The Office of Student Accessibility Staff, in consultation with Dave Reese, General Counsel, and Heyke Kirkendall-Baker, ADA Coordinator, has developed a training specifically designed for Lewis & Clark College Faculty & Staff. This training covers the following topics:

• Disability Related Federal Mandates: 1. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 2. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, 3. The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008;
• the students who are protected under the law;
• examples of modifications, adjustments, and accommodations;
• our legal obligations under disability law as faculty and staff;
• and how to connect with or connect students to the Office of Student Accessibility.

Click here to complete the L&C Faculty and Staff ADA/Section 504 online training. Complete the training and the short quiz to document completion of this training. The training takes, on average, 15-20 minutes to complete.

Faculty are encouraged to refer students to OSA if they self-disclose that they have a disability and are in need of additional academic support, strategies, or skill development. Students can schedule an appointment online for an in-person or Zoom visit.

Students have the option to request their Notice of Accommodations to be sent to faculty every semester. OSA will send Faculty an official L&C notification via email through Maxient - our electronic case management system. The Notice of Accommodations will indicate a student’s approved reasonable accommodations. As a best practice, it is recommended that faculty meet with students, after receiving a Notice of Accommodations, to determine how accommodations will be put into practice for each course. Please contact the OSA Director or an Associate Director if you have questions regarding approved accommodations or need a consultation session before or after meeting with a student.

Faculty members have the right to:

• Request written notification from Office of Student Accessibility of a student’s need for accommodation.
• Contact Office of Student Accessibility to clarify student requests for accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services.
• Maintain Lewis & Clark College’s academic and institutional standards.

Faculty members have the responsibility to:

• Provide reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services in a timely manner.
• Meet with students who have provided written notification of their disability via Office of Student Accessibility and have made a direct request for accommodation to establish the means of providing accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services.
• Contact Office of Student Accessibility to request clarification or support with accommodations.
• Maintain the confidentiality of information regarding disability issues.
• Refer students who request accommodations, but have not set up an Accommodations file, to Office of Student Accessibility

Go to the full page of Rights and Responsibilities, which also lists rights and responsibilities for students and the Office of Student Accessibility.

NOTICE OF ACCOMMODATIONS

Below is an approved statement you may wish to add to your class syllabus and review during the first week of each class:

If you have a disability that may impact your academic performance, you may request accommodations by meeting with the Office of Student Accessibility staff and submitting documentation on the Office of Student Accessibility website. Email access@lclark.edu with any additional questions or concerns.

Exam Information Tips and Scheduling of Exam Proctoring.

Hours of Operations and Staffing

• The OSA office, 206J Albany Quadrangle, is open Monday-Friday 8:30am -4:30 pm.
• The Testing Center is open Monday-Friday from 8:00am-4:30pm for scheduled quizzes and exams. Students need approval from their professors to change an exam start time or date. Consider allowing students to test earlier in the day if your exam extends past 4:30pm.

Deadlines

• Students requesting exam accommodations are required to submit the exam request form 3-5 days before an exam.
• Students who do not complete the exam request form by noon the day before an exam must take the exam with the class.
• OSA exam processes are communicated to students in multiple formats including the OSA website.
• Faculty are key communicators. Please reach out to students in your classes with exam accommodations early in the semester to address questions or concerns.

Exam Delivery Protocols

• Please email exams to access@lclark.edu, or hand deliver your exam by 3:00 pm the day before the exam is scheduled.
• Students using Text To Speech (TTS) are best supported with a Word copy of the exam.
• Due to staffing and the volume of exams, OSA is no longer delivering or scanning completed exams. You, or someone you designate, may pick up completed exams at the OSA office during our business hours (8:30-4:30).

We are here to help answer questions. Please feel free to stop by or email.

Some students have documented disabilities that are random, fluctuating, or cyclical and may impact class participation, attendance, or on time completion of assignments or exams. The Office of Student Accessibility (OSA) supports these students with the accommodations of flexibility with assignment deadlines and flexibility with attendance. OSA determines if one or both flexibility accommodations is reasonable on a case by case basis.

The intent of the following questions is to establish parameters for faculty and students around the two flexibility accommodations. OSA strongly recommends that students and faculty engage in a conversation when faculty receive the student’s accommodation letter. This conversation is to establish parameters and ensure that the flexibility accommodations do not fundamentally alter the learning outcomes of the course. OSA is available to support students or faculty who may have questions or are uncomfortable engaging in this conversation. Please contact OSA via email at access@lclark.edu with any questions.

Student Rights and Responsibilities

• Students are never required to present instructors with medical documentation of their disability or medical documentation for absence(s)
• Absence unrelated to a disability are not included in this accommodation (i.e. absences due to short term illness, car trouble, etc., which fall under the syllabus-stated attendance/absence policy)
• Accommodations are not retroactive
• Accommodations begin on the date faculty received the student’s accommodation letter
• Students are encouraged to engage in a conversation with faculty and complete the flexibility agreement in a timely manner
• Students are responsible for completing all course work and meeting course learning outcomes

Instructor Rights and Responsibilities

• Students are never required to present instructors with medical documentation of their disability or documentation for absence(s)
• Absence unrelated to a disability are not included in this accommodation (i.e. absences due to short term illness, car trouble, etc., which fall under the syllabus-stated attendance/absence policy)
• Accommodations are not retroactive
• Accommodations begin on the date faculty receive student’s accommodation letters.
• Faculty are encouraged to engage in a conversation with the student and complete the flexibility agreement in a timely manner
• Faculty are encouraged to inform the student and OSA if absences meet or exceed 50% of those agreed upon during the flexibility agreement conversation and/or if absences fundamentally alter the course and/or course learning outcomes.
• Instructors are not obligated to re-teach material missed due to absence(s)

Questions to guide the engagement around Flexibility with Attendance

1. What do the course description and syllabus state regarding attendance?
2. Based on the syllabus class attendance/absence policy, what is a reasonable number of absences for a student with a flexibility accommodation?
3. How is attendance used to calculate the final grade?
4. To what extent does attendance impact interaction between the instructor and students and discussion among students?
5. To what extent do student’s contributions during class constitute a significant component of the learning process?
6. Does the fundamental nature of the course rely on student participation as an essential method for learning?
7. To what degree does a student’s absence(s) constitute a significant loss to the educational experience of other students in the class?
8. What is the process for a student to inform the instructor of a disability related absence?

Questions to guide engagement around Flexibility with Assignment Deadlines

1. What does the course description and syllabus state regarding assignment deadlines?
2. How are assignment deadlines connected to the learning outcomes of the course?
3. How are assignments used to calculate the final grade?
4. What is the process for a student to request a disability related extension?
5. What is the maximum number of days or the final date the assignment may be submitted?
6. What is the process for submission of homework/assignments/projects if a disability related extension is requested
7. ​​What is the process for making up a missed exam or in-class graded assignment if a disability related extension is needed?

Peer Note Taking Accommodation

Students with note taking accommodations are responsible for taking their own notes. The Office of Student Accessibility (OSA) additionally recruits peer note takers for students with note taking accommodations. Peer note takers are enrolled in the same class as the student requesting a peer note taker. OSA appreciates peer note taker recommendations from faculty.

Audio Recording of Lecture Note Taking Accommodation

Audio recording of lectures is also a note taking accommodation. When students elect this note taking system, they sign an Audio Recording Agreement form which includes some of the following conditions:

• Recordings are for the student’s personal use
• The student may not share recordings
• Audio recording of lectures is governed by Federal copyright laws and the Lewis & Clark academic code of conduct
• Students must destroy all recordings at the end of each semester

Common Terms: