Dr. Jessica L. Sniatecki (she/her) is the Assistant Dean for the College of Education and Health at SUNY Brockport and teaches courses in the Addictions and Behavioral Health program. She has a PhD in Counselor Education from the University at Buffalo and has held national certification as a Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) since 2004. Her research focuses primarily on the college experience of students with disabilities and faculty knowledge and attitudes related to students with disabilities. Jess has published articles and delivered numerous workshops and presentations on topics related to disability experience, ableism, accessibility, and universal design. She is a founding member of SUNY Brockport’s Committee on Accessibility and has also served on the Student Accessibility Services (SAS) Advisory Board and the SUNY Empowering Students with Disabilities Task Force. Her contributions have been formally recognized with the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2017 and the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Faculty Service in 2024.
Emma Ben Ayoun is an Assistant Professor of Film and Media at the SUNY Fashion Institute of Technology. She holds a PhD in Cinema and Media Studies from the University of Southern California, where she also held a Cinema and Media Studies Teaching Postdoctoral Fellowship, and an MSt in Film Aesthetics from the University of Oxford. Her writing, on topics including disability theory, experimental documentary, virtual reality, and contagion in cinema, has been published in Camera Obscura, Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, Visual Anthropology, and The Velvet Light Trap, among others. She is currently working on a book manuscript that explores the intersections of disability studies and film theory in global cinema.
Kelly Ficner has been working with accessibility, UDL, and DEI since 2020. She has completed training in teaching and learning, curriculum development, and inclusive learning. Her passion is learning communities that allow everyone to reach their full potential professionally and personally. Allyship and advocacy are a part of what she does each and every day. You will often hear her telling stories of "her" students. Those students may not be in her classes but may be athletes as she also serves as the faculty athletic representative for SUNY Canton. Dr. Ficner developed a DEISJ GER course for the Criminal Justice majors on her campus, feeling that field needs to pay attention to that issue in today's world.
Kevin Hofmann is an assistant professor of architecture at Alfred State College. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture summa cum laude from NJIT and Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania; he is also a Teach for America alumnus. At Alfred State, Kevin teaches architectural design and history/theory courses, seeking ways to align learning outcomes and measures across the department’s course offerings. He was elected by his campus Faculty Senate as a senator-at-large and has participated in several executive-level committees related to program delivery and administration evaluation. As the faculty mentor for the American Institute of Architecture Students, he has led several international trips and supported student leadership as they organized networking and philanthropic events. Kevin has participated in several IITG grants related to teaching with AI, has co-presented this work at CIT, and presented his own research on design pedagogy at national and international conferences.
Melissa Johnson is a Professor of Art and Studio Art and Design Program Coordinator at Cayuga Community College, and a practicing artist. She holds an MFA and BFA in Painting and Drawing form the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and BS in Rural Sociology from Cornell University, NYS College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She earned an Advanced Certificate in Disability Studies in Higher Education from CUNY. Melissa Johnson is the founding advisor of the Cayuga CC Art Club. She received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching (2019), Senate Faculty Excellence Award, and Club of the Year in 2025. Johnson completed Lumen Learning Circles for Belonging and Inclusion in Teaching and Online Learning, and a Community College Internationalization Fellowship through Cornell University's Einaudi Center for International Studies. In 2024, she coordinated a collaborative postcard art exhibition titled Art and Cancer at the Dove Block Gallery.
Alexandra Kay is a Full Professor of English and Department Chair at SUNY Orange County Community College, where she also serves as the Assessment Liaison for the college’s Liberal Arts Division. She is committed to exploring accessibility principles and inclusive pedagogical practices in higher education.
Robert A. Koble is a Professor of Biology and Chair of the Science Department at Corning Community College. He is also the Principal Investigator of the National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Grant OT@C: An Optical Technology Program at Corning Community College. Dr. Koble teaches a variety of science courses including non-majors biology, Anatomy and Physiology, and Genetics. Dr. Koble joined Corning Community College in 2015 as an Assistant Professor of Biology where he quickly redesigned coursework to include elements of belonging and inclusion through a Team-Based Approach pedagogy. He was awarded Tenure in 2020 and was named Department Chair in 2023. He has served on several governance committees and is currently the Campus Governance Leader for the 2025-2026 Academic Year. In his free time, Dr. Koble enjoys baseball, playing music (Violin, Viola, and Electric Bass), and spending time with his wife and son.
Janita Moricette is an Associate Professor of Business at Tompkins Cortland Community College. She earned her A.S. degrees in Liberal Arts: General Studies and Sport Management from TC3, a B.S. in Business Management and Economics with a Marketing minor from SUNY Empire State College, and an M.B.A. from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. As a fellow in TC3's Emerging Scholars program, she exemplifies inclusive faculty representation. In her courses, she integrates Universal Design for Learning and inclusive pedagogy, leveraging her Career Readiness Champion Certificate to provide accessible career guidance. Beyond the classroom, Professor Moricette advances DEI initiatives through collaboration with the Diversity Equity Action Council and the Office of Educational Opportunity Programs, while also co-founding Women of Wednesdays with former College President and mentor Dr. Orinthia Montague, a program supporting women on campus, particularly those residing in residence halls.
Efekona Nuwere, Ed.D., MPH, OTR/L is a licensed occupational therapist and Chair of the Occupational Therapy Program in the School of Health Professions at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. With clinical experience spanning rehabilitation, assistive technology, and community health promotion, he brings a practitioner's perspective to higher education leadership. Dr. Nuwere is committed to advancing inclusive pedagogy and embedding Universal Design for Learning and digital accessibility into the training of future healthcare professionals. His leadership includes spearheading curricular redesigns and fostering faculty development initiatives that prioritize accessibility and equity. His scholarship explores critical perspectives on race and disability in educational materials and the impact of implicit bias on student preparation. Through his teaching, research, and advocacy, Dr. Nuwere works to ensure students are prepared to deliver client centered, culturally responsive, and accessible care while contributing to a more equitable health system.
Emily Riddle is an Associate Professor of Foods & Nutrition at SUNY Oneonta and the Assistant Director of the MS Program in Nutrition & Dietetics. In addition to her work as teaching faculty, Dr. Riddle is currently serving SUNY Oneonta as a Provost Fellow, a position that enables her to collaborate with the Provost's Council and various academic and administrative offices on campus. During her appointment, she will work in close collaboration with members of the Provost's Council and various stakeholders on campus to support SUNY Oneonta faculty with the upcoming Title II requirements for digitally accessible course content and other related digital accessibility and UDL concerns. To support these efforts, Dr. Riddle is also an active member of the SUNY Oneonta Accessibility Community of Practice, a working group that meets monthly to discuss ways to make classes more accessible for the benefit of all students.
Margaret Anne Schedel forges connections between classical music, data research, and computational arts education, cultivating new possibilities at disciplinary intersections. A Professor of Music and Chair of Journalism at Stony Brook University, she is also core faculty in the Institute for Advanced Computational Science. Honored with NIME's Pamela Z Innovation Award, her creative output spans multimedia operas, interactive installations, and compositions that integrate emerging technologies. Her fascination with sonification has led to projects ranging from NIH-funded research on Parkinson's rehabilitation to co-founding Lyrai, where she uses AI to capture the acoustic essence of architectural spaces. As a 2025–2026 ACE Fellow, she is advancing digital accessibility at the policy level, preparing institutions for WCAG 2.1 compliance. Across scholarship, creative practice, and leadership, Schedel treats accessibility as a generative principle—linking innovation, pedagogy, and equity.
Bridget Whearty (she/they) works at the intersection of literary, medieval, manuscript, and information studies. Her research and teaching are animated by a deep fascination with digital accessibility. She is the author of Digital Codicology, which explores the long past and rich present of digitization and medieval manuscripts. Whearty was a "Diversifying Academia" Fellow (2011-2013) and Council on Libraries and Information Resources Postdoctoral Fellow in Data Curation for Medieval Studies (2013-2015). She co-founded Binghamton's Anti-Racist Pedagogies Working Group (2020) and co-convenes the pedagogy group of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities. As a neurodivergent academic living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Whearty is committed to being a voice for change and improved support for disabled students, staff, and faculty across SUNY.