The William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation is pleased to announce the formation of Digital Accessibility Communities of Practice (DA CoPs) to address discipline-specific accessibility challenges in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and Arts & Music. The CoPs aim to enhance the digital accessibility of courses and help ensure that disabled students can access instructional materials effectively and independently.
Digital accessibility is essential to ensuring all students can fully participate in higher education. While many faculty want to make their courses more accessible, they often lack discipline-specific guidance and peer support. These Communities of Practice, supported by the USM Digital Accessibility Work Group, will bring together STEM and Arts & Music faculty from across USM and partner institutions to:
- Identify accessibility barriers specific to STEM and Music & Arts disciplines
- Share effective practices and develop practical solutions to address barriers
- Create resources for system-wide and statewide use
- Build a sustainable network of accessibility champions
In addition to developing practical resources and tools, the initiative aims to build long-term capacity for inclusive design across STEM and Music & Arts, which utilize symbolic notation, multi-media, and graphical, tabular, and image-based content.
We are pleased to welcome more than 40 faculty to the Communities of Practice:
Bowie State University
Music & Arts CoP
- Ogechi Chieke, Visual Communication & Digital Media Arts
- Tewodross Williams, Visual Communication & Digital Media Arts
STEM CoP
- Tyesha Burks, Natural Sciences
- Lucia Santacruz Kozarinas, Natural Sciences
Coppin State University
Music & Arts CoP
- Morgan Banks, Visual Arts
- Hasani Claxton, Visual Arts
- Michael Klima, Theater
STEM CoP
- Dondra Bailey, Biology
- Hany Sobhi, Organic Chemistry
- Mamadou Wade, Mathematics & Computer Science
Howard Community College
Music & Arts CoP
- Juliette Ludeker, English
STEM CoP
Hannah Pie, Biology
Salisbury University
STEM CoP
Tom Cawthern, Geography and Geosciences
Towson University
Music & Arts CoP
- Luis Engelke, Arts & Music CoP Co-Lead, Music
- Ezra Engels, Digital Services Librarian and Subject Librarian for Art
- Christina Taylor Gibson, Performing Arts & Digital Humanities Librarian
University of Baltimore
STEM CoP
Wolf Pecher, Environmental Sciences
University of Maryland, Baltimore
STEM CoP
- Karen Evans, Nursing
- Isabell May, Scientific Writing
- Marleen Thornton, Nursing
- Rebecca Weston, Nursing
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Music & Arts CoP
- Eric Milikin, Visual Arts
- Lulu Mwangi, Music
- Julie Sayo, Visual Arts
STEM CoP
- Sarah Bass, STEM CoP Co-Lead, Chemistry
- Michael Brown, Information Technology
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
STEM CoP
- Miriam Johnston, Biology, Ecology
- Dong Liang, Environmental Statistics
University of Maryland, College Park
Music & Arts CoP
- Sam Crawford, Sound and Media Technologies
- Cynthia, Frank, University Libraries & School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
- Jessica Grimmer, Arts & Music CoP Co-Lead, Musicology, Information Science, Center for Archival Futures
- Craig Kier, Voice & Opera, Conducting & Ensembles, Arts for All
- Alireza Vaziri, Art
STEM CoP
- Amy Karlsson, Bioengineering
- Alejandra Mercado, Telecommunications
- Jamie Trevitt, Epidemiology and Biostatistics
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Music & Arts CoP
- Elvin Hernandez, Fine Arts
- Michael Serwornoo, Digital Media Studies
STEM CoP
- Sandeep Aryal, Engineering
- Purushothaman Natarajan, Agriculture, Food, and Resource Sciences
University of Maryland Global Campus
STEM CoP
- Kate Goldberg, Data Analytics
- Cyndi Wiley, STEM CoP Co-Lead, Web/Digital Design and Extended Reality
