SUSTAINABILITY IN STUDENT INTERFACE: THE WHY AND HOWFrederic FovetDirector, Office for Students with DisabilitiesStudent Services, McGill

Introductions• What is your background and what appeals to you in this

topic?• Links between Access, Student Services & Sustainability?• Short narrative of a privileged relationship: OSD and

Sustainability Office

Objectives• Part 1 – Highlight possible links between social justice @

student services & student affairs and sustainability, using Access as an illustration

• Part 2 – Look, beyond the example at areas of student services and student affaires where sustainability is relevant

• Part 3 - Brainstorm on ways to create the organic relations with campus partners and stakeholders to develop momentum

PART 1Sustainability and Access … Filling the dotted line!

Gauging perceptions amongst participants• How can sustainability on campuses go beyond

operations and energy?• What links or overlaps do you see between sustainability

and student services or student affairs?• Do you have established contacts with these partners?• What are the narratives of sustainability and social justice

on your own campuses?

Please take a few minutes to discuss with your table

An illustration - Access and sustainability

• sus·tain·a·bil·i·ty [suh-stey-nuh-bil-i-tee]• The quality of not depleting resources, and thereby

supporting long-term ecological balance• On campuses, resources are not limited to energy,

operations, etc.• Access is a particularly stunning example, as guaranteeing

access in traditional ways is now an obsolete approach• Figures speak for themselves• The need to spare resources in student services

constitutes a sustainability goal for Higher Ed.• These depleting resources are governmental, but also

relate to tuition

Context – Demographics and current trends at McGill OSD

2004-2005

2005-2006

2006-2007

2007-2008

2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011

2011-2012

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Number of students registered at McGill OSD

Cost and student concerns over tuition

Five factors have led to a metamorphosis of service provision

• Resource management

• Increase in the complexity of diagnoses

• Sustainability as a criterion for development

• Shift from the medical model to the Social Model

• Appearance of inclusion imperative in student expectations

The sustainable solutions in Access• Service delivery needs to focus on the causes, not the

resulting issues• Focusing on remedial measures creates an unstainable

strain on resources• Disability service providers need to go to the root of the

access issues: pedagogical practices• The causes are environmental (daily practices in

teaching and service provision) and do not reside in individual impairments (social mode of Disability)

• Solutions such as Universal Design for Learning focus on reducing demand for services on our campuses, not on ‘patching up’ problems.

Inclusion and UD

Adapted from AHEAD Universal Design Initiative Team (2004)

PART 2Where might sustainability be relevant within student services and student affairs?

Clash of cultures in student affairs• Expansion vs. scrupulous action on root and cause of

problems• Student affairs can become so dependent on dysfunctions

occurring in the running of campuses that it is beneficial for such services not to address root problems

• Underlying neoliberal momentum of expansion and growth

• Symbiotic, parasitic or saprophytic relationship?• The notion of working oneself out of a job.

Examining student services provision under the lens of sustainability• Keeping in mind the illustration given on access, what

other student services might be seen to require a re-orientation in order to tackle the root of demand in a sustainable way?

• How might these services continue doing more with less? How might they resist the trend for expansion and tackle the growth in demand in a sustainable way?

• How might one trigger this reflection amongst these partners?

• How can we launch a discussion on sustainability in student services?

Bringing ideas back to the groupPossible areas of action:

• Mental Health: Area of huge concerns on all North American campuses. Growth of demand is constant and service provision is unstainable. Services focus on symptoms but few campuses tackle the root of this explosion in a sustainable way. How can student services strive to reduce demand by promoting sustainable practices surrounding Mental Health?

Bringing ideas back to the group• Career services: the volume of demand here is in explosion too. Are the issues job placement challenges or is there increasingly a ‘lack of fit’ between student expectations and realities of the job market? Could the resources be redeployed more sustainably on effective pre-registration orientation?

Bringing ideas back to the groupStudent learning support:• More and more students require remedial learning services,

particularly during transition.• Many coping skills have not been acquired before arrival on

campus• Huge amount of early transition issues relate to the

acquisition of specific study skills• This is a heavy remedial burden no service wishes to address• Sustainable solution: instead of allowing remedial services to

explode, these needs must be addressed systemically through the creation of first year courses, of learning centres or intro courses taken online before registration.

PART 3Creating organic relations with campus partners

How can sustainability offices engage student affairs personnel?• How can you create the organic connections with student

affairs staff to give this vision momentum?• How can you highlight the issue of sustainability in these

units’ vision?• How do we create a shared vocabulary?• How can we get student affairs personnel to conferences

such as this one?Please take a few minutes to discuss these questions with your table.

Some examples of initiatives from McGill• Sustainability interns (2 successive summers)• Term included in Student Services core values and

strategic objectives• The 0SD includes in its strategic objectives the review of

individual job descriptions under a sustainable lens• Participation and goal sharing within Vision 2020, McGill`s

sustainability plan.• Theme of the second McGill Disability Awareness Week• Explicit mention in a $280,000 government grant for UDL

implementation

Chantier 3 project on UDL implementation

The Chantier 3 grant obtained the top rating out of 63 applications made across the province. One of the main criteria was the alignment of the proposed project to the objectives of sustainable development. “Access is rarely seen as part of the drive for sustainability,” explained Fovet. “But widening access and facilitating inclusion are central to the notion of sustainability on post-secondary campuses. Sustainable pedagogical practices seek to widen access while reducing the need for costly retrofitting. This is why UDL appears as part of McGill’s Vision 2020 objectives. Social justice is a key component in this planning effort.”http://publications.mcgill.ca/reporter/2013/10/osd-obtains-mesrst-grant-for-universal-design-implementation/

CONTACT DETAILSfrederic.fovet@mcgill.caOffice for Students with Disabilities & My AccessMcGill University