Meet the Universal Design Team
From left to right: Kathleen Whitman (Interior Design student), Dr. Christine Price (Assistant Professor), Courtney Burnett (Interior Design student), Dr. Susan Zavotka (Associate Professor), and Dr. Meg Teaford (Assistant Professor).
Dr. Christine Price
Email: price.121@osu.edu
Phone: (614) 292-4753
Dr. Christine Price is an Assistant Professor and Extension State Gerontology Specialist in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at The Ohio State University. She came to OSU in 2000 following 4 years of teaching at Southwest Missouri State University. Currently, her position involves statewide leadership and program development on topics related to aging and aging families as well as research and teaching responsibilities. Her primary research interest is women's adult development, specifically the transition to retirement. In addition to research, however, Dr. Price also pursues a variety of programming interests. In 2001, Dr. Price became involved in the Universal Design project through her desire to promote aging in place. As a family gerontologist, she is very interested in identifying ways that enable older adults to remain in their homes as well as maintain their involvement with their families and communities. As a result of her joint appointment with the Department of Human Development & Family Science and OSU Extension, Dr. Price has had the opportunity to collaborate with other faculty to educate and promote universal design as well as provide critical outreach on this topic across the state of Ohio.
Courtney Burnett
Email: burnett.71@osu.edu
Courtney Burnett is a 21 year old fourth year student at The Ohio State University. She is majoring in Interior Design in the college of Human Ecology. Courtney is spending her summer working on the Universal Design project with Dr. Zavotka, Dr. Price, Dr. Teaford, and Kathleen as an independent study.
Kathleen Whitman
Email: whitman.37@osu.edu
Kathleen Whitman is a 21 year old fourth year student at The Ohio State University, originally from Worthington, Ohio. She is majoring in Interior Design in the college of Human Ecology and minoring in business. Kathleen got involved with the Universal Design project after Dr. Zavotka contacted her about the TELR Research on Research grant. The grant is enabling her to create an ePortfolio on their Universal Design project that will be stored in the OSU archives and on the web for access to everyone. Kathleen also works as a designer's assistant for designer Jacquelyn Gillis at Expressions of Design. Her future plans are to own her own interior design studio and design for residential clients.
Dr. Meg Teaford
Email: teaford.1@osu.edu
Phone: (614) 292-8152
Dr. Meg Teaford has been a gerontologist teaching at The Ohio State University since 1993 in the School of Allied Medical Professions and is a member of the Occupational Therapy Division. For the past eight years, she has been team teaching a course called “Aging and Design” with Dr. Susan Zavotka from Family Resource Management. Three years ago, they developed a course on Universal Design and home modifications. The two faculty members teach that course (AM 721) together in the spring quarter. In addition, Dr. Teaford chairs the Graduate Specialization in Aging committee and teaches one of the core gerontology courses. Dr. Teaford also works for the Ohio Department of Aging as an evaluator for the PASSPORT home services program. She has a strong interest too in the use of older adult volunteers and will present a paper on older volunteers and their health this autumn at the Gerontological Society of America's annual meeting.
Dr. Susan Zavotka
Email: zavotka.1@osu.edu
Phone: (614) 292-4572
Dr. Susan Zavotka is an Associate Professor in the Department of Consumer Sciences at the Ohio State University. She has been at the university for 26 years and has recently been involved in many ongoing projects involving Universal Design. After learning about Universal Design about 10 years ago by Roberta Null a colleague and friend she began teaching the concept in her design classes. Three years ago she met with a group from the Ohio Cooperative Extension Service who specialized in gerontology. They wanted to apply for an OSU Outreach and Engagement grant involving housing for older adults. Collectivly they came up with the idea of developing an educational program using the Universal Design philosophy. After partnering with executives from Lowe's they received an OSU Cares Seed Grant and an OSU Service Learning grant to help further their project. The following year they received an OSU Outreach and Engagement grant with matching funds from Lowe's. She and Dr. Margaret Teaford have been conducting research on design for older adults for about 8 years. We have published research on design of public spaces in assisted living communities.
