Accommodating Students With Disabilities: Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Yes, Executive Order No. 21 was implemented on 11/1/84 and amended 2/25/97. The current polices are Equal Employment/Education Opportunity Section 600.010 and University of Missouri Policy Related to Students with Disabilities Section 600.070, which covers all four UM campuses. This policy ensures that mandated reasonable classroom accommodations are provided to students with disabilities and eliminates the need for faculty to make accessibility/accommodation decisions.

The student will deliver a personal/confidential notification memo identifying himself/herself as a registrant with Disability Access Services. This memo will also include the eligible classroom accommodations that he/she may need in your course.

Students with disabilities are responsible for introducing themselves to you and informing you that they plan to use the requested accommodations listed in the memo. Please note, the memo says that the student is eligible for, but may or may not need, the accommodations in every course. Students are encouraged to meet individually with their professors during office hours or a scheduled appointment to discuss which accommodations he/she intend to use. Faculty must provide or allow all accommodations listed on the DAS Faculty Notification Memo.

Begin accommodations at that point. Accommodations are not retroactive from the moment of notification forward.

Inform the student that the University has a policy and procedure for providing accommodations that must be followed and refer them to Disability Access Services.

Do not be intimidated into placing yourself in the uncomfortable position of determining if a student is eligible to receive classroom accommodations particularly on the day of your exam. You have the right to say, "I'm sorry, but those arrangements must be made in advance. I cannot accommodate you today for this exam. I will need to reschedule the exam after you have been to Disability Access Services." Refer them to the DAS office. DAS will determine if the student has an appropriately documented and diagnosed disability and is eligible to receive the accommodation. This legally covers you and prevents you from providing something to a student who may not be eligible; therefore, discriminating and being unfair to the rest of your class.

Never accept disability evaluations or medical documentation from a student. This information is confidential and should be on file in the Disability Access Office. You do not want to be responsible for keeping confidential information confidential.

You may accept doctor's statements for absences from your class. These statements do not include detailed information regarding the student's specific medical diagnosis and condition. You do need to verify that an absence was for legitimate medical reasons and that the student was seen and treated by the doctor on that given day and time is necessary to verify an absence.

You have provided John Doe with his reasonable classroom accommodations and made your course accessible to him. You must now evaluate this student according to the grade that he earns, just like the other students in your course. As you would for other students, consider using the Academic Alert system to refer him to campus offices that can support his academic success.

You will be advised to shred any confidential disability information provided by the individual student! Disability Access Services will always have a copy of the master notification memos and disability documentation on file.

Students requesting extended time, or other eligible testing accommodations will test at either the Disability Access Services (141 MSC) or at the Campus Testing Center (93 JCP) as determined by DAS staff.

Disability Access Services staff has worked to ensure that online courses, administered through MyGateway, are accessible for all students. If a student requests extended time on an online exam, the time clock can be adjusted for that particular student or the exam can be manually graded. Students with disabilities can take online exam through the DAS office if a proctor is needed. For specific instructions, please contact the Faculty Resource Center at 516-6704.