Implementing Accommodations
If faculty are unsure of how to implement an accommodation or what context the accommodation applies to, they need to contact the Student Accommodations & Accessibility Office.
The Student Accommodations & Accessibility Office supports faculty in implementing accommodations, including but not limited to proctoring tests, providing alternate formats, captioning videos, and double-checking color contrast or other accessibility needs in course materials. The Director of Innovative Teaching can also be a support in making digital materials accessible.
Some accommodations may not apply to specific classes, if the class is already accessible. For example, students with test accommodations don’t need to utilize those accommodations in courses that do not have any tests.
However, if an accommodation applies to an element of a course, the accommodation needs to be available to the student unless the professor goes through the process to document that the accommodation is a fundamental alteration to an objective of their course.
If faculty believe an accommodation would be a fundamental alteration, they must document the information within the Fundamental Alteration Form and send that to the Student Accommodations & Accessibility Office.
For legal reasons, it is important that faculty document why they believe an accommodation would fundamentally alter meeting a course objective. This must be provided to the student in a reasonable timeframe for them to be able to appeal.
Any determination of a fundamental alteration must be able to be appealed by the student.
The ultimate determination either way must be well documented. If it is determined to be a fundamental alteration, that reasoning must be documented in writing.
Most animals on campus are ESAs and therefore will not enter classrooms.
Students with service animals may bring their service animal to class. In this case, it is important to remember that service animals are dogs, or miniature horses when reasonable, that are trained to perform a task on cue that partially mitigates an impact of a disability.
The University is only permitted to ask two questions regarding a service dog, (a) is the dog a service animal required because of a disability? and (b) what work or task has the dog been trained to perform? (one cannot ask the dog to perform that task on cue).
Students with service dogs are not legally required to register service animals with the Student Accommodations & Accessibility Office. However, most choose to do so. If faculty have questions about a dog in their classroom, they should contact the Student Accommodations Specialist.
Test accommodations apply to tests, quizzes, exams, midterms, finals, and any other test. Extended time accommodations may also apply to in-class assignments for some students.
The Student Accommodations Specialist can proctor any test that needs accommodations, including students just with time extensions if needed. Any test proctored by the Student Accommodations Specialist is taken in the individual test rooms in the back of Luther Library.
Faculty and students, with the Student Accommodations Specialist if needed, discuss and determine how the student utilizes their individual test room accommodation. Students need to have clear expectations on if they come to class before going to the library for their test appointments on test days and how their confidentiality can best be maintained.
Students must email the Student Accommodations Specialist 48 hours prior to each test, cc the course instructor, and include the date/time of the test, the name of the class, and the name of the test. If a student forgets to schedule or their test time is rescheduled by their instructor, the Student Accommodations & Accessibility Office can still work to proctor the test, but that cannot be guaranteed.
Faculty need to ensure the Student Accommodations Specialist has the information needed to proctor the exam prior to the test appointment. This includes coordinating how paper copies of exams would be delivered and picked up from the library.
Students with the accommodation to have early access to course materials work with the Student Accommodations Specialist to contact faculty prior to the semester starting to coordinate what materials may be available. This may be over the summer break or during the holiday break.
While faculty aren’t required to publish courses in Canvas or have syllabi ready much before the semester begins, the Student Accommodations Specialist works with the student to identify priorities and get that information to the student. This may be early access to reading materials to begin reading ahead, or a timeline of projects to schedule out major assignments.
Requirements for completing incomplete courses are largely determined between the professor and the student, but if the student is needing accommodations in completing their incomplete courses, the Student Accommodations Specialist can help the student navigate that process and their accessibility needs.
Midland University’s full incomplete policy can be found in the academic catalog.
Emergency and crisis response accommodations are for hospitalizations, such as inpatient mental healthcare, medical emergencies, and other emergency-response situations.
If a student is unable to communicate for themselves (i.e. if they do not have access to their phone while in inpatient care or are unconscious), then the Student Accommodations Specialist can send a generic message to faculty to communicate that the student is off-campus for a medical reason and an accommodations plan can be sent when possible.