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• Disability Studies
• ASL
• Disability Services

The Classroom Accommodation Process

1. Student requests accommodation from the instructor or program contact.

a. Instructor asks student if they are aware of the Office for Disability Services (ODS); provides referral information to those who are not.

b. Instructors can require that students provide validation of their accommodation needs from ODS. The Office for Disability Services is the institutional designee for reviewing documentation and maintaining the associated educational records.

2. Instructor considers request.

a. Does the modification requested fundamentally alter the nature of the course or the ability to evaluate the essential skills, knowledge, and abilities being taught?

i. If yes, continue with 2b; if no, go to step 3.

b. Instructor, student, and ODS work together to determine if there are other modifications that would mitigate the impact of the disability that are not in conflict with essential course elements.

i. If no alternative is found, continue with 2c; if alternative is found, go to step 3.

c. If the instructor, student, and ODS cannot identify a mutually agreeable solution, ODS will make the initial determination. Either the student or the instructor may appeal this decision to the ADA Coordinator (see step 4).

3. Implement the accommodation.

a. Accommodating students is a shared responsibility.

b. ODS provides instructors with assistance and technical support for classroom accommodations, including test proctoring, sign language interpreters, taping/Brailing of text books, and the provision of note takers and scribes.

c. In order for the process to be effective, instructors and students must provide information to ODS and participate in decision making in a timely fashion.

4. Appeals.

a. If either the student or the instructor questions the initial determination of a reasonable accommodation by ODS, they can appeal that decision to the university's ADA Coordinator.

b. The ADA Coordinator will collect and review information from all relevant sources and make a final determination within 10 working days. During the appeals process, the accommodations determined appropriate by ODS will be provided.