Faculty Rights and Responsibilities

Every party involved in the accommodation process has both rights and responsibilities: students, faculty, and the university. Information specific to faculty rights and responsibilities is located below.

Rights

• Request verification of a student's eligibility for any requested accommodations. Such verification will be in the form of a letter written by a SDS disability specialist and delivered by the student. SDS is the only office designated to review disability documentation and determine eligibility for appropriate accommodations. Faculty should not view this documentation.
• Expect the student to initiate accommodation requests.
• If the student is taking their tests at SDS, expect SDS to administer exams in a secure and monitored environment.

Responsibilities

• Identify and establish essential functions, abilities, skills, and knowledge of their courses and evaluate students on this basis. Students with disabilities should meet the same course expectations as their peers.
• Provide accommodations only to students who are registered with SDS. It is NOT your responsibility to provide accommodations to students who are not registered with SDS.
• Use a syllabus statement and class announcements to invite students to disclose their needs.
• Act immediately upon getting a student's request for accommodations by contacting SDS (if unsure about request), by providing the service or by meeting with students to complete a Proctor Sheet. A Proctor Sheet is a form that facilitates exam accommodations and should be completed by the student and faculty member collaboratively. The student is responsible for returning the Proctor Sheet to SDS. If you have questions, contact SDS.
• If a student needs alternative media, please provide SDS with syllabi, textbooks, course packets etc, well before classes begin (5 weeks prior to the start of the quarter is recommended) in order for students with disabilities to use alternative media when all other students have course materials. With such timely consideration, students with disabilities who have alternative media needs for accommodations and instructional access will be best served. Converting print materials is both labor and time intensive. Alternative media may be print material in Braille, scanned, or enlarged.
• Work to ensure that all audio-visual materials used in class are accessible (e.g., that videos shown are captioned for students with hearing impairments and that the equipment used has captioning capabilities, that videos shown will be made with auditory description in some way or that written transcripts will be provided, etc.)
• Consider incorporating principles of Universal Design for learning in your teaching.
• Treat and protect all disability-related information as confidential medical information. For example, keep printed items, such as Proctor Sheets or emails regarding student disability-related information in a protected location.
• Clearly communicate your testing procedures with the student and with SDS by completing a Proctor Sheet upon request.
• Consult with students with disabilities and SDS in providing appropriate accommodations.
• PLEASE NOTE: Faculty do NOT have the right to ask students if they have a disability. For those students with documented disabilities, faculty do NOT have the right to ask about the nature of the disability. However, if students choose to disclose their disability, this information should be treated confidentially.