DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTER

October 7, 2015
Dear Committee Members,
I am writing this letter of support for Alia Maw as she applies for rank advancement. I have
collaborated with Alia on various projects throughout the past year and have greatly appreciated her
contributions. She is an active member of the Math Accessibility Working Group, and has been focused
on this work for the past two semesters. In this capacity, she has actively provided the faculty
perspective as we discuss college-wide solutions to making SLCC math courses more inclusive for
students with disabilities. As a part of this work, Alia recently developed a Math Textbook Accessibility
Checklist which will be vital in helping Faculty discuss accessibility with publishers prior to adopting
new textbooks. She is helping draft a set of accessibility guidelines for the department and will help
train others in her department as they explore best practices for creating accessible environments. Since
this work is innovative on a national scale, we recently submitted a presentation proposal to the national
eLearning Conference to share the results of our working group.
This semester Alia also volunteered to co-chair the Universal Access Teaching Circle. She selected the
book Make It Stick, which focuses on new research about how students learn. She has demonstrated a
commitment to incorporating universal design principles into this conversation. I can see that she is
really becoming a leader for other Faculty in understanding the experience of students with disabilities
at SLCC.
I cannot emphasize enough how valuable Alia has been as we look for innovative approaches to
providing equal access to students with disabilities at SLCCespecially in Math courses. I give her the
highest possible recommendation and fully support her application for rank advancement.
Sincerely,
Candida Darling
Director, Disability Resource Center

4600 South Redwood Road

Salt Lake City, UT 84123
957-4659 voice, 957-4646 TTY, 957-4947 FAX
South City Campus FAX 957-3358