In spite of the unexpected obstacles of the past year, the newest Beaver grads are about to cross the graduation finish line. Voice your encouragement, advice and congratulations as they begin to build their future. It takes just a few minutes but creates a big impact for brand-new alumni. Use the BEaver KIND submission form to send your short note through May 31 at osualum.com/Congrats.

We are writing to provide you information that all employees, especially teaching faculty, must know regarding OSU’s legal and policy responsibility to reasonably accommodate any qualified student who has a disability. Providing equal educational opportunity is an important and shared responsibility.

Please refer to OSU’s policies related to disability, and the Disability Access Services Faculty and Staff Guidelines for more in-depth information.

Online Training

Towards the goal of meeting our legal obligations and institutional aspirations, we offer a concise (30 minute) self-paced online training, designed to address many of the questions faculty have asked, as well as all of our responsibilities. The training can be completed at any time, though it should be completed as close to the beginning of the term as possible.

Register for and view the Disability Access Services Faculty Training.

NEW Disability Access Services Instructor area

DAS has implemented an Instructors portal to provide a single space for instructors to go to review ALL DAS-related accommodation notifications for students in courses currently being taught. This space provides the same information that an instructor would see on the DAS Notification Letter. The DAS Notification Letters will still be emailed, this is an additional way to access the information. Visit Disability Access Services Instructor Advisor for login link and more information.

Here is the process for accessing the DAS instructor area: 

• Visit the DAS website homepage: https://ds.oregonstate.edu/
• Click  DAS Instructor Online Services login on the right hand side of the page
• Sign in with your OSU Username and Password (DUO is required) 
• Click the reminders regarding FERPA information 
• Click on Continue to View Student Accommodations 

This will bring you to an area that has all of the courses you are teaching this term, along with information identifying students that have requested accommodations in each course. 

Canvas and Remote Teaching Material Accessibility 

Courses created in Canvas as well as uploaded documents need to be accessible for students with disabilities. Multiple OSU offices have developed great resources on how to make materials accessible. All of these resources including an archived webinar are available in  Canvas – Improving Accessibility in Your Course. 

ReadSpeaker TextAid – Canvas Accessibility

All OSU instructors are encouraged to enable TextAid in Canvas. TextAid allows students to listen to Canvas documents aloud. Students with reading disabilities can benefit greatly from this tool. The tool also improves your course accessibility, and once enabled, everyone can use it – so it’s a great feature all can benefit from. 

Learn more about TextAid and how to enable this tool. If you have questions about ReadSpeaker, please contact Randy Ocampo, Assistive Technology Manager in Disability Access Services at 7-4098 or Randy.Ocampo@oregonstate.edu.

OSU’s Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability policy states:

“…no qualified person shall, solely by reason of disability, be denied access to, participation in, or the benefits of, any program or activity provided by the University. Each qualified person shall receive the reasonable accommodations needed to ensure equal access to employment, educational opportunities, programs and activities in the most integrated setting feasible.”

Thank you for your attention to understanding our obligations.

Kim D. Kirkland, Ed.D.

Executive Director, Equal Opportunity and Access

Susan Capalbo                                                                      

Senior Vice Provost, Faculty Affairs

Writing the syllabus using a warm tone — for instance, framing course objectives as “we will” rather than “you will” — makes students more likely to reach out for help. That’s the key finding of a recent study conducted by Regan A. R. Gurung, a professor in the School of Psychological Science at Oregon State University, and Noelle R. Galardi, an undergraduate at the university, published in Teaching of Psychology.

Please note the following awards are open for nominations until April 6. All OSU members, or groups, can submit:

Nominations open: The President’s Commission on the Status of Women, Office of Institutional Diversity, Office of the Provost and OSU Athletics are accepting nominations for the Breaking Barriers awards. All OSU community members whose work advances gender equity in alignment with the award categories are eligible. Categories include Breaking Barriers in Education, Breaking Barriers in Research, Breaking Barriers in Athletics, the PCOSW Community Builder and the Harriet “Hattie” Redmond awards. Learn more and submit nominations at beav.es/Jby. Nominations close Tuesday, April 6. For questions, contact pcosw@oregonstate.edu.

We welcome nominations for the following five awards: 

·         Breaking Barriers in Education Award: This award recognizes a member of the OSU community whose high impact in teaching and mentoring has paved the way for women in higher education to thrive and prosper. 

·         Breaking Barriers in Research Award: This award honors a member of the OSU community whose innovative research challenges and expands knowledge and/or improves the lives of women.

·         Breaking Barriers in Athletics Award: This award recognizes a member of the  OSU athletic community whose contributions actively create and encourage gender equity in sports.

·         The PCOSW Community Builder Award: This award honors an individual, or group, in the OSU community whose work contributes significantly to the campus environment through advocacy of gender equity. ​​​

·         The Harriet “Hattie” Redmond Award:  This award celebrates a member of the OSU community who works as an agent of change in service of racial justice and gender equity.

Friday, March 19 from 2-3 p.m. Location: Zoom.
To register for this event and for more Zoom information from Media Services, go to https://uit-at.oregonstate.edu/media-services-zoom/. 

Science communications can take you many places, from the ocean depths of marine biology, to the innovative edge of biohealth sciences, down to the molecular understanding of chemistry. Learn from alumni professionals about what it takes and where you can work in this exciting new field by attending a free webcast, Careers in Science Communication and Storytelling, Thursday, March 18, at noon via Zoom. Megan Cook, ’09, and Jeremy Hoffman, Ph.D. ’17, guide an exploration of career trajectories and the future of the field, followed by an interactive Q&A. OSU Alumni Association’s Career Webcast series offers guidance for students and alumni entering the workforce, changing fields or advancing a career. Register and find additional resources at osualum.com/careerwebcasts.

The University of Oregon is searching for a career instructor with primary teaching responsibilities in Introductory and General Chemistry.Further information is available here:https://www.higheredjobs.com/details.cfm?JobCode=177427794

The OSU Libraries and Press invite currently enrolled graduate students to enter this year’s Visualize Your Bibliography Competition. Submissions should creatively display 20+ sources used in a thesis, dissertation or other scholarly work. Displays might range from a series of erasure poems made for each source to a multimedia timeline of your sources. Prizes: 1st: $750, 2nd: $500, 3rd: $250. Deadline: April 1. For questions, contact colleen.johnson@oregonstate.edu.  

The Community for the Advancement of Antiracist Instruction (CAAI) seeks instructors and TAs for a spring pilot, weeks 5 through 8. In this professional development opportunity, participants will explore antiracist teaching in a community of colleagues and create an antiracist teaching action plan. Apply here (by March 31).