Please make sure on your first day of class that you include in your syllabus, or other handout/announcement, a statement like the one below:

Disability-Related Reasonable Accommodations:

Students with documented medical disabilities, as covered under the 1990 ADA, will be reasonably accommodated once the student has provided the instructor a signed copy of the FAF (Faculty Accommodation Form) provided by Disability Support Services (DSS). Since accommodations are not retroactive, students must identify themselves and their reasonable accommodation needs (via FAF) to the instructor at the beginning of each semester accommodations will be needed, or within a reasonable period of time before the accommodations will be required. The DSS office is located in 134 Main. Questions related to DSS accommodation-related needs may be made by calling 394-8515 or e-mailing disability@uwsuper.edu.

Due to the fact some accommodations may take awhile to coordinate, students clearly should not wait until the last minute to request accommodations. If they do, this may not be reasonable. For example, a request for test accommodations from a student who does not have an FAF may take up to a few weeks to process or longer, if they don't have access to the needed medical documentation! Speaking of tests – test anxiety is NOT necessarily a disability. It may actually be an indicator that counseling, confidence-building, tutoring, or other skill building may be needed. So, if students say they have test anxiety, the first referral may very well be the Counseling Center or Student Support Services.

In the event you are going to need a test proctor, please note that there has been a change in process. Our office no longer will proctor exams except under special situations. Students without an FAF must first provide me documentation that demonstrates eligibility for the testing accommodation. Once I have opened a DSS file on them, and have signed off on the FAF verifying the accommodation need, students must then go to Student Support Services (SSS) to give them a copy of the FAF, and then request the test accommodation. Both the student and faculty will need to fill out a form with SSS to agree to the proctoring terms. IMHO - if at all possible (and I understand there are exceptions), it would be best for all students if you could develop a way to assess a students' competence in the curriculum in a way that does not continually isolate the students requiring extended time and/or lower distraction environments (for tests). This way then, DSS students may never need to identify as needing accommodations, and will then be able to fully participate in your class like all other students (this is called Universal Design in the Curriculum). Questions – please do not hesitate to ask me. Thanks. Mary Lee Vance

Mary Lee Vance, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Academic Advising and Disability Support Services
University of Wisconsin - Superior
Old Main, Room 134
Belknap and Catlin, P.O. Box 2000
Superior, WI 54880-4500
Phone (715) 394-8515
Fax (715) 394-8307