Accessibility Advocate Margaret Schedel Named to SUNY Faculty Fellowship Program

Adapting her lessons, teaching style, course content and music compositions to accommodate people who learn in different ways has been a lifelong habit for Margaret "Meg" Schedel. For years, she has also worked with her colleagues to help them embed access into their courses from the beginning instead of retrofitting them on demand.

"I design courses with the assumption that many students will not disclose disabilities," said Schedel, professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Music and interim chair of the School of Communication and Journalism Department of Journalism. "From my leadership vantage point, I believe accessibility must be embedded directly into decision-making. Faculty development should not stop at checklists but instead prepare instructors to evaluate tools, assignments and policies by asking: who is included and who might be left out?"

Schedel was recently named one of 11 SUNY Accessibility Advocates and Allies Faculty Fellows. Announced by State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. earlier this month, the program empowers faculty to expand digital accessibility and Universal Design for Learning practices across their campuses. This is the second fellowship cohort. The initiative is led by the SUNY Office of Student Success and the SUNY Office of the Provost.

"There is a place at SUNY for everyone and we work tirelessly to ensure our campuses are inclusive and welcoming for every student," King said. "The work of the Accessibility Advocates and Allies faculty fellows is essential to ensuring SUNY faculty have the resources they need to foster a supportive and accessible environment for students with disabilities. Congratulations to the faculty fellows selected for this year's program, which will help advance accessibility throughout the SUNY System."

In her own teaching, Schedel offers her students scaffolded deadlines and the freedom to choose between writing papers, creating multimedia or creative works, and other formats. She always combines lectures, demonstrations, hands-on labs and online resources to give students different ways to explore and understand concepts.

In her music compositions and installations, she often incorporates visual and tactile components so as many people as possible can fully engage with the work. She has also coauthored several research papers, and received funding from the National Science Foundation, to explore how music, sound and aural studies can integrate universal design principles.

At Stony Brook, Schedel has participated in several leadership and faculty governance positions to advocate for accessibility. As a Faculty Thrust Leader with the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, she developed workshops to help other faculty move from reactive accommodation to proactive planning. When she was the interim chair of the CAS Department of Art during the pandemic, she championed flexible assessments, such as paper prototypes, so students wouldn't be penalized if they couldn't all access the same technology. She also served as the inaugural chair of the Assessment Council and worked with the Department of Information Technology and faculty shared governance bodies to update forms and streamline reporting systems to encourage accessible participation.

After creating a successful MOOC (massive open online course), she helped write the framework to distribute more than $1 million in grants over four years through the Stony Brook Online Learning Development Initiative to help faculty redesign courses and view accessibility as an integral and necessary part of their teaching.

"First, my sincere thanks to Meg for her continued dedication to addressing the needs of all of our students, and keeping accessibility at the forefront of her curricular plans," said David Wrobel, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "I'm so pleased and proud that she has been named as one of a relatively small number of faculty fellows for this important accessibility advocacy program. It's another wonderful opportunity for the College to expand its digital accessibility and inclusivity drawing on Meg's knowledge, expertise and guidance."

"Professor Meg Schedel exemplifies the kind of transformative leadership that makes Stony Brook a more inclusive institution," said Stephanie Kelton, interim dean of the School of Communication and Journalism. "Her commitment to embedding accessibility into every aspect of teaching and learning, from course design to assessment, has influenced countless colleagues and students. This fellowship recognition reflects not only her individual excellence but also the ripple effect her work has had across the School of Communication and Journalism and the greater Stony Brook campus. We're proud to have her representing SoCJ in this important SUNY-wide initiative."