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Faculty and Staff Resources to Support Students with Disabilities

 Student Disability Services works with students, faculty and staff to ensure that students with physical, medical, learning or psychological disabilities are provided with equal access to all college programs, activities and services in accordance with Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (amended 2008).  Student Disability Services staff advise students about the College's disability services policies, procedures and resources, reviews students' documentation and collaborates with students, faculty and staff to arrange reasonable accommodations that support students' individual needs.  For more information, contact the Student Disability Services office at studentdisabilityservices@swarthmore.edu

 

Accommodate

How to review Accommodation Letters

  1. Log into Accommodate.
  2. On the left-hand side, click Accommodation Letters. You will see a list of any students who have requested to implement their accommodations in your course.
  3. Click each letter to review. You may print a copy or download a PDF if you’d like.
  4. Once you’ve reviewed the letter, please enter your initials at the bottom to acknowledge the information has been received.

Additional features 

Courses

Within Courses, faculty may access all of their current and past classes. Clicking into a class will display course details and the option to view Enrolled Students, Room Bookings, Exams, and Course Notes.

Enrolled students

The enrolled students list includes all students currently enrolled. Faculty have a filter available to allow the list to display only students who do or do not have accommodations for the class. If reviewing a list of students with accommodations, the list will ONLY include those who have taken the steps to implement their accommodations. As a result, the list may grow as the semester continues.

Exams

Faculty can upload exam information and exam copies directly to Accommodate. This feature will replace the exam proctor request form, and professors are no longer required to complete an individual form for each student. Moving forward, if a student wishes to utilize their exam accommodations in your course, simply log into Accommodate and submit the standard exam information. The system will populate a list of students who have requested to use accommodations on that exam. 

Room Bookings

Once a professor has entered their exam information, students can log into Accommodate and schedule their accommodated exam. Instead of completing exam forms for each student, a faculty member will go to room bookings, review each student’s request, and approve or deny the requested date and time.

Course Notes

If a student in your course receives course notes as an approved accommodation, you may go to the course notes section to review the notes uploaded by SDS’s hired note-taker.

Accommodate Faculty User Instructions

Disability Law

Students with disabilities are protected from discrimination under Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (amended 2008).  Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination based on disability in programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance.  The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.  Learn more about Disability Law.

Exam Proctoring

One of the most common academic accommodations is extended time on timed tests so that students with disabilities have the same opportunity as their peers to demonstrate their knowledge.  The logistics for testing are typically arranged between the student and the faculty member; however, Student Disability Services can assist with Exam Proctoring when faculty and/or departments cannot make arrangements.

Syllabus Statement

To help students with disabilities understand their rights and responsibilities, you are welcome to include this statement on your course syllabus and website.

Privacy

Swarthmore College respects the privacy of its students.  The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) governs all student record information.

Disability Resources

Websites from other colleges and universities, organizations for the disabled, and government agencies offer a wide variety of additional resources.