UDL Fellowship Program

UDL Fellowship Program Logo

Led by project director Richard Jackson, the UDL Fellows postdoctoral program aims to prepare leaders for the field of universal design for learning (UDL). Funded by the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, the program is a collaboration between CAST and Boston College's Lynch School of Education.

In funding the project, the USDOE acknowledged UDL's promise to improve K-12 and postsecondary education for all learners and thereby meet the demand by federal law (IDEA, ESEA, Higher Education Act) to provide every learner with a high-quality education.

UDL Fellows spend one year in residence at CAST and collaborate with research scientists, policy experts, and teacher education professionals from CAST and Boston College on UDL-based projects in two of the following four leadership areas:

  • Teacher Preparation and Professional Development
  • Policy Development at National, State and Local Levels
  • Curriculum and Instructional Practices
  • Formative and Summative Assessment Systems

These four areas were identified as priorities for growing the UDL field by participants in a National UDL Summit hosted by CAST and the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation in November 2007.

UDL Fellows are paid $60,000 per year, receive tuition credits at Boston College, and have access to the university's resources and facilities.

For further information, email project staff at udlfellows@cast.org.

2012 Fellows

Headshot of Joanne Karger
Joanne Karger, J.D., Ed.D.

Joanne Karger is currently working as a Research Scientist and Policy Analyst at CAST for the National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM Center) and the Center on Emerging Technologies (CET). In addition to AIM-related issues, her research interests include the application of UDL to transition planning, the education of low-income students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and the education of youth in juvenile justice facilities. She is also a member of the Professional Advisory Board for the National Center for Learning Disabilities.


Headshot of Fran Smith
Fran Smith, Ed.D., CVE

Fran Smith is an independent education consultant based in Richmond, VA. Her work and research focuses on UDL applied in higher education, college classrooms, secondary transition and career assessment. Currently Dr. Smith is working on a grant-funded project for a UDL initiative at Boston College. She is a representative for UDL with the IDEA Partnership and the National UDL Taskforce and, is an adjunct professor in the Department of Special Education and Disability Studies at George Washington University. In addition, she is a member of the UDL Faculty Cadre at CAST.

2011 Fellows

Headshot of Patricia Ralabate
Patricia Ralabate, Ph.D.

Now the Director of Implementation at CAST, Patricia Ralabate is responsible for coordinating opportunities and resources to enable scaling of UDL implementation. This work includes leading efforts to create a systems change approach to the development and dissemination of an innovative suite of tools, resources and processes that support practitioners at various stages of UDL implementation.

Headshot of Don Glass
Don Glass, Ph.D.

Now an independent education consultant based in Washington, DC., Don Glass's focus is professional learning design for understanding and applying UDL, with a specialization on curriculum design and evaluation, and arts teaching and learning. He is also currently an instructor for the MassOne Focus Academy.

2010 Fellows

Headshot of Elizabeth Dalton
Elizabeth Dalton, Ph.D.

Since completing the UDL leadership post-doctoral program at Boston College and CAST, Betsy Dalton has been working on several UDL related efforts in Rhode Island, nationally, and internationally. A keynote address entitled "Harnessing the Power of Digital Text to Build a UDL Environment" for the RI International Dyslexia Association was presented last spring. In June, Betsy was elected as vice president of the Special Education Technology Special Interest Group of ISTE and conducted several UDL PD sessions at the national ISTE conference in Philadelphia. Over the summer, Betsy traveled to Africa and presented on UDL at the International Association of Special Educators Conference in Windhoek, Namibia and conducted UDL training for teachers and therapists at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Betsy continues to work at the Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities at Rhode Island College. This summer and fall she designed and presented UDL sessions for the Faculty Center on Teaching and Learning at the College, is currently chair of the RI UDL Workgroup (whose members represent several RI colleges and programs) and is coordinator of UDL and AT at the Sherlock Center and a member of the RI College Special Education faculty.

Headshot of Elizabeth Hartmann
Elizabeth Hartmann, Ph.D.

Liz Hartmann is an Assistant Professor of Education at Lasell. She uses the UDL framework to guide the development of Lasell’s Master of Education Program, which started in January of 2011. At the undergrad level, Liz is using the UDL framework to integrate general and special education course content and field experiences. In her research, she examines how the UDL framework can be used to support learners with multiple and complex special needs.

For more information on the former fellows, explore the UDL Fellows wiki


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2012-2013 Fellows

Yvel Crevecoeur, Ph.D.

Headshot of Yvel Crevecoeur "I am extremely pleased to have an opportunity to engage in the collaborative endeavors between Boston College and the CAST as a 2012-2013 Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Leadership Fellow. I very much look forward to building my knowledge and skills in UDL to address important and timely educational issues of universal access. My research interests include learning disabilities, English-language learners, and the design, selection, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based practices (EBPs) within the areas of reading and writing for traditionally underserved populations. A developing area of interest is policy. At BC and CAST and thereafter, I look forward to translating UDL research findings into recommendations that significantly influence the agendas of researchers and the EBPs of teachers."

"I earned my doctorate in special education from the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut and hold an assistant professor of special education position in the Department of Leadership & Special Education at The City College of New York. Before assuming a faculty position in higher education, I held public school positions/certifications as a staff developer and English-as-a-second-language, 5th grade, Haitian-bilingual, and special education teacher. My interest in serving traditionally underserved populations also led me to hold a position as a Juvenile Probation Officer at the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in Naples, FL. I am sure my experiences at BC and CAST will afford me the opportunity to effect change on a broader scale for students with exceptional learning needs that come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds."

Loui Lord Nelson, Ph.D.

Headshot of Loui Lord Nelson "I am honored to be a 2012-2013 UDL Fellow. The impact that UDL can have on student success in learning excites me. During past four years as the UDL Coordinator at Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation in Columbus, Indiana, I watched teachers gain confidence in their own teaching as they learned how to reach out to all of their students within every learning environment. Simultaneously, I watched students become stronger learners and advocates for their own learning needs. Within my capacity, I created trainings, digitally-based support tools, and support documents to help teachers better understand and implement UDL. The questions asked by those teachers helped define my own preferences as a learner, trainer, educator, and an advocate for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I will parlay those lessons into my proposed products for this year."

"My career began as an 8th grade collaborative special education teacher. I then graduated with a PhD from the University of Kansas' Beach Center on Disability followed by work in the post-secondary field of intellectual and developmental disabilities focusing on family partnerships, family quality of life, policy creation, and employment issues. I look forward to building on these experiences and further solidifying my working knowledge of UDL."