University College Dublin – Dublin, Ireland
In the last two years, UCD Access and Lifelong Learning have carried out many activities with regard to equitable access, inclusion and diversity, including;
Support of Change Teams with programme and professional areas to use the Toolkit for Inclusive Higher Education Institutions to complete workshops and develop action plans for a variety of inclusive initiatives across teaching and learning, student support, the physical campus and the technological infrastructure.
Professional development and capacity building initiatives for faculty and professional staff both in UCD and in the tertiary sector nationally in the areas of Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning.
Communications campaigns and public promotion (e.g production of media content)
Further enhancement of student supports for underrepresented student groups including the UCD ALL Welcome, Assistive Technology mainstreaming, Scholarship Programmes and Financial Supports and Outreach programmes.
In addition to the activities to support inclusion the office also implements legislation, strategies/ action plans, recommendations and guidelines and preventative programmes to remove barriers which students may experience and counter/prevent potentially exclusionary practices in the University.
The last innovative practice/tool introduced to ensure inclusion, diversity and equal access was the publication of the book “Making Inclusive Higher Education a Reality: Creating a University for All”, written by staff in the UCD Access and Lifelong Learning centre to help inform the sector of the importance of an inclusive higher education system. Furthermore, the current development of a student partnership programme to get students involved in advocacy will further embed inclusion, diversity and equity in the University, and strengthen the student voice.
IDEA-net: Expanding the network of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access (IDEA) practitioners in higher education through institutional capacity building
Project ref: 2022-1-NL01-KA220-HED-000089789

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