Academic and Residential Accommodation Examples
The Office of Student Accessibility (OSA) provides a variety of accommodations to match the different needs of our students. Given below are some examples of academic and residential accommodations we provide:
ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS
Logistics
Student contacts professor 5-7 days before the exam to clarify logistics.
Students taking an exam with OSA, should schedule their exam 5 days in advance. OSA will contact the professor typically 2 days before the exam start time to obtain a copy of the exam.
If reserving an exam later than Noon, the day before an exam, students should contact the professor and will need to take the exam with the class without exam accommodations. There are no same day exam reservations.
Examples: Time and a half, double
Document Conversion: SensusAccess is a new online document conversion service available to Lewis & Clark employees and students which converts documents into alternate and more accessible formats such as braille, audio, or e-books. SensusAccess is meant to compliment, not replace services used to make materials fully accessible available through our office.
Logistics
Print and digital materials provided in accessible formats. Including, but not limited to, electronic formats such as PDF, or Word documents, large print, audio, Braille, eBook, EPUB, and text-to-speech technology. To access these services, students should make and appointment with the OSA. More information is located under the “Accessible Education Material (AEM)” tab under Faculty Resources.
Rebecca Brooks, Associate Director of OSA, currently coordinates AEM and assistive technology for print disabilities.
Logistics
Notetaking can take on many forms. Meeting with staff will help determine what system is best for you.
Note taking is an important skill and an imperative part of some classes. Several disabilities related to auditory processing, graphomotor difficulties, memory, and concentration can make synchronous notetaking in class inaccessible. For those classes where notetaking is an integral part of learning, we encourage faculty to discuss notetaking with their entire class, about what role it plays in student learning, and what good notes look like. Please read information on several methods implemented by professors, “Overview of Approved Classroom Notetaking Methods”.
Logistics
Student requests accessible text format from professor and OSA. Working together, all parties determine and implement accessible format.
Examples: computer, large-print, screen reader, Braille
Logistics
A testing environment that limits interruption and other environmental influences including visual and auditory distractions.
Logistics
Impromptu in-class writing is graded for content, not grammar and spelling. May not be applicable in classes where the primary instructional goal is related to grammar and spelling (i.e., some foreign language classes).
Logistics
Students complete the exam using an OSA approved computer with no internet or wireless access. Only with specific guidelines and faculty approval, some students may use their own computer.
Examples: typing, text-to-speech, dictation
Logistics
Following approval, students take substitute courses from the International Studies section of the general education requirements.
A flexibility accommodation for assignment deadlines may be reasonable for students with a disability or condition that involves brief, unpredictable, and/or cyclical flare ups that significantly impact assignment submission. This accommodation is designed to build in a slight amount of flexibility around assignment submission to address the impact of their condition. This accommodation is not designed to support lengthy assignment extensions or lengthy delays in taking an exam. This accommodation may not be applied in a way that constitutes a fundamental alteration to the learning objective of the course. Students should confer with their professor at the beginning of the semester about what flexibility looks like in each class, and be proactive about communicating when they need to use this accommodation. Upon request, OSA is available to facilitate a conversation between faculty and the student to determine appropriate use of this accommodation.
A flexibility accommodation for attendance may be reasonable for students with a disability or condition that involves brief, unpredictable, and/or cyclical flare ups that significantly impact course attendance . This accommodation is designed to build in a slight amount of flexibility around attendance to address the impact of their condition. This accommodation is not designed to support a substantial number of absences or lengthy delays in taking exams. This accommodation may not be applied in a way that constitutes a fundamental alteration to the learning objective of the course. Students should confer with their professor at the beginning of the semester about what flexibility looks like in each class, and be proactive about communicating when they need to use this accommodation. Upon request, OSA is available to facilitate a conversation between faculty and the student to determine appropriate use of this accommodation.
This accommodation allows the student to demonstrate knowledge of course material by helping prompt the student’s memory, not by providing the answer. Students are responsible for learning course materials, discerning which materials may require cues or prompts, developing the cues that will appear on the memory aid, and securing the instructor’s approval of the aid. If the instructor is concerned this accommodation is unreasonable because it will lower standards, compromise an essential component of, or fundamentally alter a course or program, such concerns should be addressed to OSA upon receipt of the student’s accommodations letter. The determination that an accommodation is unreasonable is an institutional decision that must be made within legal parameters and in consultation with OSA. Instructors should not unilaterally render and attempt to implement a judgment that an accommodation is unreasonable.
Styles of memory aids may vary and are at the discretion of the instructor. Generally, they can be written or typed using a size 10 or 12 font on a large index card, OR up to one side of an 8 ½” x 11” sheet of paper. A memory aid may or may not contain acronyms, short phrases, pictures, schematic diagrams or mind maps, names, definitions, tables, charts or key terms and certain formulae.
There are two types of memory aids that may be approved of as an accommodation:
- Cue Sheet – a document containing information that serves as “prompts” to help cue a student’s recall of previously learned information.
- Formula Sheet – a document containing formulae. Formulaerefers to a set of rules or principles that are expressed using symbols, figures, or both. Students are permitted a formula sheet only on exams or tests that test students on their use and application of formula. Instructors may not permit students the use of formula sheets on exams that evaluate student’s recall of formulae itself.
The Memory Aid accommodation is not intended to:
- Include course notes, lists of specific facts, details, concepts, or processes being tested;
- Include complete terms and definitions;
- Include specific examples of how formulas are used;
- Include full course notes, copies of course slides, or all information from the course being evaluated;
- Exceed one page (single sided);
- Include open textbooks;
- Serve as a substitute for studying (a cue sheet will not help if a student has not studied the material).
RESIDENTIAL ACCOMMODATIONS
OSA approves reasonable housing accommodations to support L&C students with disabilities that impact the daily tasks of living. Below are some common examples of OSA housing accommodation
- Access to accessible laundry facility
- Access to single use locking bathroom
- Ground floor residence hall
- Single Room
- Limit to only one roommate
- Visual fire alarm
- Wheelchair accessibility
Here are the steps to start that process:
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Talk to your provider about specific housing accommodations that will support you
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Share the LC Residential Accommodation Documentation Form with your provider
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Ask your provider to complete the LC Residential Accommodation Documentation Form and submit to OSA
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Schedule a Zoom or in person appointment with OSA. You may email access@lclark.edu or call 503-768-7192 for help scheduling an appointment
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Complete the OSA Intake Form
During your initial appointment, an OSA staff member will engage with you in an interactive process around your disability, how your disability impacts you in a residential setting, along with exploring reasonable accommodations to support you. It’s helpful when documentation from your provider is submitted before scheduling an initial appointment with OSA.
OSA has no authority in room selection. Campus Living staff will assign rooms to meet prescribed accommodations.
If your modification to your meal plan is not related to a medical need, please do not meet with our office. Please contact Bon Appétit.
Examples of Modifications:
- Modified meal plan
- Peanut or nut free meals
- Gluten Free meals
- Gluten Intolerant meals
- Lactose Intolerant meals
Here are the steps to start that process:
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Talk to your provider about specific meal plan accommodations that will support you
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Share the LC Residential Accommodation Documentation Form with your provider
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Ask your provider to complete the LC Residential Accommodation Documentation Form and submit to OSA
-
Schedule a Zoom or in person appointment with OSA. You may email access@lclark.edu or call 503-768-7192 for help scheduling an appointment
-
Complete the OSA Intake Form
During your initial appointment, an OSA staff member will engage with you in an interactive process around your disability, how your disability impacts you in a residential setting, along with exploring reasonable accommodations to support you. It’s helpful when documentation from your provider is submitted before scheduling an initial appointment with OSA.
Parking Accommodations
Lewis & Clark has several disabled parking spots for students to use campus wide. This allows students the ability to choose between various locations with more flexibility depending on where students need to go, on and off campus.
Here are the simple steps to acquire a temporary disability parking permit form from the Oregon DMV:
- You and your physician complete the appropriate sections. NOTE: Incomplete applications will not be processed.
- Submit the completed application at any DMV office, OR
- Mail to: DMV Driver Transactions Unit, 1905 Lana Ave NE, Salem Oregon 97314.
- If accepted, you will receive a sign to hang in your rear view mirror.
Parking Exemption for First Year Student-Medical Needs
If your parking exemption is not related to a medical need, please do not meet with our office. Please contact Transportation and Parking.
Students must attend frequent medical appointments. Frequent is defined as six or more health related appointments each month.
To start the interactive process please submit documentation for review by scheduling an appointment to meet with a staff member from the OSA. During this meeting we will review documentation from your provider to help you determine if a parking exemption is a reasonable accommodation for a documented disability.
Documentation should be on letterhead and signed by the provider which should include:
- current diagnois(es) or condition(s)
- frequency of appointments
- expected duration of the appointments
- any additional information that may be helpful
Assistance Animals are allowed only within the dwelling unit of their owner as a reasonable accommodation if:
- the person has a disability;
- the animal is necessary to afford the person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their dwelling; and
- there is an identifiable relationship or nexus between the disability and the assistance the animal provides.
Please review the Lewis & Clark Service & Assistance Animal Policy and the Animal Control Policy.
Here are the steps to start that process:
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Talk to your provider about Assistance Animal accommodations that will support you
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Share the LC Residential Accommodation Documentation Form with your provider
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Ask your provider to complete the LC Residential Accommodation Documentation Form and submit to OSA
-
Schedule a Zoom or in person appointment with OSA. You may email access@lclark.edu or call 503-768-7192 for help scheduling an appointment
-
Complete the OSA Intake Form
During your initial appointment, an OSA staff member will engage with you in an interactive process around your disability, how your disability impacts you in a residential setting, along with exploring reasonable accommodations to support you. It’s helpful when documentation from your provider is submitted before scheduling an initial appointment with OSA.
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Once OSA receives and reviews the Assistance Animal Request form and your documentation from a licensed mental health or licensed healthcare provider, we will send you a link to the Assistance Animal Registration form. If you are requesting a dog or a cat as an assistance animal, you must register your assistance animal with Multnomah County.
Once all steps are completed, OSA will notify you whether or not your request for an assistance animal is approved. OSA will also notify Campus Living that your request for an assistance animal is approved. Campus Living will then contact you with information about housing community expectations.
Residential buildings and public sinks and showers are not a reasonable place to bath an animal on campus.
Here are local grooming locations and bathing options:
Student Accessibility is located in room 206 of Albany Quadrangle.
MSC: 112
email access@lclark.edu
voice 503-768-7192
fax 503-768-7197
Office Hours:
Monday through Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
CAS Exam Proctoring Hours:
Monday through Friday
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Student Accessibility
Lewis & Clark
615 S. Palatine Hill Road MSC 112
Portland OR 97219