Campus & Community Partner Opportunities
The Olitsky Family Foundation Career Readiness Programs provides opportunities for campus partners to learn about systemic obstacles that individuals with differences face in educational and professional spaces. The program provides opportunities to learn about the value of diversity and accessibility in academia and the workplace, plus the knowledge and takeaways to support and highlight the value of differences in their academic and professional spaces. The program also provides opportunities for community and campus partners to collaborate with the program on supporting students with differences and hosting educational sessions.
- Educational Sessions
> Neuroinclusive Seminar Series: New Sessions Coming Soon Fall 2025
> Olitsky Program Info Sessions for Faculty & Staff Coming Soon Fall 2025
Olitsky Program Info Sessions for Faculty & Staff
What: What exactly is the Olitsky Family Foundation Career Readiness Program? In this 30-minute session, Amy Tavares, the program manager, will explain the program and offer opportunities to ask questions.
After this session, you will be able to:
• Explain the purpose of the program.
• Understand how the program supports students, faculty, and staff.
• Talk to students about the program & make a referral.
When: Multiple offerings are available this Fall 2025
Neuroinclusive Seminar Series
The Neuroinclusive Seminar Series is a joint collaboration between Carnegie Mellon
University (CMU) and the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and is the collective creation by
the following units:
• Eberly Center (CMU)
• University Center for Teaching & Learning (Pitt)
• Office for Disability Resources (CMU)
• Disability Resources and Services (Pitt)
• Pitt Autism Center for Excellence (Pitt)
• Olitsky Family Foundation Career Readiness Program (CMU)
• School of Education (Pitt)
• School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Pitt)
Session One: Introduction to Neurodiversity and Neuroinclusive
Learning - Foundational Session
What: This is the foundation session for the series.
What do the terms neurodiversity and neuroinclusive mean and how do they relate to
neurodivergence? How can instructors support neurodivergent students in the
classroom? This introductory seminar will unpack these terms, the strengths and
challenges of neurodivergent students, and offer an overview of the pedagogical
practices that can support these learners. Participants will have a chance to engage
with a specific practice and then collectively brainstorm strategies for use in their own
teaching contexts. Please join us for this first, foundational seminar in this series!
• Coming Soon Fall 2025
Session Two: Re-envisioning the Classroom for Neurodiversity
What: This session was previously titled "Creating Neuroaffirming Classrooms”
Join Jacqui Pincus, PhD from CMU's Eberly Center and Christina Frasher, PhD from the
University of Pittsburgh's School of Education to learn and discuss creating
neuroaffirming classrooms!
How can instructors create learning environments for neurodivergent learners that are
conducive to their success, while balancing the needs of all students? Building on the
Foundational session, participants will learn about the influence of pedagogical settings
and explore concrete strategies to academically enhance the physical, environmental,
and social aspects of learning. Participants will collaborate to design incremental
strategies to various aspects of their course design and teaching.
•Coming Soon Fall 2025
Session Three: Neurodivergence and the Accommodation Process
What: Join Catherine Getchell from CMU's Office of Disability Resources and Leigh
Culley from Pitt's Disability Resources and Services to discuss neurodivergence and the
accommodation process.
Some, though certainly not all, individuals who identify as neurodivergent experience
disability. In this session, Leigh Culley from Pitt's Disability Resources and Services and
Catherine Getchell from CMU's Office of Disability Resources discuss the reasons why
someone who is neurodivergent might experience disability as a result. We will share
some common and not-so-common accommodations that may support a
neurodivergent student in fully accessing their education, and how instructors and
advisors can best support students in connecting students with our offices and
implementing approved accommodations.
•Coming Soon Fall 2025
How to Collaborate With Us
The Olitsky Family Foundation Career Readiness Program welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with community and campus partners on student events, employer training sessions and educational sessions. If you're interested in learning more about how you can collaborate with the program, contact the program manager, Amy Tavares, at atavares@andrew.cmu.edu for more information.