Testing Accommodations

Test Accommodations are federally mandated academic accommodations for students with disabilities. While faculty must provide test accommodations, they are encouraged to contact Disability Services if they have concerns about how testing accommodations will impact academic integrity or essential course components. The Disability Services Office administers exams when instructors cannot provide students, who are registered with Disability Services, with test accommodations. The service is structured to provide students with a fair opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of course content without resulting in a competitive academic advantage over other students. Test administration handled by the Disability Services Office involves only physical assistance in accordance with the student's functional limitation (e.g., reading, writing, time extensions).

Faculty members who have a student in their class who requires test accommodations will be notified by letter. This may include students with temporary disabilities such as a broken bone. The student will deliver the letter to the faculty member which will allow the student to connect with the faculty member and discuss any concerns.

Having accurate, up-to-date records of when students will come in for exams is essential to providing effective services to our students. Included with the letter you received detailing your student's accommodations is a document describing how to add your exams to our on-line calendar. Please add exams to this calendar as soon as possible.

Because we would like students who take their exams in the Disability Services office to have the same resources other students have, we encourage faculty to work with the student to develop a reasonable way for students to ask questions about the exam during the test. Options might include:

1. Providing your cell phone number to the Disability Services Coordinator and bringing your cell phone to class on test days. The Disability Services Coordinator can dial your phone number from an office phone so students can ask questions of you directly.
2. Being available in your office immediately after an exam so students with questions can call you right after the testing period.
3. Allowing students to hand in an exam with a note that indicates they would like to visit you during your next office hour with questions they may have had about the test.
4. Stopping by or calling the Disability Services office immediately after an exam to see if the student has questions about the test.

In the absence of specific information from you about how to handle questions that arise during a test, we will follow our policy that 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 you have NOT received a letter from our office regarding test accommodations for a student, DO NOT schedule exams for them in our office. Our testing services are reserved strictly for students who are registered with Disability Services.

We do not allow the general student population to schedule make-up exams in our testing center. We can make exceptions to this policy in the case of emergencies only if we happen to have space and staff available to proctor the exam, and the faculty member is not able to utilize an alternate space in his or her office or classroom building.

We do not provide testing services for International Students or other students with English as a Second Language concerns unless they have a diagnosed disability and are registered with our office.

We do not provide testing services to students with test anxiety who are not registered with Disability Services. Students who have test anxiety will be referred to Student Counseling Services.

Disability Services has procedures and guidelines in place with regard to administering exams. Please contact our office if you have questions about our procedures.