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Frequently Asked Questions by
Faculty
Q. Who is responsible for determining appropriate
accommodations for students with disabilities at Colorado College?
Q. Why do students with disabilities receive
accommodations? It does not seem fair to other students.
Q. What are the student’s responsibilities
in the accommodation process?
Q. Why am I not told the nature of the student's
disability in the letter of accommodation?
Q. What types of accommodations are professors
required to make?
Q. What language do you recommend that I use on
my syllabus to let students know how to request accommodations?
Q. What are the most commonly requested classroom
accommodations at Colorado College?
Q. Who provides classroom accommodations at Colorado
College?
Q. I have a student who is blind in my chemistry
lab. How is he going to participate and be graded in his lab work?
Q. A student came to me half way through the
Block and several days before an exam to request extended time. I feel
this is too late to ask for accommodations and arrangements should be
made at the beginning of the Block. I even made an announcement on the
first day of class to meet with me about these arrangements. Do I have
to provide accommodations for someone this late?
Q. What do I do when a student hands documentation
of a disability directly to me?
Q. I suspect a student has a disability. How
do I talk to the student about my concerns?
Q. Should I extend deadlines or grade students
with disabilities differently?
Q. I haven’t decided on the books I want
to use for my class, but DS keeps asking me to select books ASAP. Do I
have to?
Q. Am I required to lower the standards of a
required assignment because the student has a disability?
Q. Do I have any recourse if I disagree about
requested accommodations?
Answers:
Q. Who is responsible for determining appropriate accommodations
for students with disabilities at Colorado College?
A. Disability Services (DS) is the office on campus
that determines appropriate accommodations. The office bases decisions
upon documentation received from a student with a disability, the student’s
functional limitations, and the student’s clarification about specific
needs and limitations.
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Q. Why do students with disabilities receive
accommodations? It does not seem fair to other students.
A. Reasonable accommodations are legally mandated and
are intended to provide students with documented disabilities an opportunity
to be evaluated based on ability, not disability. Accommodations are determined
according to specific information in the student's documentation and are
intended to ensure equal access, not success. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protect students
with disabilities. These laws require that qualified students with disabilities
have equal access to education.
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Q. What are the student’s responsibilities
in the accommodation process?
A. The student is responsible for requesting services
and providing documentation to DS that supports the need for each requested
accommodation. After DS determines appropriate accommodations and provides
the student with a letter of accommodation, the student is responsible
for providing faculty with a copy of the letter in a timely fashion if
the student is requesting accommodations for a course. However, because
of the intense pace of the Block Plan, DS can verify approved accommodations
via phone or e-mail if there is not enough time for the student to request
and provide a copy of the letter of accommodation from DS.
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Q. Why am I not told the nature of the student's
disability in the letter of accommodation?
A. While some students' disabilities are obvious if
they use a wheelchair, hearing aids, or a white cane, many students have
invisible disabilities that include medical conditions, psychological
conditions, attention deficit disorder, and specific learning disabilities.
Since DS respects a student’s right to privacy, we release only
the information that is necessary for the student's academic needs. Thus,
DS does not identify the nature of the student's disability and only lists
the accommodations that have been determined as necessary for the student's
academic support. Individual students may choose to discuss their particular
situation with a faculty member; however, the faculty member must be careful
not to ask questions about the nature of the disability.
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Q. What types of accommodations are professors
required to make?
A. For students who provide a letter of accommodation
from DS, faculty should provide accommodations as listed in a reasonable
and timely manner and confer with students to establish the best means
of providing accommodations. You are not obligated to
provide accommodations until the student presents a letter from DS that
verifies whether he/she is currently registered with our office or you
receive confirmation of appropriate accommodations from DS. However, if
the disability is visible, and the accommodation appears reasonable, you
may provide the accommodation while awaiting official notification from
DS. You are not expected to change grades earned without accommodations
prior to self-identification by the student.
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Q. What language do you recommend that I use on my syllabus
to let students know how to request accommodations?
A. If you have a disability and require accommodations
for this course, please speak with me as soon as possible so that your
needs may be appropriately met. If you have not already done so, you will
need to register with Disability Services (Learning Commons at Tutt Library,
Room 152, 227-8285), the office responsible for coordinating accommodations
and services for students with disabilities.
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Q. What are the most commonly requested classroom
accommodations at Colorado College?
A. The most commonly requested classroom accommodations
at CC include the following:
- Extended time for exams
- A quiet test setting
- Use of the student’s laptop or academic department computer
for exams and in-class assignments
- Notetaking services
- Accessible classroom locations
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Q. Who provides classroom accommodations at
Colorado College?
A. Most faculty handle the provision of classroom accommodations
by making arrangements directly with the student once a letter of accommodation
has been presented. DS is willing to support faculty in the implementation
of special accommodations, such as notetaking services and use of assistive
technology. However, due to the small size of the DS staff and office,
DS cannot implement all the accommodations that are requested. Instead,
DS relies on the collaborative efforts of faculty.
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Q. I have a student who is blind in my chemistry
lab. How is he going to participate and be graded in his lab work?
A. If possible, assist the student in getting a lab partner
or work with DS to assign a student assistant to work with the student
with a disability. In most situations, the student should make arrangements
for a lab assistant prior to classes starting. The student who is blind
should direct the assistant to carry out the functions of the lab assignment.
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Q. A student came to me half way through the
Block and several days before an exam to request extended time. I feel
this is too late to ask for accommodations and arrangements should be
made at the beginning of the Block. I even made an announcement on the
first day of class to meet with me about these arrangements. Do I have
to provide accommodations for someone this late?
A. Yes. There could be numerous reasons why a student
makes a late request. Perhaps he or she could not get documentation of
his or her disability any earlier and, therefore, could not initiate the
accommodation process earlier. Some students try to take a class without
accommodations but find that they aren’t doing well and need accommodations.
Whatever the reason, students may make requests for accommodations any
time during the Block.
There may be a few situations where students make requests for accommodations
so late it is impossible to make that appropriate arrangements. An example
of such a request might be a student requesting that an entire textbook
be converted to alternate format during the last week of the Block. You
must provide the accommodations only at the point when a student makes
a request and you and DS are able to make appropriate and reasonable arrangements.
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Q. What do I do when a student hands documentation
of a disability directly to me?
A. The student should be directed to take his or her
documentation to DS. In addition to accommodations, DS can provide other
support services that may be beneficial to the student.
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Q. I suspect a student has a disability. How
do I talk to the student about my concerns?
A. Tell the student you have noticed he/she is struggling;
then provide campus resources that may be helpful, listing DS as one of
several resources. The Learning Consultant for the Colket Student Learning
Center and DS offer screenings for students who suspect they may have
a learning disability. The student should call DS for an appointment.
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Q. Should I extend deadlines or grade students
with disabilities differently?
A. Generally, no. Students with disabilities are expected
to meet the same standards as other students and should not be graded
differently. In rare cases, depending on specific needs, deadlines may
be extended. These situations will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis
and in consultation with the professor of the course.
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Q. I haven’t decided on the books I
want to use for my class, but DS keeps asking me to select books ASAP.
Is this necessary?
A. Textbook conversion is a time-consuming, labor-intensive
task. It can take several weeks to convert printed material to electronic
formats, audio tapes, Braille, or enlargements. Students who have difficulty
reading printed materials need to be able to access their textbooks and
other course materials at the same time as others in the class. By delaying
the selection of textbooks, DS may not be able to get books converted
to an appropriate format in a timely fashion. This means students may
have to start the Block without access to their textbooks.
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Q. Am I required to lower the standards of
a required assignment because the student has a disability?
A. No. Standards should be the same for all students;
however, some students with disabilities may exhibit their knowledge,
production, and other course expectations differently than their peers.
For example, a student with a learning disability may produce an essay
exam by using extended time and/or use of a computer with word processing
rather than writing out an answer without the use of accommodations. The
quality of the work should be the same.
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Q. Do I have any recourse if I disagree about
requested accommodations?
A. To clarify any disagreement about a requested accommodation,
first contact DS at 719-227-8285. DS will work with you and the student
to try to find a reasonable accommodation to meet a particular situation.
Faculty should continue to provide the recommended accommodation until
a resolution is reached. Withholding an accommodation puts both
the faculty member and the College at risk for legal liability.
If satisfactory answers are not determined, the faculty member may appeal
to the Dean of the College for assistance.
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