COVID-19 Resources for Faculty

• Mental health resources:
  • ​​Check out the NCCSD's crisis resources, designed specifically for people with disabilities, including the number for a SAMHSA Disaster Distress Hotline and the National Disability COVID-19 Healthcare Support and Advocacy Hotline.
  • The JED Foundation created a list of COVID-19 mental health resources.
  • ​NAMI has also created resources about mental health during the pandemic, and has some information about COVID-19 in Spanish.
  • SAMHSA has also created tips for supporting your mental and behavioral health right now, including how to deal with social distancing and isolation.
    
    
• Creating accessible courses:
  • "20 Tips for Teaching an Online Accessible Course" from DO-IT.
  • "Critical Accessibility Supports" from Northwestern University.
  • A more comprehensive guide to designing an accessible online course from the University of Arkansas.
  • A guide to doing alt-text descriptions of online images for visually impaired and blind people.
  • A general introduction to web accessibility from WebAIM, including an introduction to the different ways people with disabilities struggle with online materials in general.
  • Learn about trauma-informed pedagogy in higher education.
  • Universal design is still a good tool for creating access .
  • Check out the NCCSD's general resources for instructors, including instructors and teaching assistants with disabilities.
    
    
• A statement by scholars in the Accessible Campus Action Alliance about equity in re-opening and defining "at-risk" students, faculty, and staff.
  
  
• Information about higher education employees, including employees with disabilities and COVID-related discrimination of Asian Americans -  from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
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• "Please Do a Bad Job of Putting Your Courses Online" - a blog post reminding faculty about the stress students are under, and how to make adjustments for that.
  
  
• ​"Five Take-Aways From My COVID-19 Remote Teaching" from The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  
  
• Your students will be more stressed and anxious next semester, whether or not courses are online.  To better communicate with students and get feedback, Northern Arizona University Disability Resource Office sent a survey to all students with disabilities, asking what they may need for next semester - this could be adapted to ask questions about what students need for the course.  Also consider doing a virtual listening/sharing circle, or simply send out an e-mail asking students to let you know what they need and if they have feedback about services.  You may also want to read an article about how marginalized students are further marginalized by COVID-19, and how colleges and faculty can respond.  Also be sure your syllabus has contact information for basic on-campus resources, as well as a plan if courses need to change in significant ways (e.g., an online course becomes hybrid, or in-person course moves online).