SAS Quick Guide
What Student Accessibility Services (SAS) Does
- Determines student eligibility for accommodations
- Issues official accommodation letters
- Consults with faculty when accommodations are unclear or difficult to implement
- Protects student confidentiality
Faculty are not expected to assess or verify disabilities.
Faculty Responsibilities
- Implement approved accommodations as written.
- Maintain confidentiality.
- Do not ask students to disclose information about their disability or diagnosis or to provide additional documentation. Students registered with SAS have already provided the necessary confidential documentation to SAS to verify their eligibility for accommodations.
- Communicate early with SAS if an accommodation conflicts with course requirements.
- Refer students to SAS when needed.
Faculty are partners in access.
Understanding Accommodation Letters
- Accommodations apply after you receive the letter.
- Letters explain what accommodations are approved, not why.
- If something is unclear or unworkable, contact SAS before denying or changing anything.
Common Accommodations & What to Expect
- Extended exam time: Coordinated with the student and/or SAS
- Distraction-reduced testing environment: Student schedules with SAS, who reaches out to you for details of the exam
- Additional course notes: Access to lecture notes via volunteer notetaker or instructor materials, when available. Student meets with the instructor to discuss note access.
- Examples of academic accommodations
SAS can help with problem-solving implementation.
What To Do in Common Situations
- Student discloses a disability but has no letter:
Thank the student and refer the student to Student Accessibility Services. - Student asks for something not listed in the letter:
Provide approved accommodations, refer the student to SAS; consult the SAS office. - Accommodation conflicts with a course requirement:
Pause and contact SAS; do not make decisions alone.
Fairness & Academic Integrity
- Accommodations are a necessity, not an advantage.
- Students maintain the same responsibility for their education, including preserving the academic integrity of courses and behaving appropriately.
- The same standards should be applied to all students.
- Equity means equal access, not identical treatment.
- You do not need to justify accommodations to other students.
Designing Courses for Access (Best Practices)
Small changes that help all students:
- Clear course structure and expectations
- Materials posted in advance
- Captioned videos and other accessibility remediation: see TILT Accessibility
- Flexible assessments when possible
These often reduce the need for individual accommodations.