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Academic Accommodations
Academic accommodations are adjustments that allow disabled students an equal opportunity to participate in and meet an academic requirement. Accommodations remove or modify barriers in the environment that are not experienced by nondisabled peers so that disabled students have access.
Accommodations do not ensure students’ academic success as they do not reduce the rigor of courses, the established standards, or learning outcomes. Accommodations also do not lower expectations required of students nor are they meant to provide comfort or reduce discomfort in the classroom.
Accommodation notification letters are emailed to faculty at the time students confirm their need for accommodation(s) in their courses. Faculty with questions or concerns about the accommodations listed should contact the Disability Center.
Instructor Portal
The instructor portal allows teaching faculty to see which students have requested to utilize their approved accommodations. By logging in to the instructor portal, instructors can view individual student accommodation notification letters, requests to take accommodated exams with the Disability Center, and a list of notetakers and the notes they have shared with students.
Designing an Accessible Syllabus
Creating a welcoming and inclusive environment in the classroom begins with designing an accessible syllabus, complete with a statement on how students can request accommodations.
The Disability Center recommends that each course syllabus contain a statement advising students with disabilities how to request necessary academic accommodations. The statement helps to fulfill MU’s institutional responsibility to provide information about the process and also demonstrates the university’s commitment to a positive and welcoming environment for students with disabilities.
Below is a sample statement that may be included on syllabuses. It can be used as is or can be adjusted to meet specific needs.
An accessible syllabus is designed to meet a diverse range of students and helps to create an inclusive, respectful, learning environment in a course. To design an accessible syllabus:
- Use a style sheet.
- Be clear and unambiguous.
- Be concise.
- Make use of bulleted lists and paragraph breaks.
- Use positive language.
- Follow digital accessibility practices.
Maximizing the Learning of all Students
Courses can be designed to help ensure that the learning of all students is maximized, including those with different learning styles and disabilities.
A student’s need for accommodations may be minimized through the use of universal design of instruction. Universal design promotes an equitable, flexible, fully accessible learning environment designed to meet the needs of diverse learners using multiple means of engagement, expression, and representation.
Instructors with questions regarding how best to accommodate a student with a disability or how to implement universal design suggestions should contact the Disability Center.
- Using Panopto (lecture capture), which helps reduce the need for notetakers.
- Ensure captions are enabled on all videos, films and other audio presentations.
- Offer flexible attendance and deadlines, when appropriate.
- Give verbal descriptions of visual aids and graphics.
- Paraphrase questions and answers.
- Highlight key points throughout discussions.
- Use multiple teaching methods, including lecture, discussion, hands-on activities, web-based work and fieldwork.
- Provide multiple methods for students to demonstrate knowledge, such as demonstrations, presentations and portfolios.
- Provide slides to student prior to the start of class.
Implement Digital Accessibility
As daily lives become digital, it’s more important than ever to ensure that information is accessible to everyone.
Instructors should design digital products (e.g., electronic documents, websites, mobile apps, email or videos) so they are usable by all — through color scheme choice, transcripts and/or captions, adding alternative text, and more.
Visit the Digital Access website or UDOIT to learn more.
Rights and Responsibilities
Instructors have the right to maintain academic standards for courses and determine course content and how it will be taught. If an instructor has concerns that an accommodation seems unreasonable and would fundamentally alter the essential course requirements, or are unsure of how to provide an accommodation, they should contact the Disability Center.
- Faculty have the right to deny an accommodation request if made without an accompanying accommodation notification letter from the Disability Center.
- Faculty do not have the right to challenge the legitimacy or request information about the nature of a student’s disability.
- Faculty have the responsibility to provide timely accommodations to qualified students and to hold disabled students to the same academic standards as their non-disabled peers.
- Faculty are under no obligation to provide accommodations retroactively.
- The Disability Center encourages faculty to review university policies related to providing access to disabled students.
Respecting Students' Confidentiality
Individuals with disabilities can be subject to discrimination. By treating information about students with disabilities as confidential, faculty will help ensure that students are not singled out on the basis of disability. Below are guidelines to ensure that information regarding students with disabilities is kept confidential:
- The instructor should use information that a student shares regarding their eligibility for accommodations only and specifically for that purpose.
- Refrain from discussing a student’s disability status and accommodations among others who do not have an “educational need to know.”
- Do not assume that students with disabilities are aware of other students’ disability status. Send separate emails to students so that they are not privy to other students’ information.
- At no time should a student’s disability status be shared with other students in the class.
- All conversations regarding implementation of accommodations or issues pertaining to the student’s disability should be done privately. Instructors should make themselves available by email, during office hours or by appointment. Requesting specific information about a student’s disability is inappropriate, as is requesting documentation from a medical provider. If a student tries to give an instructor disability related documentation (other than the Accommodation Notification Letter), the instructor should decline to read or accept it. Refer the student to the Disability Center, the office which has responsibility for maintaining records related to students’ accommodations.
All information about students’ eligibility for accommodations is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).