AccessCollege Goes to Alaska

Colleges and universities in Alaska face unique challenges to providing education access for students with disabilities, due to remote locations and low population density in many parts of the state. To increase access to education, the College Access Project for Rural Alaska (CAPRA) was founded. In February, I visited two of the CAPRA program sites. I delivered two presentations that focused on how faculty, staff, and community members could incorporate universal design strategies into their programs and classes. The first presentation was located on the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) Matanuska-Susitna campus in Palmer, and was connected via satellite to four other UAA campuses. The second presentation was held in Soldotna on the UAA Kenai campus.

Several participants commented on the thoroughness and relevance of the presentations. One parent, who is working on new ways to help her son self-advocate, said she felt like I was talking about her son.

This outreach was funded by the U.S. Department of Education as a part of the AccessCollege project.