Excellence in Access and Inclusion Awards spotlight a community for all
The ceremony, organized by Services for Students with Disabilities, celebrated community members' exceptional commitments to accessibility.
Guests and faculty attended the Excellence in Access and Inclusion Awards to celebrate efforts made by the Virginia Tech Community to improve campus for all. Photo by Robert Robinson for Virginia Tech.
Services for Students with Disabilities recognized the efforts of faculty, staff, students, teams, and departments at this fall's Excellence in Access and Inclusion awards. Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community guided the standards and recognition of honorees.
Kristin Hylton, Innovative Service in Access and Inclusion
Kristin Hylton received the Sally Bohland Award for Innovative Service in Access and Inclusion. The award recognizes faculty members, staff, students, departments, or teams that create or implement new ways to support students with disabilities and support accessibility at Virginia Tech.
As communications and community programming specialist for the Reynolds Homestead, Hylton helps ensure that programming at the Patrick County site welcomes all visitors. Hylton recently received the Certified Professionals in Accessibility Core Competencies designation from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals.
“I've been really proud of the work that our small office has done to uphold the standard that's being set across the university and the willingness of Outreach and International Affairs to work toward the gold standard of accessibility and inclusion,” said Hylton.
By bringing accessibility resources and training from Blacksburg to remote centers, Hylton has enabled more faculty members and staff to design inclusive programming and ensure broad access to center resources. She has become a resource for other centers on best practices for creating accessible documents, digital content, and social media.
Guopeng Cheng, Exceptional Leadership in Access and Inclusion
Guopeng Cheng was recognized for Exceptional Leadership in Access and Inclusion. Photo by Robert Robinson for Virginia Tech.
Guopeng Cheng received the Sally Bohland Award for Exceptional Leadership in Access and Inclusion. The award recognizes faculty members who go above and beyond their job duties to provide for their students.
Cheng, associate professor in the School of Design primarily working with consumer studies majors, was selected for his dedication to his students' graduating with the financial knowledge needed to excel.
“He invests many hours beyond his normal faculty responsibilities meeting with students individually, both in person and online, to answer questions, explain difficult class concepts step by step, and help them prepare for tests,” wrote his nominator, Patti Fisher. “He also takes the time to meet privately with students as needed, listening carefully to their concerns and providing targeted adjustments rather than generic solutions. Dr. Cheng ensures that students complete their degree requirements and leave Virginia Tech with the tools, confidence, and financial skills necessary to reach their full potential.”
“When a course becomes more accessible for students with disabilities, it ends up benefiting the entire class,” Cheng said. “As a financial educator, I don't want to leave any students behind. This commitment makes it even more important for me to ensure students with disabilities have the same opportunities to succeed in my class and apply what they learn.”
Understanding accessible and inclusive dialogue
The ceremony's two keynote speakers addressed the importance of an inclusive and accessible campus.
Mark Nichols, senior director of Universal Design and Accessible Technologies at Virginia Tech, presented several tools used at the university to meet accessibility standards and gave a brief history of accessibility at the university.
“Disability is not rare or distant, it's part of every community, every classroom, and every team. And that's exactly why digital accessibility matters,” Nichols said. “Digital accessibility means that everyone, regardless of ability, can use and benefit from our digital spaces.”
Accessibility speakers Ashley Shew and Mark Nichols celebrate the university’s dedication to making education accessible for all at the award ceremony. Photo by Robert Robinson for Virginia Tech.
Professor Ashley Shew researches the overlap between technology studies, biotech ethics, and disability studies.
She addressed common misconceptions about disabled people as well as the benefits and dangers of the marriage between biomedical devices and technology for those with disabilities.
“We can't rush into technology adoption without careful and critical deliberation about what data different companies and systems collect about users, what functionality is transparent or opaque, what tools can end up being used against us, and how existence of some tools means notable shifts away from previously offered tools,” Shew said.
Nominations for Excellence in Access and Inclusion Award recipients are open year-round and can be submitted online. Recipients are selected in early October each year.
Written by Caitlin Whitfield, a senior majoring in multimedia journalism
