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.

The instructor portal allows teaching faculty to see which students in your courses have requested to utilize their approved accommodations. By logging in to the instructor portal, you can view individual student accommodation notification letters, requests to take accommodated exams with our office, and a list of notetakers in your classes and the notes they have shared with students.

Creating a welcoming and inclusive environment in your classroom begins with designing an accessible syllabus, complete with a statement on how students can request accommodations.

Your course can be designed to help ensure that the learning of all students is maximized, including those with different learning styles and disabilities.

As our daily lives become digital, it’s more important than ever to ensure that information is accessible to everyone.

In your role as an instructor, design your 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 our Digital Access website or UDOIT to learn more.

As an instructor, you have the right to maintain academic standards for courses and determine course content and how it will be taught. If you have concerns that an accommodation seems unreasonable and would fundamentally alter the essential course requirements, or are unsure of how to provide an accommodation, please contact the Disability Center to discuss your concerns.

• 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.
• We encourage faculty to review university policies (provide link) related to providing access to disabled students.

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:

• 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. Make yourself 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. Should a student try to give you disability related documentation (other than the Accommodation Notification Letter), 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).