Call for Students/Alumni with Disabilities (2023-2024)

Call for Students/Alumni with Disabilities – Accessibility Consultants Program (2023-2024)

Exciting Opportunity for McMaster Students and Alumni!

Join as Lived Experience Accessibility Consultants on the Accessible Teaching and Learning Roadmap project sponsored by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning. We use ”disability” as a broad umbrella term for diverse experiences of difference. We’re looking for individuals living with:

  • Physical, learning, sensory, developmental, or mental health disability.
  • Medical conditions, chronic illnesses, or chronic pain.
  • Trauma (intergenerational or otherwise), grief, with or without related and associated physical, emotional, spiritual, relational, and cognitive effects.
  • Identities as D/deaf, hard of hearing, Mad, recovering, autistic, and/or neurodivergent chronic illness, addiction, or neurodiversity.
  • Challenges navigating campus or inequitable accessibility accommodations (formal or informal).
  • Assistive technology use/experience.

No medical diagnosis required; self-identification is welcome. Your unique perspective matters.

Seeking Interested Consultants

If you answer YES to any of the following questions, we would love to hear from you!

  • Are you a student or alumni of McMaster University and identify with disability (as broadly defined above)?
  • Do you desire to collaborate and learn from disabled peers and staff?
  • Would you like to leverage disability-related experiences for knowledge-sharing, feedback, and create positive change?
  • Are you eager to engage with broader institutional systems to boost your self-advocacy?
  • Are you someone who values the impact of disabled student-led spaces but wonder what students, staff, and faculty campus-wide could accomplish?
  • Would you like to be compensated for contributing your unique expertise and perspective?
  • Are you curious about a career in the accessibility field, and would like opportunities for skill development?
  • Have you encountered barriers to volunteering, experiential learning, or employment, and are seeking supportive colleagues whom you can resource for future job references?
  • Are you interested in disability/accessibility-related research, teaching and learning processes/practices, artistic/creative expression, disability community building, and/or policy development to bring organizational change?

To express your interest in participating in the Accessibility Consultants Program, please click on this link to complete a brief Expression of Interest Survey. We will follow up with applicants as they apply between now and December 10, and afterwards.

Expandable List

Students with disabilities deserve equitable access in higher education, but Ontario’s universities, including McMaster, require a more proactive approach to accessibility.

Over the next two years the Accessible Teaching and Learning Roadmap STEER/R project plans to develop a 5-year strategic plan. This roadmap will enhance accessible learning experiences by early adopting the final recommendations report of the AODA PSE Standards. One of the Project’s foundational goals is to holistically improve access to post-secondary education and academic outcomes for students with disabilities at McMaster.

Accessibility consultants will choose and engage in projects of interest, attending biweekly cohort meetings from December / January 2023 to April 2024, with potential extensions into Summer 2024 and the academic year 2024-25.

To acknowledge the commitment and labour associated with a position in the Program, each member will receive an honorarium through the Student Success Centre’s Career Access Professional Services (CAPS) Program. The honorarium is available to both part-time and full-time students at the undergraduate or graduate level, as well as to alumni up to five (5) years post-degree completion.

Program

  1. Foster a diverse cohort of students to exchange disability and learning experiences, building collective disability awareness as accessibility consultants.
  2. Inform students about McMaster’s accessibility initiatives and empower them to provide feedback on these efforts.
  3. Solicit student input on how the AODA PSE Standard Recommendations can be adopted at McMaster.
  4. Assist interested disabled students in developing research skills by consulting on research and evaluation projects related to accessibility in teaching and learning.
  5. Gather and share disabled students’ learning experiences and perspectives on (in)accessible education through production of a second edition of Dis/orientation: Navigating accessibility in teaching and learning, McMaster’s disabled-student led magazine
  6. Establish a Student and Alumni Accessibility Council that gathers and shares student feedback with accessibility committees on campus, informs university accessibility-related decision-making, and contributes to holding the university accountable.
  7. Create paid (honoraria) opportunities for disabled students to communicate their lived experiences, develop accessibility consultation skills, receive mentorship from staff with disabilities, and engage in the disability community.

Related Opportunities

Draft Terms of Reference: McMaster's Inaugural Student and Alumni Accessibility Council Learn More

As a member of the Accessibility Consultant’s Program, you will be invited to sit on this Council, and as a first activity, asked to offer feedback on this living document and shape the direction of the project.

McMaster's Accessibility in Teaching and Learning Zine Learn More

Click “Learn More” to find out more information about McMaster’s Accessibility in Teaching and Learning Zine (2nd Edition) that Accessibility Consultants can contribute to as part of the Consultant Program.