Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Faculty: Exam Checklist in MSWord Faculty: Exam Checklist PDF
Students with disabilities may be eligible for testing accommodations. In order to establish eligibility for academic modification, clear documentation of the disability must be on file in the Office of Disability Services. Determination of appropriate accommodations should be discussed with the Disability Services staff and department faculty. Possible accommodations include extended testing time, reader service, scribe service, oral exams, adaptive equipment, modification of format and other appropriate accommodations. The specific accommodation negotiated will be in writing with a copy provided to the student, faculty member, and Office of Disability Services.
Students should schedule meetings with Disability Services Staff and faculty prior to the beginning of the semester. All appropriate forms need to be completed before accommodations can be arranged.
Procedures for Taking Exams
The following procedures have been adopted by the Office of Disability Services for the provision of testing accommodations.
Initial Testing Accommodations
Upon receipt of verification of the student's eligibility for testing accommodations, the student and instructor should discuss methods of examination. The following methods have been successfully implemented.
The student can take, with the instructor's permission, the test in the Office of Disability Services during the regular class time or an alternative period. The exam will be logged in and secured (before and after the exam) in a locked file cabinet. The office can provide a quiet location and a work study student as a reader or scribe. Proctoring is not available and the exam checklist must be completed by the appropriate faculty member.
The student can take the test in a Division office or classroom providing the space is free of interruptions and an instructor or a division designee is available.
Any other alternative location must be pre-approved by the instructor and the Disability Services staff.
Exam Transfer
The following are designated as acceptable methods of exam transfer to and from the Office of Disability Services:
The instructor can seal an envelope and sign his/her name across the seal on the envelope, thus ensuring the security of the test. The student delivers the test where it will be opened by staff. The student is assigned a room and takes the exam. During the exam, any texts or study guides are left with the instructor or with the Disability Services staff. The exam is returned in the same manner.
The instructor may hand deliver and pick up the sealed exam upon completion in the Office of Disability Services.
A work study student may pick up the sealed exam and return it to the faculty member upon completion, having been resealed by a staff person.
Student Responsibilities
Students are responsible for meeting with professors to discuss exam arrangements and nature of their disability at the beginning of the semester.
Students are responsible for scheduling extended time tests as close to the in-class examinations as possible.
Students are responsible for scheduling an exam space with the Office of Disability Services at least one week in advance. If a reader or scribe is needed, the request should be made two weeks in advance. If advance arrangement is not scheduled by the student, testing space and/or staff assistance cannot be guaranteed.
Students must take the exam in the agreed upon location at the time specified. Any changes need to be cleared through the faculty member.