[ATcoord] Accessible Technology Policy "retreat" idea...

Wed Apr 26 13:30:25 PDT 2017

Thanks Andrew for your response . I'm including the listserv in my response as I think this opens up a great conversation.

I think there may be some misunderstandings about the coordinator's role - not surprising, since it was never assigned with any clear job description. I think bringing those with the title together to address that might be useful.

However, Policy 188 comes from the state OCIO and I do want to stress that state agencies that do not have DSS and eLearning offices (which is all of them outside of higher edu), are facing the same work - but without those resources or roles...

The way I see it, it's merely a title; a point person that can distribute the information and resources to the appropriate people and has a position that allows them access to the higher-ups at the campus. One office cannot and should not own this work. It touches every office, thus requires an integrated and coordinated effort. My goal is figuring out how to do that and accomplish that. I work very closely with ELC and DSS, I present at other council/commission meetings, but that doesn't guarantee the info reaches everyone it needs to (and let me be honest - most of this is outside of the scope of my job, but someone needs to do it and I enjoy this work).

Since I see the coordinator as more of a title/email forwarder role, perhaps we should explore opening up the listserv to include members of the accessibility workgroups at each campus. I just finished meeting with the team at SPSCC and their coordinator (a CIO) stressed what a help that would be to her as she didn't feel fully capable of leading and addressing this work as someone lacking a background in accessibility and the federal policies.

CATO (the Committee for Accessible Tech Oversight) will be meeting next week and the big topic is restructuring CATO to better serve the IT Access Coordinators (CATO was formed in response to the SBCTC policy which addresses all areas of the campuses, whereas Policy 188 only applies to business and administrative applications - so, really, to do the work of 188, you actually don't need to consider instructional materials, but to comply with federal and SBCTC policy, those items cannot be left out). This might be a good opportunity to look at what type of structure would best serve the coordinators and their teams.

Lastly, I am working through some ideas and proposals to host events for campus accessibility workgroups. Something that offers more direct support and opportunities to better collaborate with other colleges. Funding for such "convenings" or "seminars" or "retreats" would probably be limited to only a few schools, but the invitation would be open to all. I think it would be a great way to develop a stronger community of practice around this issue and present a fantastic venue to showcase some of our accomplishments and projects.  I'd love to hear what others think about such a thing as I'm in the process of pulling together the proposal and cost estimate.

Cheers - and thanks to everyone that participated in the Doodle poll. I'll send an invite out to the demo tomorrow once we have the final tally.

Jess

Jess Thompson
Program Administrator, eLearning & Open Education
p: 360.704.4327 | c: 253.229.8591
Current Projects<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KXjxctpTAa2R06iRksMrjaeiCkphAJzqkwX-awvJh9g/edit?usp=sharing>

From: Andrew Glass [mailto:andrew.glass at ghc.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 10:51 AM
To: Jess Thompson <jess.thompson at sbctc.edu>
Subject: RE: Accessible Technology Policy "retreat" idea...

Jess,

I think the real issue with the lack of engagement you're seeing is, that most the TAC duties were assigned to the college CIOs / IT department heads, and taking this duty on, along with all our other responsibilities, means we have to prioritize this somewhere, and generally speaking, it's not going to be at the top of our lists.  I think to some degree, we are all working on what we can and have to do, but little more in the way of proactivity.

The major problem with the CIOs being assigned as the TACs, is we feel like accessibility is out of our wheelhouse.  For some, the only thing that we may have direct involvement in is the selection and purchase of hardware, and pass-through purchase of software.  But when it comes to the media, website, classroom materials, etc., it either doesn't sit within our department or just isn't in our main area of expertise.

Arguably, to get more proactivity, I think a reshuffling of the TAC needs to happen, and in all honesty, for colleges to truly be invested and proactive, something needs to go to the presidents to tell them this is a serious effort with potentially serious consequences if we fail to act.  In that, we may get more dedicated resources on campuses to support these efforts.

That being said, once many of these pieces are in place and we all institutionalize the processes, the workload drops dramatically and the burden shifts to continuing to ensure compliance and looking forward and where accessibility is trending and how to meet those trends.

Just my two cents, for what it is worth.

Andrew J. Glass
Chief Executive of Information Technology
__________________________________
Grays Harbor College

phone: 360-538-2500
email: andrew.glass at ghc.edu<mailto:andrew.glass at ghc.edu>
online: web<http://www.ghc.edu/> :: twitter<https://twitter.com/graysharbor> :: facebook<https://www.facebook.com/graysharborcollege>

From: Jess Thompson [mailto:jess.thompson at sbctc.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 10:01 AM
To: ptaylor at bates.ctc.edu<mailto:ptaylor at bates.ctc.edu>; marykay.wegner at bellevuecollege.edu<mailto:marykay.wegner at bellevuecollege.edu>; bhartman at btc.edu<mailto:bhartman at btc.edu>; jeremys at bigbend.edu<mailto:jeremys at bigbend.edu>; carrie.powell at centralia.edu<mailto:carrie.powell at centralia.edu>; zlattin at clark.edu<mailto:zlattin at clark.edu>; michael.taylor at cptc.edu<mailto:michael.taylor at cptc.edu>; krasul at columbiabasin.edu<mailto:krasul at columbiabasin.edu>; esmith at edcc.edu<mailto:esmith at edcc.edu>; rmadison at everettcc.edu<mailto:rmadison at everettcc.edu>; Andrew Glass <andrew.glass at ghc.edu<mailto:andrew.glass at ghc.edu>>; bchan at greenriver.edu<mailto:bchan at greenriver.edu>; mlentini at highline.edu<mailto:mlentini at highline.edu>; Jacob.Kukuk at lwtech.edu<mailto:Jacob.Kukuk at lwtech.edu>; bray at lowercolumbia.edu<mailto:bray at lowercolumbia.edu>; ehernandez at olympic.edu<mailto:ehernandez at olympic.edu>; labbay at olympic.edu<mailto:labbay at olympic.edu>; mstocke at pierce.ctc.edu<mailto:mstocke at pierce.ctc.edu>; pcorigliano at rtc.edu<mailto:pcorigliano at rtc.edu>; jgavino at rtc.edu<mailto:jgavino at rtc.edu>; maria.ales at seattlecolleges.edu<mailto:maria.ales at seattlecolleges.edu>; kathleen.chambers at seattlecolleges.edu<mailto:kathleen.chambers at seattlecolleges.edu>; rose.kolovrat at seattlecolleges.edu<mailto:rose.kolovrat at seattlecolleges.edu>; arovner at shoreline.edu<mailto:arovner at shoreline.edu>; andy.heiser at skagit.edu<mailto:andy.heiser at skagit.edu>; lcasile at spscc.edu<mailto:lcasile at spscc.edu>; rod.larse at ccs.spokane.edu<mailto:rod.larse at ccs.spokane.edu>; ckrauss at tacomacc.edu<mailto:ckrauss at tacomacc.edu>; kevin.combs at wwcc.edu<mailto:kevin.combs at wwcc.edu>; jtuker at wvc.edu<mailto:jtuker at wvc.edu>; wnaf at whatcom.edu<mailto:wnaf at whatcom.edu>; stowsley at yvcc.edu<mailto:stowsley at yvcc.edu>
Subject: RE: Accessible Technology Policy "retreat" idea...

Thanks Kamran for suggesting this - I think it would be fabulous to pull all of the IT Accessibility Coordinators together to discuss how we, as a system, can leverage each other's expertise and collaborate in order not to duplicate efforts.

One thing I worry about is getting the coordinators to speak up and say that they are interested/will participate. It's been a challenge to try and get any sort of coordination/collaboration from this group - beyond a few engaged folks.

I can scream from the rooftops until I'm red in the face, but frankly SBCTC has no authority to demand/mandate the coordinators engage and participate. It's really up to this larger group to meet us halfway.

I'm happy to support this effort in any way I can - I have some additional ideas up my sleeve, but until I know the larger group wants this, it's hard to push forward and dedicate a significant time to the planning and logistics of such an event.

If you want to see this happen, I encourage you to speak up - my telepathy skills are running low right now and I can't push for SBCTC supporting such an event if there's not clear demand/need being expressed by the colleges.

Jess Thompson
Program Administrator, eLearning & Open Education
p: 360.704.4327 | c: 253.229.8591
Current Projects<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KXjxctpTAa2R06iRksMrjaeiCkphAJzqkwX-awvJh9g/edit?usp=sharing>

From: ATcoord [mailto:atcoord-bounces at lists.ctc.edu] On Behalf Of Rasul, Kamran
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2017 8:54 AM
To: 'atcoord at lists.ctc.edu' <atcoord at lists.ctc.edu<mailto:atcoord at lists.ctc.edu>>
Subject: [ATcoord] Accessible Technology Policy "retreat" idea...

IT Accessibility Coordinators,

Where are most of you with the Accessible Technology Policy for your college?

Sometime ago I spoke with some of you at events about gathering coordinators nearby their respective geographic areas to work on the policy together....and after some thinking...

*         One possibility is organizing a one day "retreat" at a place that includes small meeting spaces to work on the policy together. Depending on the numbers, we can divide the tables up into smaller groups. The idea is we are all in it together to get it done! While I cannot speak for Jess and her availability, her present to be on hand as our "consultant" would be a bonus.

*         The other possibility is given the wide scope of the WA area, have groups meet at their respective geographic zones. Again, depending on Jess's availability, she may able to skype into the different zones, if a group needed assistance.

Anyway, just a thought...if anyone is interested I can certainly get the 1st one organized for all and the 2nd one for my Eastern Washington area.

Otherwise, hope to see most of you online at the "Benchmark & Planning Tool Demo<https://doodle.com/poll/e5p8xr37f2rp3mrh>" I believe it is hosted by Jess.

Kamran Rasul, M.Ed
Director of Assistive Technology
Columbia Basin College, TD 422
2600 N 20th Ave, Pasco, WA 99301
krasul at columbiabasin.edu<mailto:krasul at columbiabasin.edu> | 509.543.1448 ext.2048

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