Insights from the March 8, 2024 Global Webinar
On March 8, 2024, Symplicity hosted a global webinar titled Breaking Barriers: Global Strategies for Inclusive Higher Education. The event featured voices from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and South Africa, offering international insights into how institutions are working to improve inclusion for disabled students through policy, design, and institutional alignment.
Moderated by Dr. Bill Heinrich, Director of Mindset at OrbisSymplicity (USA), the session focused on fostering cross-regional understanding and identifying scalable strategies for inclusion in higher education.
Meet the Panel
- Dr. Kyle Baillie, Executive Director, Student Affairs, University of the Fraser Valley (Canada)
- Emily Raclaw, Director, On Your Marq, Marquette University (USA)
- Dr. Birgit Schreiber, Senior Associate for Higher Education Leadership and Vice President, International Association of Student Affairs and Services (Germany/South Africa)
- John de Pury, Director, John de Pury Consulting; former Assistant Director of Policy, Universities UK (United Kingdom)
Global Perspectives on Institutional Inclusion
Opening the session, Dr. Heinrich outlined the intention to explore key pillars of institutional inclusion:
“We'd like for individuals who attend here today and listen in later to gain different perspectives and understand their own challenges in their work, supporting inclusion in higher education.”
He explained that the conversation would address:
- Legal obligations and a duty of care
- Universal accessibility and design
- Multimodal pedagogical approaches
- A sense of belonging on campuses
The discussion emphasized the need for institutional coherence, collaboration across units, and a shift from reactive support to structured, system-wide responses.
Staff Workload & Planning
“As coherent organizations, we want to change student outcomes. So recognizing the staff efforts here and getting that whole institution approach.” — Dr. Bill Heinrich (Orbis, USA)
This remark directly acknowledged the fragmentation that often burdens staff when accommodations are delivered through siloed or ad hoc systems. The need for a “whole institution approach” points to the stress and inefficiencies staff face when support delivery isn't integrated into broader institutional planning.
Student Wellbeing & Experience
While not explicitly discussed in legal or reputational terms, the panel’s focus on “a sense of belonging” and the duty of care signals the importance of creating equitable student experiences. Dr. Heinrich’s framing made clear that the goal of inclusive education goes beyond meeting minimum requirements—it’s about ensuring every student feels they belong.
National Momentum: Symplicity Access as the Global Standard
During closing remarks, the panel referenced work by Tia McNair (Student Ready Campus) as a unifying framework for inclusion, further reinforcing the idea that institutions must evolve together to meet modern expectations.
Though no institution was named, the tone of the conversation supported the idea that many are working toward a shared, global model of inclusive education—an idea that aligns with the role of platforms like Symplicity Access in helping universities unify processes and scale best practices across regions.
Final Thought
The session closed with a call to align inclusion efforts across entire institutions—not just in accessibility units, but within leadership, pedagogy, and operations.
“Check out Student Ready Campus by Tia McNair. I feel like it really ties together a lot of these things that we're talking about regarding student involvement, inclusivity.” — Dr. Bill Heinrich
By emphasizing coherent strategies, staff recognition, and a stronger sense of belonging, the panel shared a compelling message: real inclusion isn’t about isolated fixes. It’s about structure, intention, and collective responsibility.
As institutions around the world work to meet rising expectations around accessibility, Symplicity Access is helping lead the way. Designed specifically for higher education, it empowers universities to centralize accommodations, ensure compliance, reduce staff burden, and improve the student experience. With adoption growing across Australia, New Zealand, North America, and beyond, Symplicity is the trusted global partner in building scalable, inclusive support systems for the future of education.
Couldn’t attend live?
Watch the full webinar recording here.
.jpg)
