Support from Department Chair (.pdf or .docx file) that includes the following:
- Confirmation this applicant is tenured or in a tenure-track position;
- Involvement in this fellowship would count toward their tenure and/or promotion and would not interfere in their progress towards tenure;
- Highlight ways the faculty member is positioned to be an institutional leader.

The deadline to submit the nomination form and all supporting documentation is September 30th, 2024, 11:59PM.

Selection and Acceptance

Once nominations have been received, a review committee made up of representatives from partner communities of practice will review all complete dossiers. Finalists may be asked to participate in a 30-minute interview with the committee. The goal is to select a group of up to twelve (12) fellows to be part of the SUNY Accessibility Advocates & Allies (AAA) Faculty Fellowship 2025 cohort. Once the selection is made in early November 2024, applicants will be notified via email. Selected Fellows will be asked to accept the Fellowship and commit to the program to secure their fellowship.

Since the SUNY AAA Faculty Fellowship program has limited spaces and high demand we recommend considering the decision to participate seriously before making the final commitment.

Contact

If you have any questions, or would like to know whether the SUNY Accessibility Advocates & Allies Faculty Fellowship program is right for you, please contact Kim Scalzo, Interim Senior Associate Provost for Digital Innovation and Academic Services at Kim.Scalzo@suny.edu and Lauren Rodriguez, Director of Resources for Students with Disabilities at Lauren.Rodriguez@suny.edu