December 2022 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Date
  • Invited Guest: Christina Kline with an accessibility funding update from ECRT
    • ECRT received funding to hire 2 ASL interpreters for a 2-year pilot program
      • Prioritizations for Interpreters
        • Faculty + staff employees who need this for effective communication (trainings, events, important conversations)
          • Funding for students who need interpreters comes from student life
        • Events
          • If an attendee ask for ASL as an accommodation, prioritize an ASL interpreter being at that event
          • If an event is large, especially if it doesn’t require registration, we prioritize having an interpreter at that event
            • Want to make sure it’s accessible to the potentially broader range of people attending
          • Other events will be considered based on capacity
        • Patients are currently well covered by interpreter services at the hospital, but ECRT interpreters could provide backfill
      • Other goal: Education
        • Want these interpreters to help with trainings, programming to inform the UM community about accessibility and improve inclusive practices going forward
      • If a staff member needs a full time interpreter, ECRT can still provide that (but that’s a separate request process)
      • Job postings were posted - please spread far and wide!
    • Funding to get CART  a 2-year pilot program
      • Again prioritizing employees and events
      • Other units already have funding for CART (ex. LSA), so they may not be eligible for this funding, but all CART usage data will be collected to determine the need for funding going forward
      • People can request this starting now by emailing [email protected] or visiting ecrt.umich.edu (use the contact ADA team form)
    • Feedback or questions? Email Christina at [email protected]
    • Discussion
      • ECRT is not going to charge units for using these services
      • This is going to replace individual units trying to get these services independently
        • Hopefully more streamlined and campus-wide now
      • If an LSA employee is working on an event not sponsored by LSA, may still be eligible for this type of accommodation
      • Can small student groups who have regular attendees who require CART for adequate access request funds for CART?
        • Yes, students can still work with ECRT, but student life or SSD may cover this instead 
        • Regardless, the student group will get their needs met! Just depends on where the funding/resource comes from
      • If a staff/faculty member wants these resources, can work with a supervisor first or can contact ECRT directly 
      • Some LSA funds have specific information about what is covered by LSA navigators, this funding could cover some of the gaps in that criteria
      • How can CfDC help?
        • If you have a centralized fund for CART/ASL, let Christina know so she can do data collection on frequency and amount of use
        • Re: managing expectations - make it clear that priority is for people who need these resources to participate, then large events (especially those without registration). Everything else is going to be based on capacity and what other funding is available
  • Other Discussion
    • SAAS  pilot idea: Students shouldn’t have to spend their own funding to accommodate students
      • Going to work with ECRT to make this funding more available from the university
      • Example: CSG has to use its own funding to provide accommodations, meaning they’re disincentivized from electing disabled leadership because it means they’ll have less funds to do student support broadly 
    • Does anyone have experience for identifying needs before an event?
    • We’ll miss you Christina!!
  • CfDC Year in Review
    • A lot of what we discussed this year was focused on faculty
    • Neubacher Award
    • Any community groups want to share about your year in review or what your plans are for next year?
      • AA Commission for Disability Issues
        • Working to try to get an Ann Arbor ADA coordinator to address city wide issues
        • That position is being created, should be filled in the near future
  • Goals for Next Year and Potential Meeting Topics
    • Get more connections to Flint and Dearborn into CfDC
      • Topic ideas to make this more likely?
      • Reach out to any contacts you have
        • Christina and Dr. Okanlami may be able to connect us
    • Public transit (e.g. blue buses) and/or campus navigability (e.g. audible cross walk signals)
    • Parking (especially in the winter)
      • Curb cuts, maintenance, piles of snow in disabled parking spots or covering yellow paint for fall concerns
        • In years past, between Shapiro and Hatcher libraries
          • There’s a steep drop off here that is often covered in snow 
          • Could collect a list of places where people are having a hard time with the snow
          • Could also reach out to other colleges - Syracuse
            • Winter can find out who to reach out to
      • Fewer people are on campus post-pandemic so parking has been easier to find in some places
      • Could remind parking services that this is a need and that their attention is appreciated
    • The Teaching Technology Collaborative  is working on their programming for the coming year, and Nargas Oskui has been working to make the Canvas accessibility checker UDOIT more visible and supported.
  • Announcements
    • As of today the TAC processed 4518 exam requests for Fall 2022! 
      • 2000 more than LSA processed at their peak before COVID