For Faculty

Any accommodation or adjustment to policies, practices, procedures, tasks, or the environment that allows a person with a disability equal access.

You shouldn’t ask students if they have a disability or what their diagnosis is, but you can make inquiries about the nature of their difficulties. Instructors should allow the student to take the lead on the issue of disclosing personal information. Instead of asking, "Do you have a disability?" or "What is your disability?", ask questions such as "Is there any more I can know about your situation to help you?" or "What can you tell me about your learning style?”

You will receive an e-mailed letter from the disability services office. If a student tells you about an accommodation that is not on their letter (or you haven’t received a letter) please ask the student to request it through disability services.

Read the letter and consider how those accommodations will work in your class. Talk with student about implementing the accommodations, and if there are concerns, contact disability services. Then keep a copy for your records.

If the student is asking for something you would do for any student, then you do not need to coordinate with disability services, though the student should be made aware of the services offered. If you would only do the accommodation because of a student’s disability, then you should refer the student to the disability services office.

Students are able to request disability-related accommodations at any time and accommodations begin when the student is determined eligible for services. However, faculty are not required to grant accommodations retroactively.

You’re not required to make any accommodations retroactively. Accommodations are only required going forward. However, disability law provides a floor and not a ceiling. Thus, you can choose to make accommodations retroactively.

Yes. Instructors who receive accommodation letters or other disability-related information from students should keep that information confidential from other class members and should refrain from revealing personally-identifiable information to other instructors.

In addition to the syllabus statement, we recommend you make an announcement in class. You may also want to mention other support services on campus offered, such as tutoring, advising, counseling, and mentoring.

Yes. Receiving academic accommodations doesn’t guarantee that a student will pass a class. Once a student receives their granted accommodations, they should be held to the same standards as any other student.

While all in-class accommodations might not apply to online classes, some accommodations do still apply. Consult with Disability Services if you have questions about whether an accommodation applies in an online class or how to provide an accommodation.

Temporary medical conditions such as broken limbs, surgery, flu, and pregnancy are not usually considered disabilities and students should work directly with their faculty (however, please note that pregnancy falls under Title IX, and reasonable accommodations may be activated through this channel). Faculty have the right and responsibility to determine what are reasonable adjustments for students in the case of temporary injury or illness. If questions arise as to what is reasonable, the program chair and disability services office can assist with recommendations for assistance.

Students are required to notify you at least 24 hours before an exam if they would like to use exam accommodations, so you can provide the test/quiz and test request form to TestingServices@Ensign.edu. The student must also schedule their appointments with Testing Services at least 24 hours in advance.

Accommodations should be reasonable and should not alter the essential functions of a course or program. Contact your program chair or disability services to discuss your concerns.

Please contact disability services to discuss your concerns.

Please contact Human Resources.

Although many letters may be similar, they are genuinely individualized in that they are very carefully and conscientiously derived from individual conditions. There are some accommodations that are more commonly given than others, and as many of our students have similar disabilities, the letters can be nearly identical.

In Winter 2020, disability services began generating accommodation letters electronically. Despite the benefits (e.g., more efficient, timely receipt and tracking of letters; easier letter-delivery process), a significant drawback is that students might be less likely to approach their instructors individually. In order to try to counteract this, we strongly encourage students to make direct contact with their instructors to discuss their accommodations, particularly if coordination with the instructor is required.

In addition to sending their letters to their instructors electronically, students may also print out and hand a hard copy to their instructors. In order to encourage students with accommodations to visit with them, instructors can make announcements in class and add that request to their syllabus.

Instructors are also welcome to reach out individually (e.g., via email) to the students who have sent them letters. If students don’t respond to your email, you can communicate this to disability services. You can also follow up yourself by emailing a student your specific expectations for the implementation of the accommodations.

There are a few reasons this may be. The student may not need his/her accommodations in your particular class. (It’s so easy to send letters electronically that many students go ahead and send them to each and every one of their instructors regardless of their need in that class.) The student’s accommodations may not need coordination with the teacher (e.g., note taker, alternative format textbooks). Or the student may be waiting to see if he/she actually needs to utilize accommodations in your particular class.