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University of Galway’s adoption of the ALTITUDE Charter

University of Galway celebrated the adoption of the ALTITUDE Charter for Universal Design in Tertiary Education, 29th September, with our University President, Professor David J. Burn.

The learner population in tertiary education is becoming increasingly diverse, and students’ lives are also increasingly complex. The responsibility on educational institutions to provide equitable access for all is now strongly embedded in Irish legislation, and national tertiary education strategies contain more specific goals to implement a Universal Design approach, (SOLAS, 2020; Higher Education Authority, 2022).

Universal Design, or UD for short, offers us an evidence-based approach to engender this mindset, and is increasingly seen as a central tenet of our response to rising diversity, (Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, 2022).

Funded by the HEA under PATH 4, the ALTITUDE Project was an extensive cross sectoral collaboration involving six national agencies, fifteen higher education (HE) institutions and six Education and Training Board (ETB) representatives, nominated by Directors of FET to represent the Further Education and Training sector. The Charter was launched in Spring 2024, alongside an accompanying technical report and implementation toolkit.

Dr Donal Fitzpatrick, Senior Advisor on the European Accessibility Act with the Centre of Excellence in Universal Design shared his knowledge on Universal Design in Education and his experience of working with partners in University of Galway and across the higher education sector.

^{L:R Dr. Deirdre McHugh (University of Galway), Dr. Donal Fitzpatrick, Prof. David Burn, President, University of Galway, Dr Helen Maher (University of Galway)}

^{L:R Dr. Bairbre Flemming (UCD), Dr. Maureen Haran (ATU), Dr. Deirdre McHugh (University of Galway), Prof. David Burn, President, University of Galway, Dr Helen Maher (University of Galway) and Dr. Lisa Padden (UCD)}

^{Front Row: Dr, Deirdre McHugh, Prof. David Burn, President, Dr Helen Maher &  Róisín Birch (Access Centre) 
Back Row:  Izzy Tiernan, Miriam Collins, Niamh Griffin ( University of Galway Students)}