February 2021 Meeting

Meeting Date
  • Access Info
    • Brought up the accessibility of Covid testing as a question area--how can we increase the accessibility of these spaces and the process
  • Introductions
    • Welcome new members
  • Discussion: 2021 Goals & Planning
    • Sustain the heightened awareness and consciousness of ableism, access needs, and disability; leverage this to affect policies and practices that impact pwd
      • Media partnership
        • How to keep us on the front page; out front; in front of folks
      • Supporting staff and faculty who need accommodations
        • Making new hires aware of supports and pathways to accommodations, sharing stories from current faculty/staff
          • We also need to make accommodations apparent and function for those who work here
            • We still have problems with consistent accommodations
            • Needing pathways to accommodations
          • This list item also applies to graduate student employees
          • Feedback: Consider mentorship for postdocs (and others) with disabilities
          • Feedback: We need to have a way to ensure that new hires will not be singled out for needing accommodations
            • ADA coordinator is a resource
            • Dean of students staff can help with grad students needing accommodations
          • This gap is more difficult to navigate for faculty/staff than students
        • LSA Access Navigators positions
    • Institutionalize accessible practices in everyday work; address long standing issues
      • Influence decision making around access, expectations, and accommodations as we approach an eventual future where it is safer for in-person contact
        • How to do this? Where are these contacts being made?
      • Meet with leadership from areas with longstanding issues
        • Human Resources
        • Logistics, Transportation, Parking
      • Leverage newly forming advisory group - connects people with advocacy groups on campus
      • Task Force to discuss flexible work futures at the U-M, not sure if at LSA or U-M level
      • RDLA is an activism org that could be helpful
    • Build coalition beyond disability and lift up intersectional work
      • Plan outreach and meeting invitations for 2021
        • Detroit Disability Power
        • MiChart project at Michigan Medicine
        • Progress reports for Student IDEA Board Recommendations, Rackham Graduate Students with Disabilities Report
      • Community-building events
        • Book club?
      • Repost and rehire for CfDC student administrative assistant position to support these activities
  • Invited Guests
    • Michigan Daily writers focusing on disability issues
      • Andrew Gerace ([email protected])
        • Jr at U-M in LSA, Sr editor at Michigan Daily in the Opinions section
        • Help facilitate Edit Board
        • Can guide the direction of columns
        • Wrote about experience of student being discriminated against in their Econ class; prof made no accommodations; in process of writing article had others come forward; econ dept as whole had policy for making no exceptions/accommodations - “tough luck” policy
        • Econ department has changed their no exceptions policies
        • Other departments in LSA also have a “no exceptions” policy
      • Grayson Buning ([email protected])
      • Maggie Wiebe ([email protected])
        • Works on the Statement, the magazine, does long form pieces
        • Illustrations for Andrew’s pieces about disabilities
        • Wake up and smell the rhetoric
        • Would like to partner with others, providing illustration
      • Comments/Questions to guest speakers:
        • How can we support your work?
          • Submitting OpEds - they’ll help edit (Andrew)
          • Edit boards - community discussions that result in editorial pieces (Andrew) - we can pose a topic
          • Reach out to folks like Andrew about issues we feel should receive daily coverage, ie testing services (Andrew)
          • Establish some sort of tip line, for community concerns, issues (Grayson)
          • Could invite Daily editors/writers to forums (could use future Council meetings) in which people with disabilities share issues that should receive coverage
          • Is very open to working with others and providing illustration support; can take ideas to her editors (Maggie)
        • Style guides to use when writing; https://ncdj.org/style-guide/
  • Advisory Group progress updates
  • Adjourn