Student Responsibilities

Students are often unaware of their responsibilities with regard to receiving services and accommodations from Disability Services. Below is some general information on student responsibilities and some specific policies for some of the more commonly requested accommodations.

General Responsibilities
Testing Accommodations Responsibilities

Responsibilities of Students registered with Disability Services

• Bring your CLASS SCHEDULE to the Center for Advising & Learning as soon as you complete registration; it is impossible to accommodate you without it - a late schedule may have negative consequences
  
• If you will be having EXAMS PROCTORED in the Center for Advising & Learning office you must inform our staff of exam dates and which exams you will be taking in our office. Know your testing responsibilities when it comes to taking exams in our office
  
• If you require a NOTETAKER you must
  -attend class regularly
  -inform our staff if you no longer need notes
  -inform our staff of any problems with notes
  -know how to access notes on the web
  
• If you require BOOKS IN AUDIO FORMAT you must
  -bring copies of your syllabi to our office as soon as you get them
  -let our staff know which books you need in audio format
  -check for and pick up CDs consistently
  
• If you require EXTRA TIME ON ASSIGNMENTS, your instructors will be contacted and you must
  -communicate with faculty to establish expectations
  -work with your professors to determine mutually acceptable due dates
  -contact our staff if you encounter problems negotiating with your professors
  
• If you would like ADDITIONAL ACADEMIC HELP, it is your responsibility to
  -sign up for Peer Tutors
  -utilize professors' or teaching assistants' office hours; and
  -make appointments with CAL staff to explore other resources

Testing Accommodations Responsibilities
Students who will be taking exams in the Center for Advising & Learning office must know their responsibilities and follow our policies.

Testing Information for Students (doc)

Before a student takes his or her first exam in the Disability Services office, he or she must receive the following information:

1. Time allowed for exams is determined by the Disability Services Coordinator and follows established guidelines of either time and one half, or double time.
2. Unlimited time for exams cannot be provided by Disability Services. Faculty who allow unlimited time to complete exams are required to proctor their own exams.
3. Tests are proctored between the hours of 8:15 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
4. Students should arrive ready start their exams at the scheduled time. The Disability Services office will not allow students to have time to study or review their notes before they begin their exam.
5. Students who are more than 15 minutes late for their exam are required to return to the classroom to take their exam. Disability Services staff are instructed not to allow a student more than 15 minutes late to take their exam.
6. Electronic devices and personal belongings must be left in the Center for Advising & Learning, Room 328.
7. Students are expected to remain in their testing area until they have completed the exam. If they have to leave for any reason, they must check in with the Disability Services Coordinator/Designee. Students must check back in prior to returning to their exam.
8. Students will be allowed bathroom breaks during exams. Any other breaks will only be allowed at the discretion of the DS Coordinator. This does not extend the time allowed for the exam.
9. If a student requires extra time on an exam, it will need to be scheduled at a time when the student can complete it in one sitting. Students may not leave the testing area for class, meetings or appointments unless special arrangements have been made with the faculty member and the Disability Services Coordinator/Designee ahead of time.
10. If a student has questions about word meaning or sentence structure they may speak with the Disability Services Coordinator. If the Disability Services Coordinator is unavailable, the student should write down their answer on a separate sheet of paper, write their question, and explain why they answered the question as they did. At their discretion, the Disability Services Coordinator/Specialist can contact the instructor. This does not extend the time allowed for the exam.
11. Prior to the date of the exam, the student is encouraged to speak to the faculty member about how best to reach them should the student have questions about exam content. However, our office policy is as follows:

    If the Disability Services Coordinator/Designee is unavailable, the student will write down their answer on a separate sheet of paper, write their question, and explain why they answered the question as they did.

    If they are concerned that this may not suit their needs, they should communicate directly with the instructor about how to better meet this need.

12. If the student cannot take the exam at the scheduled time, they must speak with the instructor about rescheduling it. The instructor must communicate his or her wishes about rescheduling directly to the Disability Services Coordinator.
13. If the instructor fails to provide a copy of the exam to Disability Services by the scheduled date and time of the exam, Disability Services staff will reschedule the exam at the student's convenience. The instructor will receive an e-mail notification indicating that he or she has failed to provide Disability Services with the exam and informing them of the rescheduled date and time.
14. If the student would like to begin a scheduled exam early, they can do so under the following circumstances: the Disability Services office already has the exam, and the student will be seated in the testing area when the rest of the class begins the exam.
15. If any member of the CAL staff happen to see a student engaging in behavior that might be cheating, he or she will report their observations to the Disability Services Coordinator. The Disability Services Coordinator must report any suspicious activity to the faculty member.
16. Many students prefer to take an exam in a room by themselves, but this may not always be possible. We will accommodate as many students in this way as we can, but testing space may need to be shared with another student.

Finals Week Policies

1. During finals week, the Disability Services office will be open until 8:00 p.m. on days when a regularly scheduled final begins at 4:00 p.m.
2. If a student requires extended time and they have two or more exams scheduled for the same day they can ask the Disability Services Coordinator/Designee to petition the faculty to reschedule. Disability Services is not responsible for scheduling exams to accommodate personal schedules, nor can they require faculty to give exams early.
3. Space is extremely limited in the Disability Services office during finals week. As a result, it is imperative that students arrive at their scheduled exam time. If this is not possible, the student should immediately contact the Disability Services Coordinator.