Overview
The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Fellows Program supports faculty and staff to develop expertise in UDL through a cohort-based professional development program. It comprises a series of facilitated workshops, online modules, and project-driven activities help participants use UDL principles to redesign their courses and practices to be more inclusive and accessible.
The goals of the UDL Fellows Program are to:
- Identify and address systemic barriers to equitable learning opportunities, to create and sustain equitable and inclusive campuses (supporting UBC Strategic Plan Strategy 4: Inclusive Excellence and enhancing the accessibility of physical and virtual spaces for students, staff, and faculty).
- Improve access and inclusion in on-campus, online and hybrid teaching and learning environments with a focus on barriers for students with disabilities or other accommodations.
- Cultivate a network of practitioners who are skilled in applying UDL approaches to teaching and learning contexts in various academic discipline and committed to raise awareness of UDL among faculty and staff across the university community.
- Develop a range of strategies and resources that will expand support for accessibility within university practices and courses, promoting a more inclusive learning environment for all.
You can find more information about the UDL Fellows program on the TLEF website and stories from the UDL Fellows teams who have participated in the program on the UDL Hub Website.
Project Team Structure/Commitment
All project teams who participate in the UDL Fellows Program will commit to participating in a series of UDL Fellows Program events including workshops and studios (online and in-person) as well as an online UDL Course between May and August 2026. During this period, the teams will collaborate to develop and put into action UDL strategies in their in their course design and teaching and learning practices, with a focus on courses and projects that will be offered during the 2026/27 academic year (i.e., Winter Session 1 starting September 2026 or Winter Session 2 starting January 2027).
Eligibility
Each project team should consist of an instructor, who may be either a tenure-stream or contract faculty, responsible for teaching a course that forms the centerpiece of the project, and a support staff member from a Faculty or Department support unit who will work alongside of the instructor on the redesign of the course.
Departments will be eligible to receive $10,000 in funding to cover a three-credit course release for faculty who participate in the UDL Fellows Program. Faculties are asked to commit in-kind support of a staff member to participate fully in this professional development program as a core project team member, to work closely with faculty on the UDL redesign project that will be developed during the program.
Faculty of Science Nomination Process
Interested teams should submit a letter of interest on or before December 15th, 2025. Please address the letter to Jaclyn Stewart, Associate Dean Academic and submit it to ugrad.admin@science.ubc.ca.
The letter of interest should identify the faculty and staff team members and answer the following questions:
- Why do you want to join the UDL Fellows Program?
- Which course will you redesign? What are the existing systemic barriers in this course?
- What aspects of the course would benefit from being redesigned with a Universal Design for Learning approach?
- For multi-section courses, what is the level of commitment from the other instructors to apply the redesign to all sections of the course?
- How could the impact of the redesign be assessed?
- How will you share what you learn in the program with others in the Faculty of Science?
- Have you discussed your application to the UDL Fellows Program with your department head? In particular, do you know if they would support the teaching release?
For consultation and support with your letter of interest, please reach out to the Science Faculty Liaison Ashley Welsh at ashley.welsh@ubc.ca.
Selected teams will work with the Associate Dean Academic to complete the program nomination form, which must be submitted by January 29th, 2026.