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Inclusion by Design Summit, Fall 2025: Creating Spaces where Everyone Thrives
The Universal Design Center (UDC) at Montgomery College is excited to host the Fall 2025 Inclusion by Design Summit: a gathering of educators, industry professionals, and advocates dedicated to universal design, equity, and accessibility.
This semester’s summit, themed “Creating Spaces where Everyone Thrives,” will showcase emerging research, best practices, and innovative strategies for fostering inclusion across education, workplaces, and digital environments. Attendees will gain actionable insights through hands-on workshops, thought-provoking discussions, and dynamic presentations.
Event Details for Attendees
Date: Friday, November 7, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Location: Online (Zoom links sent prior to the event)
Who Should Attend? This event is open to the public and welcomes educators, business leaders, accessibility specialists, and professionals interested in advancing inclusion, accessibility, and universal design.
What to Expect?
- Engage in Interactive Workshops: Delve into various interactive workshops that will enrich your understanding and skills in inclusive design practices.
- Participate in Speed Sessions: Enjoy rapid, insightful sessions that will keep you on your toes and enhance your knowledge in designing inclusive digital and physical environments.
- Expand Your Network: Connect with like-minded professionals passionate about fostering inclusivity in all aspects of life and work.
- Discover Insights from a Guest Speaker: Engage in a compelling discussion where our esteemed guest will share their extensive knowledge and firsthand experiences leading the way for inclusive design.
Summit Registration
Registration Details
- MC Employees: Register via Workday (Please check the Summit Schedule below)
- External Attendees: Register for the Inclusion by Design Summit (Registration is now CLOSED)
- Registration Deadline: Thursday, November 6, 2025, at 3:00 PM EST.
- Zoom Links: Sent to all registered participants on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at 4:30 PM EST.
- Presenters have the option to record their sessions. Recorded sessions will be made available to registered participants after the event.
Summit Schedule
Cognitive Load Made Simple
Facilitator: Ketsia Masse
This workshop helps faculty develop emotional intelligence skills to strengthen online teaching presence and connection with students virtually. Through scenarios and action planning, participants will learn to create emotionally safe virtual classrooms.
Emotional Intelligence for Teaching Presence
Facilitator: Laurent Ndeze
In this workshop, you will learn how to optimize learning by reducing cognitive overload. We will discuss how to breakdown content into manageable and accessible chunks, diversify delivery formats to enhance information processing, and integrate check-ins throughout the learning process. This approach to teaching ensures that students are building a solid foundation of knowledge, ultimately leading to deeper understanding and retention.
AI + UDL: Creating Adaptive Course Materials
Facilitator: Paul Miller
This workshop guides faculty through using AI tools combined with Universal Design for Learning principles to create flexible, inclusive course materials. Participants will explore examples, test tools, and draft adaptive resources they can use immediately.
Teaching for Impact Anywhere: Virtual Service Learning
Facilitator: Ketsia Masse
Learn how to adapt service-learning for online delivery, including virtual advocacy, nonprofit support, and remote storytelling projects.
Becoming Architects of Inclusion: Faculty Growth, Support, and Systems Change through Universal Design for Learning
Facilitator: Erin Marcinek
This keynote explores how Universal Design for Learning (UDL) reimagines faculty roles from lecture-centered to facilitators of inclusive, student-centered learning. It examines the tools, professional development, and mentorship structures that enhance faculty confidence in applying UDL, while confronting systemic barriers such as time limitations, institutional culture, and evaluation practices. Ultimately, the session invites participants to consider how colleges can move beyond UDL awareness toward sustained, systemic action empowering educators to serve as architects of inclusion.
Open Pedagogy: The Gift that Keeps Giving
Facilitator: Angela Lanier
No more disposable assignments for an audience of one! Open Pedagogy gives students the opportunity to create authentic materials for others to use beyond their current course. In this workshop, we will examine a variety of open pedagogy examples and resources and explore ways to integrate the practice into our courses.
The ABCs of Motivating Learners: Belonging
Facilitator: Megan Calvert
What helps students feel like they matter, belong, and are seen in your classroom? This second session in our First Faculty Fridays series about motivation focuses on Belonging—a foundational human need and a powerful factor in learning. When students feel a sense of connection to their instructors, peers, and learning environment, they are more likely to succeed academically and have a higher sense of well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000; Kessel et al., 2025).
We’ll examine the power of belonging in our classrooms and discuss seven inclusive strategies to foster community, connection, and psychological safety. You’ll be invited to share and reflect on your own classroom strategies for creating a sense of inclusion and belonging.
Note that you do not need to have attended previous workshops in the series in order to participate in this one.
Micro-Accessibility: Small Changes, Big Impact
Facilitator: Gloria Barron
Small, consistent actions can make a big difference in creating inclusive learning environments. This hands-on session introduces micro-accessibility—quick, low-effort strategies that make course materials more inclusive and accessible to all learners.
Making Courses Accessible with Blackboard Ally
Facilitator: Tom Cantu
The Accessibility Report in Blackboard Ultra includes powerful tools for creating courses that are accessible, mobile-friendly, and inclusive. Participants will learn to use the accessibility report to identify and fix accessibility issues, introduce students to the alternative format features, and create course content that it is easy to navigate, readable on multiple devices, and supportive of diverse learners.
Every Learner, Every Voice: Using AI to Differentiate with UDL in Mind
Facilitator: Dr. Paul Miller
What if AI could help you create multiple ways for students to engage with content, demonstrate understanding, and connect with learning? This interactive workshop explores how generative AI tools can support differentiation and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) by generating customized examples, scaffolds, and materials for diverse learners. Whether you’re designing for multilingual students, learners with disabilities, or simply aiming for more inclusive instruction, you’ll discover how to prompt AI to help you plan, adapt, and design learning experiences that reach more students—without starting from scratch every time.
Workshop Materials from the Summit
- Every Learner Every Voice: Using AI to Differentiate with UDL in Mind
- AI + UDL: Creating Adaptive Course Materials
- Open Pedagogy: The Gift that Keeps Giving
- The ABCs of Motivating Learners: Belonging
- Becoming Architects of Inclusion: Faculty Growth, Support, and Systems Change through Universal Design for Learning
- Cognitive Load Made Simple
Accommodations
To request reasonable accommodation(s), please contact Dr. Paul Miller. Requests should be submitted by Friday, October 24, 2025, to ensure appropriate arrangements.
Have Questions?
Contact Dr. Paul Miller at paul.miller@montgomerycollege.edu
We look forward to welcoming you to the Fall 2025 Inclusion by Design Summit!