SUNY Potsdam Faculty Member Awarded Teach Access Grant

SUNY Potsdam Assistant Professor of Business Administration Dr. Karen Caldwell Receives Grant to Infuse Inclusive Design into Graduate Courses

Potsdam, NY (08/11/2023) — SUNY Potsdam Assistant Professor of Business Administration Dr. Karen Caldwell is the recipient of a 2023-24 Teach Access Faculty Grant Award to incorporate teaching about accessibility into her coursework and share best practices.

Caldwell was one of 19 recipients nationwide. The faculty member partnered with one of her graduate students, Laura Perry '96 & '24, who is the director of academic technology and support at nearby Clarkson University.

"Accessibility is intimately tied to inclusion and belonging. No field or discipline can function or flourish without accessibility as a foundation," Caldwell said. "The main focus for the project, with graduate student Laura Perry, will be to infuse inclusive design knowledge, skills, and attitudes (mindsets) throughout my curricula."

Perry is a graduate student in SUNY Potsdam's Master of Science degree program in instructional design and educational technology, one of two programs that Caldwell teaches in. An Online Faculty Fellow, Caldwell also teaches courses in the popular Master of Science degree program in management.

"My students, whether in a leadership or learning design class, will learn about and apply principles of accessibility and inclusion. As an example, my students already format their work with screen readers in mind. That is one small but meaningful step to ensure that individuals with vision challenges can access their content," Caldwell said. "Moving forward, my courses will focus even more on what accessibility means and how inclusive practices impact organizations and learners in positive and meaningful ways. Examples include exploring accessibility within a specific organization in its daily practices and designing learning experiences with multiple supports for all learners, such as transcripts for audio content."

Thanks to the grant support, Perry and Caldwell will spend the next two semesters on the project, which includes a research component.

"My role in this project is to help redesign course curricula that will be aimed at giving students the lens of accessibility through which to do their work moving forward. Dr. Caldwell and I will team up to conduct problem and audience analysis; design objectives and learning activities, and measure growth of student skills in the areas of inclusive and accessible design. We plan to share the outcomes of this project widely, and I am looking forward to being a part of that process," Perry said.

To find out about SUNY Potsdam's growing list of virtual graduate programs, visit www.potsdam.edu/online.

SUNY Potsdam's Department of Business Administration program provides students with an understanding of how for-profit and not-for-profit organizations function effectively and efficiently. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of accounting, finance, human resources, law, management, marketing, information technology and operations. For more information, visit http://www.potsdam.edu/academics/SOEPS/BusinessAdmin.

About Teach Access:

Teach Access is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization collaborating with education, industry, and disability advocacy organizations to address the critical need to enhance students' understanding of digital accessibility as they learn to design, develop, and build new technologies with the needs of people with disabilities in mind. Teach Access envisions a fully accessible future in which students enter the workforce with knowledge of the needs of people with disabilities and skills in the principles of accessible design and development, such that technology products and services are born accessible.

Media Attachments