CIBC – Accessibility Program Sponsorship | Academic Newsletter | Seneca Polytechnic

by Daniel Fok, Counselling and Accessibility Services

in the June 2018 issue

We wanted to take the opportunity to let you know that Seneca has recently received a generous Accessibility Program sponsorship commitment of $200,000 from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).

Through this sponsorship, Counselling and Accessibility Services (CnAS) and college partners will be able to make more resources available for students with disabilities, raise awareness about accessibility, and support the development of innovative solutions for accessibility challenges through entrepreneurship. This fund will help CnAS and college partners to continue to provide and build on successful accessibility offerings to students for the next four years. Examples of initiatives that will be made possible by this fund include:

• Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD): GAAD is an annual event that happens mid-May (globalaccessibilityawarenessday.org). CnAS has participated in GAAD for the past four years. Our focus has been to raise awareness about accessibility, and counselling and accessibility services at the college. We engage with students through face-to-face interactions (event tables), social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram take-over), and surveys. A good example of a program that has been developed as a result of our engagement with students during GAAD is our popular Apps Workshops. Check out #SenecaCnAS on Twitter to learn more about our participation in GAAD!
• Apps Workshops: These workshops introduce and provide students with mobile device apps that can support their academic success. In these Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) workshops, we work with students to install and explore apps based on a ‘topic of the week,’ such as time management, note-taking, distraction blockers, better reading and writing, mind mapping, stress/anxiety management, and much more.
• Video Project: We will create a number of videos that will be posted online to cover topics about our services, events/workshops/groups, as well as instructional “how to” guides to set up assistive technology, access academic accommodations, and much more. Here is sneak peak of a video introducing Counselling and Accessibility Services: bit.ly/SenecaCnAS
• Innovators Fund: The fund will support students with their own original business concepts, or who are collaborating with industry, in applied research projects focused on accessibility. They would apply for development funding for their project, and a vetting process would be put in place to ensure that the project or business concept aligns with the mandate of the fund. The CIBC Innovators Fund will be available through Seneca’s Office of Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Special thanks to Joy Gooding and the fund development team for their support in making this sponsorship a reality. Stay tuned for more exciting information!

View the June 2018 issue of the Academic Newsletter.