Following the appointment of a new advisor, changes could be made to academic accommodations at Queen’s.
Announced in the Queen’s Gazette on Sept. 25, the University’s appointed Brenda Brouwer to work under Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Matthew Evans as a Special Advisor on Academic Accommodations and Considerations. According to the announcement, Brouwer “will play an important role in clarifying critical aspects of academic accommodations processes, while also identifying sound practices and initiatives that can be implemented across the university.”
Before her appointment, Brouwer worked at Laurentian University as interim provost and held several leadership roles at Queen’s, including the dean of Smith School of Business and vice-provost and dean of Graduate Studies.
“I’m excited to engage with students, staff, faculty and administrators in a collaborative effort to ensure all students have equitable access to academic activities,” Brouwer said in the announcement.
This appointment marks the third Special Advisor appointment in the last five months, with Michelle Searle stepping into the Community Engagement Advisor role in July and Eleftherios Soleas taking on the Special Advisor on Generative AI role in May.
The announcement follows the 2023-24 Review of Academic Accommodations and Related Procedures at Queen’s report, which recommended that the University create a working group to investigate changes to academic considerations. The Academic Accommodations Interim Working Group was then struck, which made several recommendations, one of which was the implementation of a new special advisor role.
READ MORE: Interim working group provides advice on academic consideration policies
The group made multiple other recommendations, including the formalization of how accommodations are being applied, requested reviews into the seven-day extension for assignment accommodations, and the tools currently offered to those with disabilities, including the lecture recording software Glean, among other recommendations.
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accomodations, Brenda Brouwer, Special Advisor
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