DALE’s professional staff, in collaboration with our students, would like to offer the following tips for creating a welcoming classroom climate.
The below is the approved “Disability Accommodation Statement” that you must add to your class syllabus and review during the first week of each class:
The College of Idaho seeks to provide an educational environment that is accessible to the needs of students with disabilities. The College provides reasonable services to enrolled students who have a documented permanent or temporary physical, psychological, learning, intellectual, or sensory disability that qualifies the student for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. If you have, or think you may have, a disability that impacts your performance as a student in this class, you are encouraged to arrange support services and/or accommodations through the Department of Accessibility & Learning Excellence, which is located in McCain Student Center and available via email at accessibility@collegeofidaho.edu. Reasonable academic accommodations may be provided to students who submit appropriate and current documentation of their disability. Accommodations can be arranged only through this process and are not retroactively applied. For additional information or direct contact information for DALE staff members, see https://www.collegeofidaho.edu/accessibility.
Accommodations do not compromise the essential elements of a course or curriculum; nor do they weaken the academic standards or integrity of a course. Accommodations simply provide an alternative way to accomplish the course requirements by eliminating or reducing disability-related barriers. Please direct any questions about how to implement accommodations for a particular student to DALE.
Each semester/term, the Department of Accessibility & Learning Excellence (DALE) will send faculty members notification (referred to as the Faculty Notification Letter) of the student(s) in their courses who have activated their approved accommodations for the faculty member’s course. Once DALE sends you a Faculty Notification Letter for a student, this is a great time to offer a private meeting with the student to discuss the implementation of their accommodations and set clear expectations regarding your work together. Though sometimes this meeting can take place organically before or after class, please take care not to single out a student regarding their accommodations requests and avoid discussing in front of other students or employees. Remember, students are not required to disclose their disability at any time.
At the request of the student, representatives of DALE are available to attend this initial meeting. If a student has requested for a representative of DALE to be present at this initial meeting, DALE will notify you when it sends you the Faculty Notification Letter. For additional information, see The College’s Student Disability Accommodations Policy.
Please find below an email template for your use to reach out to students to set-up this initial meeting as well as a list of potential questions you may want to consider discussing during the meeting.
EMAIL TEMPLATE
Dear STUDENT,
I wanted to confirm that I have received the accommodation letter sent from you through the DALE office. Thank you for communicating with me about this. I have found it can be helpful to meet and talk about what these accommodations look like for you in my course. Would you like to meet? [include instructions for scheduling]
In preparation for the meeting with me, please review the course syllabus and deadlines. If at any point in the term you are having a difficult time in the course, please remember that I am here to support you. I hope you have a fun and successful term!
Best,
INSTRUCTOR
POTENTIAL QUESTIONS
- Do you have any questions about the syllabus or deadlines?
- What type of support have you received in the past that you found helpful?
- Is there anything in particular you anticipate will be a challenge for you in this course?
- How will I know if you are having a hard time? (e. missing class, missing deadlines)
- If you are experiencing something difficult, how will you communicate with me?
- Finally, discuss student’s definition of success for the course, and then clarify what that looks like from your perspective as the instructor
Are your Word or PDF documents accessible? Review your video content for class — are your videos captioned and accessible? Think about providing Google Slides and PowerPoint presentations before the beginning of class. This will allow students to upload them to their electronic note-taking systems for taking notes in class. Remember not all students disclose a disability or request accommodations – accessible materials are helpful for all students. For more information, see Accessible Educational Material.
It is important to remember that not all students with disabilities work with the Office of Student Accessibility – consider incorporating elements of Universal Design into your classroom. For more information, see Universal Design.