Planning Accessible and Inclusive Campus Programs and Events – On-Demand Training

Conduct an Event Audit

Campus life staffers are event professionals who are often able to execute high-impact events on a large scale with limited resources. Often, the systems that campuses use impede their ability to create inclusive events. The emotions related to this are frustration, and often, overwhelm, as these skilled employees sometimes feel guilt over what the campus has not provided. Over time, these professionals may begin to design for the “typical students” they expect, since they often don’t have time to use an accessibility checklist for students whom they know quite well.

Ensure campus engagement and inclusion with regards to disability, race, identity, international citizenship, political and religious affiliation, socioeconomic status, and more. You’ll hear from expert presenters as they help you strategize from the planning stage and beyond to put diversity, equity and inclusion at the forefront in making sure you are creating a comfortable environment for everyone.

The first step in getting diverse students to engage with one another is to actually get them to spaces that allow them to participate in new ways. Conduct intentional audits of your level of accessibility and inclusion, to help ensure that you are fostering diversity and inclusion at your events.

Topics Covered

You’ll gain crucial, actionable takeaways that will help you:

• Reach new and different campus community members by being aware of event decisions that may be inadvertently exclusionary.
• Utilize a checklist for event planning so you can incorporate educational and entertaining events and activities suitable for diverse audiences.
• Design events for the margins, rather than designing for the center.
• Find creative ways to partner and use existing resources when the campus’ resources are not sufficient for accessibility and inclusion-related needs.

Presenters

Rhonda Fitzgerald serves as the Managing Director for the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network and works to train, mentor, and provide guidance to a broad range of institutions and individuals seeking to transform their communities through Sustained Dialogue.
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Dr. Thomas Walker is the Director of the Inclusion & Equity Education Office at the University of Denver in Colorado.
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