Faculty Resources - Disability Services

To be eligible for services, including classroom accommodations, students with disabilities must schedule an intake appointment with Disability Services and present professional documentation - such as an IEP, 504 plan, or documentation of a diagnosis from a licensed clinician - to the Disability Services Office. Please email disability@nmu.edu with any questions.

Students who have met with Disability Services, provided adequate documentation, and been approved with appropriate accommodations are given a Letter of Accommodation that they are required to share with instructors each semester. The Letter of Accommodation will indicate which accommodations apply to specific courses. Students need to share a copy of their letter each semester, even if they have had the same instructor in previous semesters. Accommodations can change each semester and they are not retroactive. Students can obtain a copy of their Letter of Accommodation through the Disability Services Student Portal.
 

If a student has not presented you with their Letter of Accommodation, you are not obligated to accommodate them. It is reasonable to ask the student to see their Letter of Accommodation.
 

Each student has submitted documentation that substantiates the essential need for these accommodations. Disability Services thoroughly reviews all documentation to ensure its validity. The right to these reasonable accommodations is guaranteed through the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It’s important to remember that everything regarding a student’s accommodations is confidential. It should never be disclosed to other students in your class which students receive accommodations. Please do not pull all of the students in your class who receive accommodations aside together to discuss their accommodations, or copy them all on one email regarding testing accommodations. Please also do not address a student’s need for accommodations in front of the class. All of these situations take away a student’s fundamental right to confidentiality regarding their accommodations and their disability. Any conversation about a student’s accommodations should happen privately, with no other students present.

Students may register with Disability Services at any time during the semester. Once the student is registered, it is up to the student to share their letter with instructors.

All students who have accommodations are instructed to have a discussion with their instructors regarding the specifics of their accommodations. However, it is a good idea to give a simple announcement during class reminding students with accommodations that they should talk to you individually. Announcements such as this should be conducted in such a way as to preserve the anonymity of students with disabilities.

• Extended Test Time - Students who qualify to receive extended test time are eligible to receive time and a half (X1.5) or double time (X2) on any test, quiz, or exam.
• Alternate Test Site – Disability Services has several distraction-reduced testing rooms that students are able to test in. A trained proctor is always present to facilitate and monitor testing security.
• Test Reader/Test Reader Pen
• Books in Alternate Format
• Notetaking Support, may include audio recordings (GLEAN Notetaking Software, LiveScribe Pen, or Peer Notetaker)
• Classroom Preferential Seating

Based on the student’s diagnosis and the interactive intake process, Disability Services and the student will determine which accommodations might best suit the student’s needs and be reasonable from the University's standpoint.

If a student qualifies for testing accommodations and would like to utilize them, they must submit a test request through the Disability Services Portal at least 5 business days prior to the date of the test, quiz, or exam. Disability Services has several hundred students that receive testing accommodations and several logistical pieces that need to be accounted for. Beginning one week prior to the test date that the student provides, we will email the instructor from dstesting@nmu.edu with the request and a series of questions regarding the test. It is crucial that the instructor responds to these emails in a timely manner to ensure that Disability Services has collected the correct test details. If you have several students in the same class receiving testing accommodations, you will get a separate email with each request. You can respond to one test request email indicating that the information you’ve provided will apply to all students taking the test with our office.

Eligible students may be approved for the use of an Exam Reader Pen, a piece of assistive technology that requires a paper copy of the exam to function. When you receive the test request email from our office, we will indicate if the student is approved for this accommodation. If you are giving an EduCat exam, we will need to obtain a paper copy.  There are two options available for providing a paper copy:

1. Preferred Option: You can provide us with a paper copy of the exam. If you choose this option, please ensure that we receive the exam at least 1 hour prior to the start of the test.
2. Alternative Option: If you would rather Disability Services (DS) not pull a paper copy, we can work with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) to obtain a printable copy of your exam from EduCat. If you prefer this option, DS must request a copy from CTL at least 36 hours prior to the exam. 

- OR with your permission, a DS staff member can also pull a printable version from EduCat.  DS will need to be notified that your exam is completed at least 2 hours prior to the start of the test.

Additionally, if you would like us to arrange for someone to read the exam aloud to the student, please let us know as soon as possible. Please work with us to let us know which arraignment you would prefer. 

 

If you have the ability and are willing to provide students with extended time in the classroom or another location (i.e. office space), and the student is comfortable with this arrangement, you are able to do so. However, the student’s preference may be to take their exam/quiz within the Disability Services Office, and if this is the case, they are able to do so.

The Disability Services Office takes academic dishonesty very seriously. We strictly adhere to all testing guidelines provided by the faculty member, and students are not permitted to have their cell phones, smart watches, bluetooth headphones, or other personal electronic devices on their person while they are taking a test in any of our testing spaces. If a student is found utilizing their cell phone, smart watch, or other prohibited materials (such as notes or a textbook on a closed-book test), we will inform the faculty member who teaches the course as soon as possible. The student is immediately instructed to place the prohibited item(s) in clear view of the proctor. The student is permitted to finish the test without the use of the prohibited item(s).

It is entirely up to the faculty member how to proceed once they have been informed of academic dishonesty. Faculty members have the option to give the student a zero for the test or for the entire course, and they may also choose to pursue Student Code charges for academic dishonesty through the Dean of Students Office. All students who test with Disability Services are made aware of these policies through numerous posted signs/notices in all of our testing spaces.

Students may qualify for a Letter of Clarification if they have a diagnosed chronic health condition with symptoms that are unpredictable, occasional, and result in acute flare-ups. Disability Services provides this informal support on a case-by-case basis while respecting faculty autonomy in setting attendance policies and deadlines. The Letter of Clarification is not an official accommodation; however, Disability Services has met with the student, reviewed their documentation to ensure its validity, and discussed the impact of their medical condition

The Letter of Clarification is designed to offer limited flexibility regarding attendance, test dates, and course deadlines to account for brief, periodic health-related disruptions. However, it is not intended to compromise course objectives or permit unlimited absences. The intent is to provide a small degree of flexibility to address temporary health impacts.

For example, if a course attendance policy allows two excused absences, a faculty member might consider allowing a student with a Letter of Clarification up to four absences, if needed, as long as course objectives remain intact.

Students who qualify for a peer notetaking accommodation are given a supplemental copy of one of their peers' notes. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that we will find a student willing to share their notes with another peer. If that’s the case, we will reach out to gather some information about the nature of this course and whether this accommodation is relevant or how to best implement it. Are notes/slides provided prior to class, are they delivered to students in some other format/fashion, or are they unnecessary altogether? If one of these is the case, we will reach out to the student and inform them. Or perhaps there is a particular student in the class you could reach out to and see if they would be willing to serve as a notetaker. The final option would be for you to provide this particular student with a set of notes or supplemental material for each class session to meet the accommodation.

During the 2023-2024 academic year, 600-700 students were registered with Disability Services at NMU. This number is a drastic increase from past years due to factors which include the expanded definition of “disability” within the ADA, an increase in the number of students receiving accommodations in secondary education, and an increase in the number of students with disabilities who pursue higher education.

You must use the following unaltered ADA statement for your syllabi.

If you have a need for disability-related accommodations or services, please inform the Coordinators of Disability Services in the Dean of Students Office at 2001 C. B. Hedgcock Building (227-1737 or disability@nmu.edu). Reasonable and effective accommodations and services will be provided to students if requests are made in a timely manner, with appropriate documentation, in accordance with federal, state, and University guidelines.

Disability Services discourages professors from asking directly about the possibility of a disability for a number of reasons. The regulations and interpretations of the pertinent disability rights laws forbid unnecessary inquiries into the existence of a disability. A direct inquiry could also be considered intrusive or insensitive. You should tell the student that you notice he or she is having a difficult time and encourage him or her to talk with you about gaining assistance. You can guide the student to the Writing Center, All Campus Tutoring, Counseling Center, or other resources that you would provide to any student. If the student shares with you that he or she has a past history of a disability or suspects he or she has a disability, it would then be appropriate to refer the student to Disability Services.

It is important for instructors to remember that providing reasonable accommodations for a student with a disability does not guarantee success in the course. Students with disabilities might not master the course material, just like any other student. Students with disabilities have the same right as other students to fail as part their educational experience.

It is important that instructors use any built-in amplification when available in the classroom. Students manage the device that does the recoding, so no additional steps are required.  They may be using a personal device (e.g.) phone or computer or a device/software (e.g. LiveScribe Pen, Recorder, or GLEAN) provided by Disability Services.

If other students in the room could be taking notes (typing, writing, etc.) during class, then a student with an audio recording accommodation should be able to record. If an instructor is specifically saying something along the lines of “pencils downs, computers closed, tablets/phones away, no notes of any kind” and then specifically says how long (the next ____ minutes, the rest of the class today) AND students will not be assessed in any way on what others are sharing during that portion of class, then an instructor could talk with a student about not recording.  That conversation should be had privately to maintain the student’s confidentiality.  Students should not be assessed on any content that follows this ‘pencils down and recorders off’ statement. 

Please contact the Center for Teaching and Learning at ctl@nmu.edu or 906-227-2483 for assistance.

Please reach out to the Disability Services Office at disability@nmu.edu or 906-227-1737. We are located in 2101 Hedgcock. 

Professors are not required to provide any accommodations that are not included on a Letter of Accommodation. If a student is seeking additional accommodations, please refer them to speak with the Disability Services Office about any changes to their approved accommodations. 

If additional accommodations are approved, the student will receive an updated Letter of Accommodation. When the student receives this letter, they are required to share the updated version with you in order to receive the accommodations.