Faculty development programs at state universities toward the goal of academic accessibility for students with learning disabilities: A Delphi study of key program characteristics within variable campus cultures

All students deserve equal educational opportunities, including students with learning disabilities. The laws in this area are compelling. Institutions of higher education must facilitate faculty compliance with federal and local laws. Noncompliance is legally and morally unacceptable. This study investigates key characteristics of faculty development programs with the goal of assisting faculty in diverse university cultures as they enhance teaching practices that are inclusive of students with learning disabilities. The study also provides information about the relationship between demographic variables and perceptions of campus cultures. Finally, it explores what these relationships indicate about an adaptable faculty development model that enables compliance among faculty members at different campuses.;The 3-round Delphi process adopted for this study involved experts from 23 state university campuses throughout California. These experts were faculty members, disabled student-service providers, administrators, faculty developers, academic technologists, and staff.;The 1st-round survey responses produced a set of 30 faculty development program characteristics identified as desirable. The experts narrowed the characteristics to 12, which were most highly desirable during the 2 nd round. These characteristics can be categorized into 4 areas: (a) participant needs, (b) support, (c) communications, and (d) campus involvement.;Each university campus has unique human resources, diverse missions, and cultural dimensions that require adaptable faculty development strategies. There was clear evidence that demographic groups and cultural types rated specific characteristics with varying desirability. However, these 12 characteristics emerged with high degrees of desirability across all demographic and cultural groups.;Provided in this study is a guide with which program designers may make wise program planning decisions so that precious resources are used most successfully. A Planning Matrix illustrating preferred characteristics compared with various campus groups was constructed to help guide program designers in the design of professional development programs adaptable for a variety of university campuses.;It was concluded that the selection of an optimal set of professional development characteristics must be related to demographic variables and dominant campus cultures. Presented here is a cultural framework through which to consider individual campus culture types and participant population to align program strategies with the campus cultural dimensions.