Accessibility Week at Saint Mary's

Join the Fred Smithers Centre as we celebrate Accessibility Week at Saint Mary's from March 21 to 25, 2022. The Fred Smithers Centre will offer virtual events exploring how to create accessible environments, accessibility in higher education and the post-COVID-19 world, and more. For a full list of events please see below.

Learn more about the Centre and the services we offer.

The Fred Smithers Centre strives to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. All events will have sign language interpreting and real-time transcription. Please email fredsmithers.centre@smu.ca for other accessibility requests and specific accommodation

Schedule of Events

Keynote Speaker, Cynthia Bruce

Monday, March 21 
noon-1:00 p.m. 
Virtual Event: Zoom

Join us as we welcome keynote speaker Cynthia Bruce as she details her experience supporting accessibility legislation and exploring the future of accessibility in a post-COVID world.

Accessing Mental Health & Accessibility Services as an International Student

Tuesday, March 22
1:00-2:00 p.m. 
Virtual Event: Zoom

Discussion and workshop to material to focus on barriers to access, methods of support, philosophical differences and beliefs. This event is open to student, staff and faculty.

The Fred Smithers Centre strives to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. All events will have sign language interpreting and real-time transcription.

Welcome to the Student Success Centre

Wednesday, March 23
10:00-11:00 a.m. 
Virtual Event: Zoom

Welcome to the Student Success Centre – the new hub for support for student learning! Please join us with guest speakers Amy McEvoy, Manager of the Student Success Centre and Emma Sylvester, Learning Strategist as they discuss their new positions within the Student Success Centre.

The Fred Smithers Centre strives to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. All events will have sign language interpreting and real-time transcription.

Pathways to Accessible Employment: The SEI Program

Wednesday, March 23
1:00-2:00 p.m.
Virtual Event: Zoom

Are you a student looking for employment but not sure where to start? Look no further! Join this interactive session to learn more about the Student Employment Initiative Program and Wage Subsidy (SEI). SEI is a program that supports students with disabilities in securing employment with on and off-campus employers, gaining volunteer experience, and developing their professional skills and competencies.

The Fred Smithers Centre strives to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. All events will have sign language interpreting and real-time transcription.

Accessibility & The Physical Environment

Thursday, March 24
12:00-1:00 p.m.
Virtual Event: Zoom

Join guest speaker Matthew Glynn, an engineer in Halifax NS and a former student of the Fred Smithers Centre as he discusses his experience of engineering, accessibility and the physical environment. A session for faculty, staff and students.

Enable the Environment

Friday, March 25
1:00-2:00 p.m.
Virtual Event: Zoom

Facilitators Jennifer Green, Manager of the Fred Smithers Centre and Jennifer Webb, Educational Developer, Learning Experience will define what an enabling environment is and provide practical guidance and instruction on how to make your classroom or space an enabling environment. A session for faculty and staff.

Saint Mary’s researcher recognized for contributions to Accessibility Act

Dr. Linda Campbell (back row, far left) and other members of the Bill 59 Community Alliance

Over the past year-and-a-half, Saint Mary’s University professor Dr. Linda Campbell has worked diligently to improve a very important bill to the province of Nova Scotia through a partnership called the Bill 59 Community Alliance. Their work on Bill 59, otherwise known as the Accessibility Act, has helped to ensure that the bill addresses the needs of Nova Scotians with disabilities.

Dr. Linda Campbell (right) with Amberlin Hines, a deaf student from Gallaudet University who visited Saint Mary’s in 2015.

Recently their hard work was recognized by the Partnership for Access Awareness when they were awarded this year’s Mel Hebb Hourglass Action Award for their contributions to Nova Scotia’s Accessibility Act. The Partnership for Access Awareness bestows the Action Award annually during National Access Awareness Week to celebrate individuals who promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Nova Scotia.

Lauded by the Honorable Graham Steele as a “remarkable example of effective citizen action,” the Bill 59 Community Alliance helped to make Nova Scotia more inclusive by bringing together high-level civil servants and advocates from diverse backgrounds.

Dr. Campbell recalls the first meeting with the Premier’s Office, in which the Alliance shared their concerns and recommended solutions.

“It was an informative meeting. The Premier’s Office staff was attentive and thoughtful, and we left the room feeling positive about the way forward.”

This meeting led to an invitation from the Executive Council Office to join key players in redrafting the bill. The result, the Accessibility Act, received significant praise. Key features of the bill include a 2030 deadline for Nova Scotia businesses, organizations, and governments to provide barrier-free access to buildings, and a detailed implementation plan to ensure targets are met.

"As an environment scientist, my first priority is to advocate for healthy environments; however, often I must advocate for access before I can even speak about the environment,” says Dr. Campbell. “This two-step process means that others lose access to the knowledge and expertise that I can offer. Establishing a strong Accessibility Act allows people like me to focus on our jobs and careers. "

Bill 59 received Royal Assent on April 28, 2017.

Dr. Linda Campbell is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Environmental Science and Acting Chair of the School of the Environment. She carries out international-level research on environmental contaminants and freshwater ecosystems, has published extensively on these issues, and is frequently consulted by governments and private businesses.

As one of only two Deaf professors in the world doing aquatic research, Dr. Campbell mentors deaf students and has published on the issues facing Deaf academics. She also co-led an interactive sign language place name project at Saint Mary’s University.

 In addition to her work with the Bill 59 Community Alliance, where she co-represented the Deaf community, Linda sits on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Hearing Society and Gallaudet University in Washington DC, the only Deaf liberal arts university in the world.