Knowledge Articles
October 13, 2025

How Unity Embraces Accessibility for Graduate Students

Executive Summary

Unity Environmental University designs its online master’s programs to be accessible by default so busy professionals, caretakers, active-duty service members, and career-changers can succeed without having to bend their lives around school. Accessibility at Unity is not a single feature; it is a system of flexible academic calendars (with up to five graduate terms per year), the ability to pause and resume without jeopardizing financial aid eligibility, and asynchronous courses that fit around work and family schedules. These elements are reinforced by accessible design standards in Canvas (Unity’s learning management system), a common course template that reduces cognitive load, and a network of student supports: professional advisors, the Communications Hub, the Math Hub, the Research Hub and library resources, round-the-clock tutoring, 24/7 mental-health teletherapy, and an AI guide named Una who removes friction from routine tasks. 

Unity’s approach pairs human support with technology. Courses are fully online and asynchronous, delivered in eight-week master’s terms published well in advance, and built with features such as screen reader support, captions, predictable weekly modules, and clear rubrics. Students receive proactive one-to-one guidance from professional advisors, can connect to tutoring at any hour, and have free immediate access to teletherapy and crisis support. Meanwhile, Una, Unity’s AI agent, helps students find information and complete administrative tasks quickly, reducing barriers that often derail adult learners. Together, these practices expand access to graduate education without compromising academic quality. 

Accessibility, Defined for Online Master’s Programs

In higher education, accessibility means more than meeting the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In the context of online master’s programs, it means removing structural barriers that prevent capable learners from starting, persisting, and graduating. Unity frames accessibility across four dimensions:

  1. Time – frequent start dates, eight-week terms, and asynchronous delivery. Unity Environmental University+1
  2. Design – consistent, accessible course experiences in Canvas with predictable navigation, weekly modules, and transparent rubrics.
  3. Support – human and digital help (professional advisors, tutoring, hubs, library research guides, and mental-health services). Unity Environmental University+3Unity Environmental University+3Unity Environmental University+3library.unity.edu
  4. Navigation – streamlined tools and an AI guide to simplify tasks (orientation, student portal, single sign-on, and Una).

Frequent, Flexible Graduate Term Starts—With Room to Pause

Unity structures its graduate calendar around eight-week master’s terms with multiple starts year-round. Official program pages for several graduate degrees emphasize “up to five terms a year,” giving students many entry points and chances to speed up, slow down, or take a brief pause when life demands it. The master’s academic calendar publishes start, add/drop, withdrawal, and end dates for upcoming sessions so students can plan ahead. Unity Environmental University+1

Unity also states explicitly that you can take a break and pick up where you left off without losing financial aid eligibility, a critical protection for graduate learners who may need to stop out for caregiving, seasonal work, military obligations, or health reasons. Unity Environmental University

Truly Asynchronous Delivery for Working Adults and Caretakers

Courses in Unity’s online master’s programs are asynchronous, allowing students to learn on their schedules. Unity explains that courses provide advance syllabi and assignment requirements so learners can map busy weeks, and the university highlights accessibility practices such as screen readers, captions, digital textbooks, flexible scheduling, and consistent deadlines. Unity also articulates the broader benefits of online learning for people balancing “external responsibilities,” reinforcing the rationale for asynchronous formats in adult education. Unity Environmental University+1

Unity documents that distance education offers asynchronous remote learning and that graduate courses run in eight-week blocks, which lowers the weekly course load while maintaining momentum. That cadence is especially compatible with full-time employment, shift work, and caregiving. Unity Environmental University+1

Accessible Course and Platform Design in Canvas

Accessibility is embedded in course build standards. Unity’s Distance Education Student Handbook states that all courses use a common Canvas course template with weekly modules, clear expectations, and assessment rubrics; all grades, readings, discussions, and media live inside Canvas for consistent navigation. A required online orientation in Canvas familiarizes new students with tools before their first term. Unity Environmental University

Unity’s “Get Started” and “Transfer Students” pages highlight course features aligned with accessibility: no pop quizzes or timed tests, built-in e-readers, captions, and predictable deadlines, in addition to adherence to accessibility guidelines. Canvas itself supports accessible authoring patterns—headings, alt text, captions, and screen-reader compatibility—capabilities that Unity leverages in course design. Unity Environmental University+1  Canvas Community

Professional Advising and Proactive Student Support

Every Unity graduate student is matched with a professional advisor who serves as the primary point of contact outside the classroom to help with course selection, timelines, financial aid, resource referrals, and career planning. The student-facing resources page underscores one-to-one outreach and regular check-ins so learners are not left to navigate alone. Unity Environmental University+1

Hubs That Build Academic Skills: Communication, Math, and Research

Unity maintains self-paced support hubs designed for the kinds of thinking graduate work requires:

  • The Communications Hub offers guides for research-informed writing, argumentation, source evaluation, literature reviews, and professional communication, alongside tutorials for audio, video, and visual storytelling. Unity Environmental University+2 
  • The Math Hub provides “just-in-time” micro-lessons on algebra, functions, linear equations, quadratic functions, regression, and statistics that are directly aligned to coursework that many master’s students encounter in environmental, business, policy, and data-oriented classes. Unity Environmental University+4
  • For research, Unity is launching a Research Hub to complement the Communication Hub and Math Hub. Additionally Unity’s library hosts Distance Education research guides and databases, while the Communications Hub’s Working with Source Information pathway walks students through literature searches, credibility checks, annotated bibliographies, and reading scientific articles efficiently. library.unity.edu+2library.unity.edu+2 Unity Environmental University

These hubs reduce “activation energy” for returning adults who may not have written a literature review or solved a regression problem in years.

Round-the-Clock Help: Tutoring, Student Portal, and Orientation

Unity provides 24/7 online tutoring (linked in Canvas) with a bank of hours students can use on demand. The Math Class Survival Hacks page also points to the tutoring subscription and to embedded help within the Math Hub. Unity Environmental University+1

Outside of courses, the Student Portal centralizes essentials, like term dates, registration, billing, grades, and support services, and is available 24/7. New Distance Education students are automatically enrolled in a Canvas orientation, ensuring a confident start. Unity Environmental University+1

Mental-Health Accessibility: Free 24/7 Teletherapy and Crisis Support

Unity’s wellness pages and handbook make clear that free, immediate access to teletherapy and crisis support is available 24/7 through Unity’s partner Uwill. The current Distance Education Student Handbook reiterates “unlimited professional counseling and wellness services,” including on-demand crisis counseling, with onboarding information sent to students. For graduate learners juggling work and family, anytime access matters; more than half of virtual mental-health visits nationally occur outside traditional office hours. Unity Environmental University+1

A Human-Centered AI Guide: Una

Unity has introduced Una, a proactive artificial-intelligence agent built on Salesforce’s Agentforce platform and designed to go beyond simple chat. Coverage notes that Una can guide prospective students through applications, help match programs to goals, and automate routine tasks, with the same approach being developed to personalize support across the student journey. In other words, Una reduces friction by finding information faster and cutting steps, so students can stay focused on learning. Unity Environmental UniversityGovTechSalesforceDevops.net

Admissions and Course Policies That Reduce Friction

On its admissions pages, Unity emphasizes accessibility-minded course design and an application experience that minimizes unnecessary hurdles. The university also states that you can start now, take a break if needed, and return without losing financial aid eligibility, an explicit acknowledgement of the realities adult learners face. Together with frequent start dates and eight-week master’s terms, these policies ensure that learners can begin (or re-begin) at the right time for them. Unity Environmental University+2Unity Environmental University+2

Putting It All Together: An Accessible System for Graduate Learning

For prospective graduate students, the practical question is not “Can I enroll?” but “Can I persist to graduation while managing work and life?” Unity’s system answers yes by design:

The result is a graduate environment where access is not an accommodation added later—it is the architecture of the experience from the first click to the final capstone.

References

Knowledge Articles

Small Steps, Big Impact

You have a big dream: to make a difference! Unity makes it happen with programs that fit your life, wherever you are.
Apply Now