Presented by University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of La Verne, University of California, Sacramento; Towson University

Lightning presentations are seven minutes in length and are paired with others into a single session. Timestamps are indicated in parentheses so you can forward to the presentation you want to view.

  • A Holistic and Collaborative Approach to Inclusive Remote Art Education (00:00)
    Presented by Diane Kuthy, Jennifer Wingrat, and Jinyoung Koh, Towson University

This presentation describes a collaboration between Art Education and Occupational Therapy majors from Towson University, who worked together to apply theories from each discipline to create asynchronous inclusive art workshops for families during the pandemic. Each workshop provides an engaging way to create expressive self-portraits, inspired by the work of TU alum Dan Kiplinger, in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the King Gimp documentary and the 30th anniversary of the American’s With Disabilities Act (ADA). Workshops incorporate principles of Universal Design for Learning and strategies to modify activities for children and youth with disabilities.

Participants will be introduced to inclusive remote art workshops inspired by Dan Kiplinger’s art and our interdisciplinary collaboration.

  • Establishing an Academic and Career Center (14:30)
    Presented by Carlos Cervantes and Amanda Miller, University of La Verne

We have engaged in an ambitious effort at the University of La Verne to integrate academic and career advising. We believe that academic advising needs to evolve to include more intentional efforts to include career advising to help prepare students to meet career and professional goals while they also meet academic requirements to earn a degree. This process begins, first, with the guided selection of the college major and discussions about the students’ goals and academic and career aspirations. Second, we need to connect students with the Career Center early and often to ensure they see the link between the curriculum, academic advising, and career readiness.

  • Laptops for Students: Removing Barriers to Student Success (25:50)
    Presented by Heather Reed and JB Hill, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

UA Little Rock loaned out laptops and web cameras for student use when courses shifted to online instruction due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Collaboration between IT Services, Ottenheimer Library, the Provost office, and Student Retention Initiatives focus efforts to purchase, inventory, and loan out laptops and web cameras for the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. At the end of the fall 2020 semester, a survey was distributed to students who checked out technology to learn how the laptop and web camera loan program supported student success. The takeaways from the presentation will include:

    • Working with UA Little Rock Center for Survey Research – students were surveyed to determine technology needs as the campus transitioned to virtual learning.
    • Determination was made that laptop needs were the highest need.
    • Campus collaboration is spurred with a focus on student success using processes and support that already existed on campus.
    • Plan for purchasing, tagging, distributing, and collecting laptops was created and implemented.
    • An assessment conducted showed that 67.5% of students loaned laptops would have withdrawn from the semester if not for access to technology.
  • Examing Undergraduate Experiences and Promoting Solidarity through Photovoice (38:30)
    Presented by Rahamim McCarter-Ribakoff, Erin Ellison, University of California, Sacramento

In this session, I will be addressing the area of COVID-19. In the spring of 2020, my faculty advisor made the decision to adjust community-engaged final project assignments in two classes to respond to the new context of virtual interactions. Dr. Ellison offered the option of a Photovoice project to document and examine experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, recognizing the needs for connection and expression, and that our students are inextricably linked with our communities in the Sacramento region. I am conducting follow-up interviews with students aimed at assessing outcomes of student engagement in this project. During the presentation, I will briefly explain the research methodology, Photovoice, which is critical to the agenda driving this project. Key takeaways with which I would like to leave attendees include the following:

    • What Photovoice is and how it can be used to engage and promote the well-being of students during the pandemic
    • Students can and should play an active role in the way their university and communities respond to the unique challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic