The Inclusive Syllabus: A First Step in building a welcoming environment

PUBH 50: Healthy Lifestyles

Course Description

PUBH 50 is a lower division health and wellness course in the Department of Public Health. The section I teach is asynchronous and has a capacity of 60 students.

Before:

Through participation of other FLCs, my syllabus was mostly compliant with UDL. Two areas I identified where improvements were needed were inclusion of instructor information and in grading.

Motivation for Redesign of your Syllabi

Fall 2022 PUBH 50 Syllabus v1

After:

I added my bio to the syllabus and a statement to encourage students to review the grading rubric for each assignment.

Include Evidence of Accessibility or Language Choice Changes

Fall 2022 PUBH 50 Syllabus v2

Techniques Incorporated Into Redesign

I used the UDL Self Review tool to ensure I was able to improve my syllabus.

Assessment of Syllabus Redesign

My goal for my courses is to continually improve at least one component of the course each semester. Through the FLCs, I've attended over the last couple years, the syllabus redesign is in alignment with other FLCs including Quality Matters and ACUE which are setting the industry standard.

Reflection: Challenges and Lessons Learned

Faculty Biography

Faculty Biography
	I am a native of Indiana and grew up in Valparaiso a smaller city in the Northwest corner of the state approximately 1.5 hours from Chicago. I have been in California for 20 years and spent my final two years of high school at Amador High School in Sutter Creek. Since, I have lived in and around Sacramento for most of that time. I came to Sacramento State as an undeclared freshman knowing only that I wanted to pursue a career in healthcare. In 2008, I completed my Bachelor of Science with a concentration in Healthcare Administration and in 2014, earned a Master of Public Health from the Dornseif School of Public Health at Drexel University. My education has provided a path to start a rewarding career in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. I began my career with the State of California working in the Help Center at the Department of Managed Healthcare and later the California Department of Public Health in the California Tobacco Control Program. I spent many years at Hill Physicians Medical Group in practice transformation and network development and am currently at WellSpace Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center where my focus is improving specialty care access to the Sacramento Region's Medi-Cal and uninsured populations. In 2015 I took advantage of a great opportunity to return to Sacramento State as an adjunct faculty member. I now have the privilege of giving back to the school that provided me with such a valuable personal and career development experience, my faculty role continually reminds me that it is in giving that we receive. Over the past few years, it has been rewarding to help students achieve their educational goals. I am proud to have graduated from the Department of Health Science and I am humbled to serve as a faculty member in the new Department of Public Health.

Sponsors