A guide for faculty and staff: five ways to support institutional accessibility

May 28-June 3 marks National Accessibility Week; an opportunity to celebrate the valuable contributions and leadership of Canadians with disabilities and highlight the work of people, organizations and communities that are removing barriers. At Saint Mary’s, the Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility (formerly the Fred Smithers Centre for Students with Disabilities) is a leader in institutional student accessibility.

This year, the theme for National AccessAbility Week is “Disability Inclusion: From Possibilities to Practice”. As part of our Accessibility Week initiatives, we have developed a guide with five easy steps that faculty and staff can incorporate into their practice to help enhance learner accessibility at SMU.

“With the evolving landscape of accessibility in learning, it is crucial that we take a user-centered approach to modernizing our offerings,” says Kate McHugh, Manager, Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility (FSCSA). “It is also imperative that we equip those on the frontlines of student education and care with knowledge and resources to put our best foot forward in accessibility and accommodation.”

Below are five steps for faculty and staff that can help enhance accessibility across campus.

1.     Familiarize yourself with the Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility

We are a unique team comprised of two accessibility advisors, an education employment advisor, two exam accommodation administrators, several part-time exam and testing invigilators, an accessibility resource assistant and the FSCSA manager. Many on our team experience some form of disability so our varied experiences paired with our cumulative training and backgrounds provide a unique and well-rounded insight into supporting students who experience disability.

Within the scope of FSCSA, we work directly with students in supporting their academic journey, provide various assistive technologies, employment skills and future readiness, access to grants, educational materials and services, exam and testing accommodations and more.

We also work with stakeholders across Saint Mary’s to raise our level of accessibility pan-campus and enhance the experience for all within the SMU community who experience disability. Our efforts extend beyond the SMU walls and into the broader national institutional community. Members from the FSCSA team recently represented Saint Mary’s at the Atlantic Association of College and University Student Services (AACUSS) to present on supporting adaptive exam and testing accommodations in unprecedented circumstances.

2. Understand what is included in the scope of disability

While traditional or commercialized perceptions of disability fixate on mobility impairments, disability covers a wide range of reduced or impaired functions that can present in visible and/or invisible ways and be on a short or long-term basis. Some common disabilities that exist within the institutional landscape include but are not limited to mental illness, learning disability, ADD/ADHD, hearing impairment, visual impairment, mobility impairment, medical condition and autism spectrum disorder. Students registered with the Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility have provided both a detailed application and supporting medical documentation.

The FSCSA provides personalized support for each student based on their individual needs. Since disability can present itself in unique ways for each student, it is of the utmost importance to offer flexibility, options, and customized plans of action for each student. The FSCSA team, and the students it supports, rely on the flexibility and consideration of staff and faculty to achieve an inclusive learning environment that is accessible to all.

3. Take time to evaluate inclusivity

Whether in the classroom, hosting an event, preparing content, developing visual supports, or conducting assessments, there are quick considerations that can help ensure an accessible and inclusive environment. Below are some considerations:

• Work with university resources like the Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility, the Learning Studio and department communications staff to develop accessible course materials, documents and presentations, visual and graphic components, and more.

• When hosting an event or gathering, evaluate physical access of a space, including entrance and exit points of the building and room, accessible seating and accessible washrooms.

• Consider offering a virtual alternative for those unable to attend in person.

• Use inclusive, person-first language. Saint Mary’s provides guidance on inclusive language within the Saint Mary’s Style Guide.

• Add information on disability and accommodation to your course syllabus. Here’s a boilerplate you can copy/paste:
  “If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please ask The Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility to submit your accommodations to your faculty member in a timely manner so that your needs can be addressed. The Fred Smithers Centre determines accommodations based on documented disabilities in the academic environment. Information on requesting accommodations is located on the Fred Smithers Centre’s website. Contact The Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility (902)420-5452 or email fredsmithers.centre@smu.ca for further assistance.”

4. Refer students to the FSCSA as needed

In some instances, a student may not be registered with the Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility for whatever reason but may confide in a staff or faculty member about experiencing a disability. It is important to maintain trust and confidentiality, so please do not seek out FSCSA accommodations on their behalf. Instead, help them feel validated in their experience and provide them with information about SMU accessibility and accommodation to help them make an informed decision on whether to register with the FSCSA.

5. Keep learning

Where capacity permits, take some time to check out additional learning resources. Below are some great options:

• Saint Mary’s Learning Studio – Academic Accommodation resources (including accessible templates for slide decks, PDFs and more!).

• Atlantic OER Pressbooks Network – Accessible Teaching & Learning FAQ

• Atlantic OER Pressbooks Network - Accessible Strategies for Students With Disabilities

• Government of Canada – Inclusive Language Considerations

• Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission – Duty to Accommodate

The Fred Smithers Centre for Student Accessibility team is happy to answer questions, offer guidance and provide resources for faculty and staff, in our shared effort to enhance accessibility for learners. Reach out by phone (902)420-5452 or email fredsmithers.centre@smu.ca, or stop by the offices in the Student Centre, 3rd floor, room 309.

Dr. Sam Veres wins prestigious award in spinal research

Dr. Sam Veres, Associate Dean of Science at Saint Mary’s University

Dr. Sam Veres, a biomedical engineer and Associate Dean of Science at Saint Mary’s University, has won the prestigious ISSLS Prize in Basic Science for 2020 from the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine.

The winning paper, co-written with student Tyler Herod (MASc in Biomedical Engineering at Dalhousie), is titled “Beyond microstructure: Circumferential specialization within the lumbar intervertebral disc annulus extends to collagen nanostructure, with counterintuitive relationships to macroscale material properties.”

The work focuses on intervertebral discs, which are a component of the skeletal system that is not yet fully understood, despite being critically important to everyday living. These thin soft tissue discs interposed between adjacent vertebrae are what provide the spine with flexibility, allowing us to bend and twist.

Intervertebral discs support mechanical load in a similar way to an exercise ball or car tire, explained Dr. Veres. “When compressed, the pressure generated within the centre of an intervertebral disc resists the compressive load, while the periphery or annulus of the disc is stretched in tension, restraining the pressurized interior from escaping.”

A herniation, or slipped disc, occurs when the stretched disc ruptures, allowing the pressurized centre of the disc to escape—with painful, debilitating consequences for the patient. Disc herniations often occur posteriorly, and their proximity to the spinal cord makes this especially problematic. Herniated nuclear material from within a disc can cause pain by mechanically compressing or chemically irritating the spinal cord or its enveloping membrane, the dura.

“What struck us as odd about the posterior annulus is not that failure often occurs here, but that the rates of microdamage accumulation in this area—the small tears, clefts, and fissures that start to develop within the first few decades of life—are not remarkably higher compared to other less loaded regions of the annulus,” said Dr. Veres. “We suspected that the posterior annulus may possess structural differences to other regions on a smaller structural scale.”

To test their theory, Dr. Veres and Tyler tested the lumbar spines of sheep to study the structural organization of collagen molecules using a thermo-mechanical technique known as hydrothermal isometric tension analysis.

“In general, our results showed that the collagen fibres of the intervertebral disc annulus are much stronger than previously thought—more than double the strengths previously reported,” said Dr. Veres.

“Interestingly, despite being composed of fibres with greater intermolecular connectivity, the posterior annulus was significantly weaker than the anterior annulus,” he said. “These results show that a previously unknown regional variation exists in the fundamental load-bearing structural makeup of the intervertebral disc annulus.”

Currently the standard treatment for herniated discs is to remove the discs and fuse the two adjacent vertebrae to become a single column of bone; successful, well-established techniques for repairing discs don’t yet exist.

“Our work is just one piece in a much larger attempt by the spinal research community to understand normal function and failure within intervertebral discs, in order to inform how to better care for and perhaps one day repair or replace these critical elements of our skeletal system,” said Dr. Veres.

Dr. Sam Veres’s Research

Biomedical engineer Dr. Veres uses a multidisciplinary approach, using knowledge and techniques from engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine to improve understanding of tissue development, normal function, aging, injury, and repair. His work has provided fundamental insights into the structural changes that occur in mechanically overloaded soft tissues, and work continues on the development of new therapies for treatment of tendons, ligaments, and the intervertebral discs of the lower back.

The award-winning work was funded by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The Veres Group is part of a tissue development, damage and repair research collaborative located at Saint Mary’s University and Dalhousie University.

The Group specializes in investigating interactions between structure and function in the load-bearing tissues of the human body, and how these relationships change in health and disease.

The ISSLS Prize for Lumbar Spine Research

The ISSLS Prize program is sponsored by the European Spine Journal. Three prizes of $20,000 each are awarded annually based on scientific merit in the areas of basic science, bioengineering, and clinical science. Papers submitted for the competition must be original, full article manuscripts, not previously published or submitted for publication. The prize also comes with an invitation to present the winning paper in Australia in 2020.