Frequently Asked Questions - Faculty

What if I disagree with an accommodation that is listed in a student’s Letter of Accommodation?

Contact the Disability Specialist listed at the end of the Letter of Accommodation to address any logistical or other concerns you may have. Many concerns can be addressed and resolved directly and informally through timely communication between faculty and DSP.

While students have the right to receive disability accommodations that remove or mitigate barriers to their equal access to participate in their academic programs, instructors are not required to fundamentally alter their course goals or standards in order to accommodate disabled...

Why doesn’t my student’s Letter of Accommodation state what their disability is? How can I verify that their accommodation request in my class is related to their disability?

Students with disabilities have a right to privacy regarding their medical diagnoses and medical documentation. For this reason, we ask faculty not to request medical documentation from students with disabilities. If you feel that it is necessary to verify that a student’s request is disability-related, you can contact the student’s assigned Disability Specialist, whose name and contact information is provided at the end of the student’s Letter of Accommodation. The Disability Specialist can review the student’s documentation on file and consult with the...

Why do students receive exam accommodations?

Exam accommodations are a more common accommodation because they accommodate students with many different types of disabilities. Some examples include: students with learning disabilities or physical disabilities who use assistive technologies may need additional time to read exam questions and produce responses; students with learning disabilities that impact processing speeds may need more time to process information; students with attention deficits may need both additional time and a reduced distraction environment.

Extended Exam Time: How does extended time work for a timed online exam that students have one week to log in and complete?

For our class midterm, I am requiring the class to take a timed online exam. The students are able to choose any time this week to log in and take the 3-hour exam, and they are required to complete the exam this week–the exam portal will close after seven days. Am I required to give students with 150% time accommodations ten days to complete the exam?

If you are using a platform that allows all students to engage with the exam for a set amount of time (three hours), then the settings in the platform should be adjusted for students with 150% time accommodations to allow them four and a half hours to take the exam. The student with the extended time accommodation can then choose when during the week to log in and take their exam, and while taking the exam, will be provided with the additional time they require, in relation to their peers without extended time accommodations.

Extended Exam Time: How does extended time work for a take home essay exam that should require 4-5 hours of writing and is due in one week?

For our class midterm, I am giving the class an essay exam that I expect will take most students four or five hours to complete, and I am giving them the prompt in this week’s class meeting, and requiring them to submit their responses before next week’s class meeting. Since students without accommodations will have seven days to complete the exam, am I required to give students with 150% time accommodations ten days to complete the exam?

Generally speaking, the 150% time accommodation for timed exams and quizzes applies to exams with a short window to complete, typically exams with less than a 24-48 hour window for completion. It would be fair to let your students know that you wrote the exam expecting that it would take students without accommodations four to five hours to complete, and that the class should plan their writing time accordingly over the course of the week to ensure that they meet 7-day deadline to hand in their work.

If a student has accommodations for...

Extended Exam Time: How do I determine how long a student with extended time should have for their exam?

The amount of time a student with an extended time accommodation should be provided must be calculated in comparison to the amount of time provided to students without disability accommodations.

For instance, if students without extended time accommodations are given 1 hour to complete an exam, a student in the class with a 150% extended time accommodation should be given 1 hour and 30 minutes.

If you create an exam that you think will take students an hour to complete, and you give the full class three hours to...

Extended Exam Time: Does this apply to pop quizzes in class, too?

Extended time for in-class exams and quizzes applies to pop quizzes in class.

Choosing assessments that are designed to be accessible reduces the need for accommodations and proctoring. Traditional timed pop-quizzes often present access barriers to disabled students who require exam accommodations such as extended time, reduced distraction testing environments, and use of technology such as speech to text software.

In 2001, Ruth Fink, PhD, (Learning Disabilities Specialist, Language Disorders Specialist, Retired...

Why do we receive late Letters of Accommodation? Can you set a deadline for students to apply for accommodations each semester?

DSP does not have a deadline by which students can apply for services. Students can be diagnosed with or acquire disabilities at any time, and the process of obtaining disability documentation can also take time. Sometimes students who already have a disability identity will wait to seek services until they have first tried participating at Berkeley without formal accommodations. Students may also find that the impact of their disability has changed during the semester and that they need additional support in accessing their program of study due to this change...

A student in my class is struggling academically, and I think they may have a disability and need accommodation, but I’m not sure. What is the most appropriate way for me to make sure that a student knows about DSP and applying for accommodations?

Students may struggle with coursework for many reasons, including needing but not receiving appropriate disability accommodations, but also including balancing employment and school, balancing parenthood and school, having concerns about access to basic needs like housing and food, and navigating personal emergencies.

If you have concerns about a student’s personal or academic well-being, it can be helpful to submit a Care Report to the Center for Support and Intervention, so that a Case...

Can I send a single email to all of my students with DSP accommodations (for instance, outlining procedures for participating in an exam that I am proctoring myself)?

Yes, you can, but you must protect each student’s privacy. Be sure to address the message to yourself and to place students’ emails on the “BCC” line, and do not name students in the content of the email message.