Accommodation Support in the Classroom

Students with documented disabilities may be eligible for reasonable exam accommodations. Accommodations that may be provided to students include, but are not limited to, extended time (e.g., time and one-half or double time), a distraction-reduced exam setting, and the use of a computer with word processing, speech-to-text and text-to-speech.

Typically, faculty are not responsible to provide exam accommodations at Roanoke College, especially if students are needing assistive technology such as technology use.

Faculty can provide reduced distraction rooms for students in their buildings if available. Students registered with AES can make the decision to still choose to have their testing accommodations provided in the Testing Center.

Having access to class notes can be integral to the learning process. All students are encouraged to actively engage in class, and taking notes is one of the many ways this occurs. However, some students with disabilities may need support in taking or accessing class notes. When this is the case, AES collaborates with students approved for note-taking support to explore accommodation options.

 
Additional information can be found below, as well as in the guidelines for note-taking support.

 
Recruiting a Student Volunteer to Share Notes

When a student qualifies for note-taking support, AES will provide them a copy of the Notetaker Request Form. 

The student will give this form to their professors and the professor passes around the form during class.

Sample Language: "At this time, Accessible Education Services is in need of a copy of weekly notes. If you are interested in helping by sharing a copy of notes with their office, please put your name and email on the Notetaker Request Form."

Once a student has volunteered to be a notetaker, please send this form back to AES.

Note: It is important for Professors to write the students initials on the form before turning it back to AES.

Once a AES recieves the form, they will email the student volunteer directly with a Note Taker Training Sheet.

The volunteer will scan and send their notes to AES each week, which will then be forwarded anonymously to the student who needs notes.

 
Audio Recorded Class Sessions

Students who have disabilities that impact their ability to take notes may be approved to audio record class sessions. Students using this accommodation must let you know if they plan to record your classes prior to using recording devices. Students typically record classes using smartphones or laptops.

Students approved for this accommodation sign an agreement with the following stipulations:

Audio recordings of class sessions are only for the student's personal use in study and preparation related to the class and may not be distributed in any form, including no distribution or display in any manner on the internet. The student may not share these audio recordings with any other person, whether or not that person is in the student's class. The student will inform professors when the student is audio recording the class session as an approved accommodation. Upon request, the student will cease recording of the class session when audio recording may violate others' right to privacy. The student agrees to delete and/or destroy any audio recordings that were made when they are no longer needed for the student's academic work. A student's failure to abide by all provisions of this agreement may be considered a violation of the Roanoke College's AI Policy and could result in disciplinary action.

 
Accessible Education Services recognizes that some faculty are not comfortable having their classes recorded. If this is the case, please do not deny the accommodation before consulting with AES.

 
Copies of PowerPoint slides, etc.

At times, students may experience difficulty keeping up with the pace of a lecture when taking notes, including copying information from PowerPoint or other electronic presentations. Therefore, depending on the nature of the course, it may be appropriate for faculty who use PowerPoint or other electronic means of delivering information to provide copies of slides or other materials to students. Please consult with AES if you have concerns about this accommodation, as we can help to determine if another accommodation is appropriate.

 
Use of a Computer for Note Taking

The use of a computer with word processing is a note-taking accommodation used by students whose writing is in some way impacted by their disability (e.g., dyslexia and dysgraphia). Students are advised to be considerate when using this accommodation, especially when other students in the class are not allowed to use computers. For example, we ask students to keyboard as quietly as possible and to avoid surfing the internet, checking email, etc.

Students who have disabilities that affect their ability to read standard print materials may be eligible for accessible formats of course readings. Accessibility Resources will arrange for this accommodation using a variety of formats, including audio, E-text, large print, or Braille.

Converting textbooks and other materials into an accessible format can be a time-consuming task. Students who have difficulty reading print materials should have access to their textbooks and other course materials at the same time as others in the class. For these reasons, students or AES may ask professors for a reading list before a block begins. Your help in providing this information will assist us in ensuring that students receive accessible format materials in a timely manner.

You can also assist by providing accessible PDFs to students. Information on how to create accessible PDFs. Accessible PDFs will benefit all students in your courses.

Some students with disabilities request flexibility with attendance and assignment/exam due dates as accommodation. These requests are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Accessible Education Services has developed guidelines for attendance accommodations, which are most commonly requested by students with psychological disorders or chronic health conditions.

If a student has an accommodation for Flexibility with Attendance/Assignments, I will send an email with a FORM to help guide the conversation between you and the student. This not only helps the student better understand the needs of the class, but also helps to create reference point for the student moving forward. Regardless of this accommodation, if a student exceeds the number of negotiated absences or 20% of scheduled class sessions, the academic integrity of the course may be impaired, resulting in possible withdrawal from the course.

Rather than going through the process outlined in the guidelines, some students prefer to manage attendance concerns on a case-by-case basis just like any other student who may become ill during a block. If a student is registered with AES, we may be able to verify that the student has a documented psychological disorder or chronic health condition that may impact attendance.

Students with a variety of disabilities may request extensions for out-of-class work.  Extensions should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis and in consultation with AES, when needed. This accommodation should not extended past 24 to 48 hours and should only include assignments not listed on the syllabus, so long as the existing deadline is not integral to the goal of the course. Please keep in mind, though, that if you give extensions to students for reasons not related to disability (e.g., the flu, travel for athletics, death in the family), you should give the same consideration to students with disabilities.

Emotional support animals are restricted from classrooms as they are covered by the FHA, which covers housing only. Therefore, please do not allow students to bring emotional support animals to class. Students sign an agreement that stipulates that emotional support animals may be in a student's residence or outdoors only. Violations of this and other stipulations may result in the removal of the animal from campus.

However, students are allowed to bring service animals to class. Service animals are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Service animals are trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities (e.g., guide people who are blind, alert people who are deaf, or alert people in advance of low or high blood sugar events). Service animals are, by definition, dogs. 

Please contact Accessible Education Services if you have any questions about animals.