Universal Design for Learning is an inclusive pedagogical approach that recognizes and embraces learner diversity and creates meaningful access to the learning environment for all students. Join us for a day of shared learning of UDL at Bryant led by Kirsten Behling, Associate Dean of Student Accessibility and Academic Resources at Tufts University, to gain a deeper understanding of the purpose and practice of UDL in your courses and programs.

Today’s students are navigating neurodiversity, are the first generation to go to college, have various forms of technological experience, are driven by different post-school goals, and have different levels of academic preparedness and access needs. This past year has only highlighted the fact that higher education must flex to meet the diverse needs of students. The challenge for faculty is how to do this easily and with the greatest impact in the midst of many competing priorities. Kirsten will introduce the concept of Universal Design for Learning as a tool to support that effort with just one more approach to what faculty may already be doing. It will celebrate those unintended UDL practices, highlight them, and build on them through creative thought and shared experiences.  

Kirsten Behling is the Associate Dean of Student Accessibility & Academic Resources at Tufts University and an adjunct professor in the Disability Services in Higher Education Graduate Certificate Program at Suffolk University. Prior to working at Tufts, Kirsten developed and managed the Office of Disability Services at Suffolk University and helped develop the Graduate Certificate Program in Postsecondary Disability Services at the University of Connecticut. Her research interests include campus-wide buy-in to access needs, access to online learning, teaching the diverse learner, and educating current and future disability service professionals. In 2018, she released Teach Everyone, Reach Everyone: UDL in Higher Education with Thomas Tobin (West Virginia Press).

Upon registering, you will receive an email with a link to a free digital version of her book Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: UDL in Higher Education.