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Faculty and Staff

Welcome to Student Accessibility Services! Our office works to provide access to all College programs and services for students with disabilities. The efforts of this office are part of the College's overall commitment to diversity.

Student Accessibility Services is available to provide faculty with practical information about teaching students with disabilities. We can provide you with information about disability laws, an explanation of your rights and responsibilities as faculty, the types of services and accommodations available at Connecticut College, the policies and procedures that students must follow in order to receive accommodations, as well as strategies for teaching students with particular disabilities. We are also available to provide consultation to individuals or departments. We will work with anyone interested in implementing the principles of Universal Design for Instruction, which helps to create an inclusive classroom environment that meets the needs of students with diverse learning styles.

Please do not hesitate to contact Student Accessibility Services with any questions, feedback, or suggestions. We are here to support you in your efforts to make learning accessible to all students.

AIM Accessible Information Management

View student Faculty Notification Letters through the AIM portal. In addition, Student Accessibility Services will email the Faculty Notification Letters biweekly throughout the semester “typically on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.” Upon receipt of the Notification Letter, students must schedule a meeting with you to discuss how they will receive their approved accommodation in your class. To make the necessary arrangements, notification via the Faculty Notification Letter should be received in a timely manner.

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Suggested Syllabus Statement Accommodations Educational Resources

Suggested Syllabus Statement

Connecticut College complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you have a documented disability and have been approved for academic accommodations, you must submit a request through the SAS AIM portal to have your Faculty Notification Letter emailed to me. Upon receipt of the Letter, privately meet with me during my office hours as early as possible in the semester to discuss the logistics of receiving your accommodations. If you are not approved for accommodations, but have a disability requiring academic accommodations, or have questions about applying for accommodations, please contact Student Accessibility Services at 860-439-5428 or sas@conncoll.edu.

Accommodations

Understanding Common Accommodations

Extra time on exams and quizzes: faculty members arrange for students to be given time and a half or double time (depending on the accommodation) to complete their exams, quizzes, or in-class assignments

Typical reason for this accommodation: students have learning disabilities that compromise their processing speed, making it difficult to complete exams in the allotted time; students have a reading disability and need additional time to process the information they are reading; students have an attentional disorder, making the ability to focus on the task at hand challenging

Reduced-distraction space for exams: faculty members arrange for students to complete exams in an alternative reduced-distraction setting

Typical reason for this accommodation: students have an attentional disorder, making the ability to focus difficult with outside distractions present

Flexible Attendance: Faculty and students will work together when a student is absent due to flare ups in their medical condition. Students are responsible for meeting with faculty at the start of each semester to discuss how this accommodation may work for each class. This accommodation may vary from class to class based on the participation level of the course. Faculty and students will complete Flexibility Agreement for Attendance form together to have a clear understanding of the agreed upon plan. See the flexibility in attendance accommodation presentation for information regarding this accommodation.

Typical reasons for this accommodation: students with medical conditions that can cause a significant flare up that impacts the student's ability to navigate campus on a particular day. This could be due to significant pain, inability to get out of bed, doctor's appointments or hospitalizations.

Flexible Assignment Due Dates: Faculty and students will work together when a student requires additional time to complete a specific assignment. Students are responsible for meeting with faculty at the start of each semester to discuss how this accommodation may work for each class. This accommodation may vary from class to class based on the workload for a particular course.

Typical reason for this accommodation: students with specific learning disabilities may require additional time on an assignment to complete work within a designated time frame. For example, if a professor gives the whole class a writing prompt 2-weeks before the paper is due, this student could ask for an additional week to submit the assignment. Students with learning disabilities often work with the Academic Resource Center on larger assignments, and that extra time is needed to complete the work. Another reason for flexible due dates is when a student has an unpredictable medical condition that has flare ups that cause fatigue, brain fog, and/or hospitalizations.

Faculty and students will complete Flexibility Agreement for Assignment Due Dates form together to have a clear understanding of the agreed upon plan. See the flexibility agreement for assignment due dates accommodation presentation for information regarding this accommodation.

Use of a recording device for lectures: students may use a device to record lectures

Typical reason for this accommodation: students with a slower processing speed, auditory processing challenges, or attentional difficulties may miss information during lectures and the recording device allows them to listen to parts of the lecture that they may have missed
All students issued this accommodation have read the policy on Use of Recording Device as an Accommodation Policy and have signed the Recording Agreement

Access to a peer notetaker: another student in the class shares their notes

Typical reason for this accommodation: students have a disability that makes it a significant challenge or impossibility to take their own set of notes

Use of a laptop for note-taking: students may use their laptop during lectures for note-taking

Typical reason for this accommodation: students with a slower processing speed may find it challenging to keep up with handwritten notes; student with motor coordination disorder may find it challenging to handwrite notes

Use of a College computer for the written portion of exams: students may use a College computer to type out the written portions of exams

Typical reasons for this accommodation: students with a slower processing speed may find it challenging to hand write more lengthy portions of exams within the allotted amount of time; students with a reading or language disorder may be too distracted by compensating for difficulties that they run out of their allotted time or miss the main point of the assignment
Use of College Computer Policy

Access to alternate format texts: students are granted access to electronic text that can be read aloud by a computer program

Typical reasons for this accommodation: students with reading disorders may find it challenging to comprehend the written word; students with dyslexia may become distracted by their compensation strategies that they miss the main point of the text

Use of a simple, 4-function calculator: students may use a simple, 4-function calculator during exams

Typical reasons for this accommodation: students struggle with a slower processing speed/working memory or have a math disorder, making it more challenging and time consuming to mentally compute equations

Please note that the "typical reasons" listed are by no means an exhaustive list of potential difficulties. The most common reasons have been listed to help identify some learning disabilities a student may be struggling with.

Questions or Concerns Regarding Approved Accommodations

Accommodations are not intended to compromise any essential element of a course and/or program requirement. If you have a concern in this regard or question as to how to implement an approved accommodation, please contact SAS as soon as possible at 860-439-5428.

Accommodation Deadlines

Faculty members must receive the Faculty Notification Letter with at least 7 business-days' prior notice to the need for the accommodation. You are not required to provide an approved accommodation without this advanced notice if it is not feasible to do so.

Testing Accommodations

During semester
Faculty can contact the Events Coordinator at events@conncoll.edu to request a classroom to provide testing accommodations such as extended time, reduced distraction environment, or a private test setting. You may also contact Tricia Dallas in the Academic Resource Center at pdallas@conncoll.edu if a location cannot be found.

Final exams
Self-scheduled - Students with testing accommodations take their exams in the Academic Resource Center. Student Accessibility Services will work with the faculty member and the Registrar’s office to ensure that student exams are sent to the ARC rather than the usual testing center. An email reminder will be sent to faculty each semester with specific instructions in how to do this.

Scheduled - Accommodation logistics are arranged between the faculty member and the student as with any test accommodations.

Educational Resources

Websites

Faculty Focus - higher education teaching strategies
The Center for Universal Design in Education - helping educators apply universal design to all aspects of education

Accessibility Services

P: 860-439-5428 E: sas@conncoll.edu

Mailing Address

Connecticut College
Student Accessibility Services
Box 5213
270 Mohegan Ave
New London, CT 06320

Campus Location

Smith House, First Floor

Office Hours

Academic year
M-F: 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m

Reduced summer schedule

Winter break and spring break
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