The University Accessibility Center has helped students achieve their academic goals by providing them with the resources they need and fostering inclusion in the campus community.
Students receiving this support have the opportunity to nominate professors who have made an impact in their BYU experience, with two professors in the whole university receiving the Faculty Award for Distinguished Contributions to Accessibility.
Michael Kraczek was one of the recipients of the award, also earning the Accessibility Center Good Samaritan Mentored Learning Award for the College of Fine Arts and Communications. The UAC held the awards banquet on March 8, and the recipients had the opportunity to meet with Keith and Carol Jenkins– the generous donors who made the awards possible.
In his award nomination, Kraczek’s students “described his efforts to help them inside and outside of class, making sure they got the help they needed. One even credited Professor Kraczek as the reason they will be graduating this year.”
Kraczek describes what this award means to him, saying, “It tells me that my efforts have made a difference, and just knowing that it had enough of an impact on some of my students that they felt that they should nominate me for an award. I’m here at BYU to teach students and help them achieve their goals, regardless of who the students are– whether they have accommodations or not. It’s just nice to be recognized that that’s made a difference.”