Under the law, the University is not required to provide accommodations that are overly burdensome or unreasonable.  However, given the financial and human resources of the campus, and the fact that UMass is a public institution, these standards are quite high for the University.  Accordingly, faculty/instructors should never deny an accommodation, but should instead work with Disability Services to address any questions or concerns related to level of burden or reasonableness.  If the accommodation in question serves to fundamentally alter the pedagogic intention of the course or assignment, then an alternative accommodation may be possible.  Disability Services will be able to advise you in this regard. 

In rare cases when an informal resolution (e.g., the identification of an acceptable alternative accommodation) is not possible, faculty/instructors may initiate a dispute via the campus’ ADA Compliance Officer.  Information about the accommodation dispute policy is available upon request, but it should be noted that in order to ensure that the student does not suffer any negative academic consequences, the disputed accommodation(s) should be provided while the dispute is considered.  Potential exceptions to this provision include when the accommodation involves program extensions, curricular modifications, or activities that could result in injury or harm.  These exceptional cases will be handled on a case-by-case basis.           

Cost will typically not be a basis for denying an accommodation.  If a specific academic program does not have available funds to provide a specific accommodation or service, then the need for additional funds should be communicated along budgetary reporting lines so the required funding can be identified and allocated.  In this regard, Disability Services strongly encourages academic programs and departments to plan for exceptional expenses associated with disability access to course activities.  For example, if an instructor is planning a field trip to an off campus site, consideration should be given to the possibility that a student who uses a wheelchair may take the course and require an accessible bus to participate.  It is generally not appropriate to cancel a planned activity, excuse the student with a disability, or provide a stigmatizing/exclusionary means of access (e.g., having a student who uses a wheelchair take a wheelchair accessible van alone while the rest of the class takes a bus).  Recall that we are seeking full, meaningful, and equitable inclusion.  By setting aside funds and anticipating disability access requirements, academic departments can allocate or request necessary funds in a timely manner.  

As the course instructor, it is incumbent upon you (and any co-instructors and/or teaching assistants) to create an educational experience that is inclusive of, and accessible to, people with a wide range of disability access requirements.  Disability Services is prepared to assist you by sending notices of accommodation eligibility, and we are a willing resource when questions and concerns arise.  Therefore, at a minimum, it is the instructor’s responsibility to respond to accommodation notifications in a timely manner and to provide accessible course instruction materials.  However, we encourage you to begin thinking about access long before the semester begins and notifications are sent. 

Although important, disability accommodations are not always sufficient or ideal.  The idea behind accommodations is that a special modification must be made to the program or services (e.g., a course) in order for the person with a disability to participate.  While this does work, a better practice is to consider the access requirements of people with disabilities while designing your course.  In recent decades, this concept has been formalized under a number of names such as Universal Design for Instruction, Universal Curricular Design, and Universal Design for Learning.  A quick Google search for any of these terms will produce numerous useful and informative links, so we will not go into their various principles here.  Instead, we will offer you some readily employable suggestions.

• Start with your syllabus.  Make sure your syllabus is clear, comprehensive, and broadly accessible. Universal Design in Higher Education offers a number of helpful suggestions for improving the accessibility of your syllabus as does Equity and Excellence in Higher Education: Universal Course Design. 
• Utilize the expertise available from the IDEAS team to design your course accessibly. 
• Consider your pedagogic priorities.  Do you discourage the use of memory aids during tests because memorization is important, or because that is how you were taught?  If you are more concerned with the application of concepts and ideas, maybe memory aids can be permitted (or provided in the body of an exam), thereby reducing the need for exceptional practices.  Many other applications of this process are possible, including the provision of copies of lecture notes/slides, additional time for exams, and offering multiple means of evaluation.  
• Encourage participation in the accommodation process.  Be sure your syllabus includes a statement about disability that informs students of your willingness to provide reasonable accommodations, and encourages them to work with Disability Services to inform you of their accommodation eligibility.  Please note: there is only one Disability Services office at UMass.  Accordingly, be sure to remove any mention of Learning Disabled Student Services (LDSS) and Psychological Disability Services (PDS), as they no longer exist, and referrals to them will confuse or discourage students. 
• Distribute accessible electronic copies of course materials.  Electronic materials are useful to students with diverse disabilities because they can be saved and accessed as needed, and some electronic formats (e.g., .pdf documents) are compatible with screen reading software.  However, electronic materials that are image files (e.g., .jpeg and non-optical character recognition (OCR) .pdf files are not widely accessible.  With enough advance notice, Disability Services may be able to advise and/or assist you with making your course materials accessible.  
• Share accommodation information with TA's regarding the needs of any students enrolled in the course that they are responsible for evaluating. Our Clockwork database does not automatically pull in more than the instructor listed in SPIRE, but TAs can be added as course instructors to access the accommodation letters on request (please email sats-clockwork@umass.edu to request access for your TA). Faculty should share relevant information with grad student instructors or ask for students to provide a copy of their accommodation letter to the grad student instructor.

In order to be eligible for accommodations, students with disabilities must first register with Disability Services.  The registration process involves the completion of a registration form and the submission of supporting diagnostic documentation. Registration forms are available on the 'Clockwork for Students' portal on the Disability Services website. Diagnostic documentation will typically be a letter or report completed by a qualified medical or psychological professional, unrelated to the student. Upload the documentation when completing the registration form. If you are a student in the process of seeking documentation for a disability, please submit a self-report about what you are experiencing and where you are in the process.  Once these items are received, the documentation is screened in order to verify disability status and provide a basis for accommodation eligibility.  Students will typically learn about the status of their application within ten business days, but the process can take longer during administratively demanding times such as the first two weeks of a semester and finals week.      

Once determination of accommodation eligibility is complete, the student must then request that notification of their accommodation eligibility be sent to their course instructors.  Typically, Access Coordinators will send notice of a student’s eligibility to course instructors (i.e., the instructor of record listed in SPIRE).  Please note that absent a request by the student, Disability Services will not send notifications.  If a student approaches you about accommodations and you have not yet heard from Disability Services, please ask the student to contact our office and request that official notification of their eligibility be sent to you. 

While we do our best to send notifications early in the semester, due to the number of students enrolled with our office (i.e., over 3,200 students), it is not possible for us to send all notifications during the first two weeks of each semester.  Further, many students only become aware of their disability and/or need for accommodation because of feedback and experiences at the University, so it is likely that you will receive notifications at any point in the semester.  Regardless of when you receive notification, we ask that you work with students to address their accommodation requirements.  However expectations should be reasonable in accordance with the timing of the notification, and accommodations are not retroactive.  Therefore, we recognize that it may not be possible to provide an accommodation if you do not receive adequate notice (e.g., the exam is scheduled for the next day), and you are not required to allow a student to re-take or revisit an exam administered prior to your receiving notice of their eligibility.

Disabilities (not to mention people!) are heterogeneous in nature, so it is unlikely that any two students—even two with the same diagnosis—will respond to specific accommodations identically.  Accordingly, the accommodation process is frequently recursive, requiring periodic evaluation and reconsideration of accommodation eligibility.  Typically, the evaluation of accommodations takes place during regular meetings with an Access Coordinator (AC) here at Disability Services.  For instance, a student might describe incongruence between their knowledge of a particular subject and their performance on a related assignment.  In response, the Access Coordinator will consider if additional or different accommodations are appropriate.  If so, a new round of notifications might be sent to instructors.  Another important aspect of evaluation involves course instructors.  It is not uncommon for an instructor to notice that something more is required for a student to perform to their potential.  In cases like this, the student and Disability Services should be consulted as soon as possible to consider possible changes in accommodation eligibility and/or approaches to teaching/learning.  

Many students with disabilities will find it prohibitively difficult, or impossible, to physically take notes in class.  Others may not be able to attend to the lecture while taking notes, resulting in gaps in comprehension.  In cases such as these, the student will be made eligible for notes.  This need for notes can be met in a number of ways; the primary methods being the provision of notes/materials by instructors, the use of Glean, an AI note taking tool or the use of a volunteer student note taker from the students enrolled in the course.  A discussion of these approaches follows.    

Instructor provides copies of prepared lecture notes, slides, and other course material before class, if available.  These materials can be emailed or posted to classroom management software in advance of the class session that the material will be covered.  Please take a moment to inform the Disability Services Note Taking Coordinator if you provide notes in your course and in what format. A brief email to notes@umass.edu will allow us to spread the word to eligible students on how to access your notes. For many students, the provision of this accommodation will mitigate the need for an in-class note taker.  In recent years, many instructors have made a general practice of sharing their outlines or power point slides with all students, and we at Disability Services encourage this trend as a form of universal design.

Glean for Education (Glean): A Glean license will be provided to each student eligible for notes. This tool with it's innovative options assists students in becoming better note takers, provides transcription and tools for highlighting notes. This will be the primary source of notes for most students. Glean is not an appropriate tool in classes that are taught in a language other than English, in classes with many formulas or when the faculty member has a strong accent or fast speech pattern. All students using Glean are provided a Recording Agreement document highlighting their rights/responsibilities.. This protects faculty/instructor copyright and intellectual property while providing necessary ADA access to eligible students. Please take a moment to read Glean for Faculty & Glean for students. 

Access to in-class notes produced by a note taker. When acceptable notes are not available from the course instructor, efforts should be made to identify an in-class note taker.  We ask that instructors continue to recruit volunteer note takers.  Note Takers can earn 1 undergraduate, P/F, practicum credit or 45 hours of community service for providing notes for the full semester. Uploading is easy and can be done online. 

Faculty will have other options for note taking accommodations. They include: 

1. Provide your own notes (upload to Moodle for the full class ‘universal design’ or distribute to those students eligible for the accommodation).
2. Assist DS in seeking a note taker from class. 
   1. Share the following in announcement to class, in syllabus or on Moodle site. 
      1. "Disability Services (DS) is in need of a note taker for this class. If you are interested, please express your interest here.  DS staff will contact you to confirm placement and provide instructions. You may earn 45 hours of community service or one credit P/F practicum credit for uploading quality notes within 24 hours of each class. For further information please email notes@admin.umass.edu." 
   2. DS will assign a volunteer as the note taker in the course and the student note taker will be enrolled in EDUC 398NT for 1 P/F practicum credit or 45 hours of community service, which DS will administer at the end of the semester. Students may enroll in EDUC 398NT practicum credits up to 3 times.
3.  Utilize the Echo 360 transcript (if in an Echo 360 equipped classroom), clean up any errors and either post to the class Moodle site or share with students eligible for an accommodation. 

Please be aware that there are a growing number of third party vendors that hire students to serve as note takers and allot them payment by the amount of traffic they bring to their site. UMass Disability Services is not affiliated with ANY of these companies, nor do we endorse the use of such measures.

Note Taking Accommodation Information

Contact: Antonia Lynch, Note Taking Coordinator

Email: notes@admin.umass.edu                             

Phone:  413-545-0892               Fax: 413-577-0122

Please review our FAQs for Disability-Related Absences here (pages 1-5 of PDF)

Disability-related absences are provided to students who have episodic flare-up conditions, to help mitigate the impact when symptoms arise unexpectedly. This academic accommodation allows students to have 2x the course allowed absences, as outlined in the course syllabi, without penalty to their in-class participation grade when unpredictable disability-related circumstances arise. The accommodation does not apply to any other non-disability related circumstance. Faculty are strongly encouraged to have a clearly stated attendance policy in their course syllabi.

This accommodation is not a "blanket-statement" and it does not excuse the student from all attendance requirements. Students are expected to send an email to their instructor, with their Access Coordinator cc'd each time, to notify the instructor ahead of class that they will be absent. The student is responsible for making up any missed content or missed work. Further, the accommodation cannot be applied retroactively; the student must notify the instructor ahead of the class and the accommodation is not applicable without prior communication.

Given the private and personal nature of disability, instructors should not be asking students for details or explanations to justify their use of this accommodation.

If there is a zero-absence attendance policy, the student should set up a meeting with their instructor, mediated by their Access Coordinator, to discuss and settle on an agreed upon amount of acceptable absences. This will be documented and saved on record by the Access Coordinator and signed by both student and instructor.

If you feel that allowing 2x the course allowed absences is not conducive to the unique structure of your course, please feel free to connect with a member of our team to discuss how we can adapt our accommodation policy to your course.

If there is concern that the student is misusing their accommodation: instructors should reach out to the student’s Access Coordinator (who is cc’d on email communication) or reach out to the main phone line/email to be directed to the Access Coordinator.

When appropriate, Disability Services supports access to classrooms and course content by assigning a classroom access assistant to work with a student.  These assistants are analogous to personal care assistants, only their function is limited to academic activities.  For instance, an assistant could manipulate lab equipment and measure chemicals for a chemistry lab assignment. Most provide navigation and access to campus buildings where there may be multiple fire doors or other barriers they can assist in remedying. Instructors should speak directly to the student—not the assistant.  

Extended time on exams.  Perhaps the most common and fundamental exam accommodation is the provision of additional time.  Students will typically be eligible for either time and a quarter (125%), half (150% time) or double time (200% time), but in very rare cases a student may be eligible for longer or “un-timed” exams (which may extend to a full business day).  Determination of the accommodation length is based upon the clinical recommendations found in the student’s diagnostic documentation, the experiences of the qualified student, and the professional judgment of the student’s Access Coordinator at Disability Services. 

Sometimes faculty allot additional time for all students as a universal design for learning. For example, a faculty member may allow the class 24 hours to complete an exam. If 24 hours is given to the class, to complete an exam, this also includes students with extended time on exam accommodations. 24 hours allotted for completion is far more than the time and a half or double time for exams that would normally be provided. In these situations, students are expected to complete the exam within the 24 hour time frame. It is helpful to explain this to students up front so they do not assume they have 36 hours or 48 hours to complete an exam. 

A distraction reduced setting. This accommodation calls for you to arrange an alternative setting, one with less likelihood of auditory or visual distractions.  For small classes, this accommodation may not be necessary (speak with the student to determine if this is true); but for larger classes, where the sounds of students moving, zipping up bags, moving chairs, and turning in exams can be distracting, it is necessary to schedule an alternative room for the students receiving this accommodation to take the exam.  If you are unable to provide this accommodation, the proctoring center at Disability Services can offer assistance.

Use of a computer.  In some cases, the nature of a student’s disability requires the use of a computer to access or respond to an exam.  In these cases, Disability Services is prepared to support the student with appropriate hardware and/or software via our exam proctoring services.  When necessary, Disability Services will provide test takers with appropriate assistive technologies access such as JAWS, Kurzweil, and MathType.     

Large print version of test.  In many cases, this accommodation only requires that you make an enlarged copy of an exam with your department’s photocopy machine.  If the materials are electronic, they can typically be accessed through the accessibility features native to most computers. The student should be consulted to determine the degree of enlargement/font size required.

Night Exams. Evening exams are often a challenge for students who need extended time or other exam accommodations. In order to provide proctoring assistance, if needed, night exams should be scheduled for 5pm. Those who require time and a half (150% time) will have until 8 pm to complete the exam and those with double time (200%) will have until 9 pm to complete the exam  You may contact the EPC Coordinator to provide approval for students to take their exams during the day of the exam or the day after, but students cannot book those exams without instructor approval. From time to time, we can provide 2 proctors for evening exams held elsewhere. This requires considerable planning, so please notify the Coordinator of this request as soon as you schedule your exams.  

Mt. Ida campus. Students should follow the same procedure on Clockwork, but if there are exams scheduled after 5 pm, or exams that must be scheduled at a time that does not overlap the class, please contact Patricia Link at dsexams-students@admin.umass.edu  5 days in advance to make arrangements. Please be aware that lab practicals and practical exams in the Veterinary Technology program must take place in the allotted location and during the schedule time-frame for the course. Extended time cannot be provided for these types of exams. Standard (lecture) exams can be accommodated by the Disability Services Exam Proctoring staff. Simply log in to Clockwork at www.umass.edu/disability, 5 days in advance to request a proctored exam accommodation (if eligible). 

Use of a scribe *and/or* reader for exam.  The purpose of a scribe and/or reader is to allow the student to access exam content and accurately represent their responses.  Readers and scribes do not correct answers or clarify the meaning of questions.  Some instructors prefer to provide these accommodations themselves so they can ensure that the student understands the questions fully, but Disability Services is prepared to offer a scribe or reader as needed remotely, assuming the request is received seven business days prior to the exam date.