April 23, 2026
We're proud to celebrate that SCARP Assistant Professor Kuni Kamizaki has won an award for innovative and accessible class design!
For using collaborative course design in PLAN 448E, including co-building assignments and grading approaches with students and creating alternative assessments where needed, Dr. Kuni Kamizaki was awarded the 2025-2026 AMS UBC Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Champion Award for the Faculty of Applied Science at a reception held on March 24, 2026.
Dr. Kamizaki was nominated by Bryan Buraga, a first-year MCRP student who was taking his PLAN 448E course.
As AMS says of the award, "Through their leadership, ...UDL Champions are transforming teaching and learning at UBC and reinforcing the University’s mission of academic excellence, innovation, and accessibility."
All award recipients this year
During PLAN 448E, Dr. Kamizaki co-built assignments as well as grading approaches with students, creating alternative assessments where needed.
SCARP student Bryan Buraga, who nominated Dr. Kamizaki, says the students were very appreciative of his approach in co-creating the reading list and weights for grading assignments and projects, as well as his flexibility in exploring alternative assessments.
As Bryan elaborates:
"I was very fortunate to be able to take PLAN 448E with Dr. Kamizaki this past semester and to have the privilege of nominating him for this award. In addition to the course material that opened our eyes to the current state of housing justice in our society and imagined futures of how we can make our housing systems more just, my peers and I felt like our opinions as learners were valued, as together, we co-created the course reading list and weights for grading assignments and projects. I think this course serves as a great example for how students and professors can come together to fulfill SCARP's mission, to generate and transform knowledge into action by planning in partnership to improve lives and communities."