DISABILITY SUPPORT SERVICES

Information for Faculty and Staff

5 Quick Faculty Tips

1.  Encourage students to disclose their disability early by including a statement in your syllabus that invites them to meet with you to discuss their needs.  Don't include a time frame (the student may disclose a disability at any time), but also be aware that you are not obligated to provide accommodations retroactively. 

Suggested language for inclusion in syllabi is:

"If you may need an accommodation due to a disability please contact me privately to discuss your specific needs.  A memo from Disability Support Services (DSS) authorizing your accommodations will be needed."

2.  If the student hasn't given you a memo from DSS you shouldn't provide accommodations -- no matter how convincing the student is.  DSS is the campus office responsible for determining eligibility and reasonable accommodations under Section 504 and ADA laws based on specific disability documentation requirements.

3.  As a faculty member you play an important role in providing accommodations.  However, it should not be time consuming.  DSS is a resource for you to expedite the accommodations process.  For example, the purpose of the DSS Testing Services Center is to assist faculty with implementing testing accommodations.  It doesn't take a lot of time to provide test instructions and a copy of the test to the Center to administer.

You can provide help with course work for students with disabilities as you would for any other student.  Tutoring is not considered an accommodation.  If a student with a disability needs more assistance than you can reasonably provide during office hours, he or she may need a referral to other campus resources or consider hiring a privately paid tutor.  It can be helpful if you are able to recommend a potential tutor or help the student form a study group.

4.  Information related to a student's disability is confidential and should not be shared without his or her consent in the classroom or with other students.  The student should be afforded the opportunity to meet with you privately and not be identified in front of others.

5.  Accommodations are designed to mitigate the effects of a disability so the student has an equal opportunity to meet the course standards, not to change or circumvent them.  If a student with a disability cannot meet the course standards with accommodations, if may mean the student will not pass.  Accommodations give students a chance to compete on a level playing field; they don't guarantee success.