(U8 - VSS) KEYNOTE: College STAR (Supporting Transition, Access and Retention): A Multi-Campus Initiative
Presenter: Sarah Williams
Millions of students take their first steps toward a college degree each year. Postsecondary education is becoming a goal for increasing numbers of students, and more and more careers today require a college degree for entry or advancement potential. While this charge is nothing new for universities, the makeup of our student populations has been changing over time. Many college classrooms today are now filled with students from diverse backgrounds, at different stages of life, and who exhibit varied learning profiles. Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework that encourages professors to plan and to deliver instruction with the widest possible range of learners in mind to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all students.
College STAR (Supporting Transition, Access, and Retention) is a multi-campus initiative designed to enable
participating universities to learn more about creating welcoming postsecondary environments for students with learning differences. Participating campuses are currently working together to build models of direct student support and more wide-spread instructional support focused on Universal Design for Learning. This keynote will feature approaches that four universities have taken to infuse the principles of Universal Design for Learning into different educational
environments across campus and highlight lessons-learned from those experiences.
Specifically, the presentation will highlight:
- Lessons learned (successes and challenges) and resources related to direct support for students with learning differences, as well as instructional support and Universal Design for Learning
- Emerging themes from dialogues with K12 partners across the state of North Carolina
- Next steps with the project and an invitation collaboration
Each of these topics will be introduced in the keynote and then elaborated on in the workshop with opportunities for peerto-peer sharing and collaboration.
Updated January 13, 2016 by Student & Academic Services
