SAA, Student, & Faculty Responsibilities

• Stay current on disability case law and follow the guidance of the Department of Justice's Office for Civil Rights when determining policy and reasonable and necessary accommodations. 
• Ensure the University is compliant with the legal mandates regarding student disability accommodations. 
• Reply to emails and assist students with questions or concerns. 
• When SAA receives both an online request and documentation that supports the student's disabilities, SAA will contact the student to schedule an "Intake Meeting" with an Accommodation Specialist.
• SAA will properly prepare to proctor each exam for students who have submitted a test room booking 4 class days in advance.

​​​Intake Meeting

• During the "Intake Meeting", the student and the Accommodation Specialist identify the disability symptoms that pose barriers to equal access to academic and campus life. Reasonable and necessary accommodations are then identified to address these barriers. There needs to be a rational connection between a requested accommodation and the disability symptoms. Accommodations cannot lower academic standards or make fundamental alterations to the University's programs and services.
• The student requesting accommodations must attend the meeting. They can invite family members or a friend, but the student must be able to discuss their disability symptoms and participate in a collaborative process with the Accommodation Specialist or Director to determine necessary accommodations.
• Schedule a "How to Access and Use Your Accommodations" meeting with all new students after the Intake Meeting.
  • During this meeting, you will learn about SAA’s policies and procedures and, most importantly, how to do a "Semester Request". A "Semester Request" is submitted by the student at the beginning of each semester to request the use of their accommodations for each class.
  • Updated PDF instructions on how to do a Semester Request and how to do a Test Room Booking are available here on our website and in the student’s Accommodate account under the Resource tab>Resource Library.

Semester Requests

• Process Semester Requests submitted by students in a timely manner. This generally takes 24 hours. Although at the beginning of the semester, this can take up to one week due to the high volume of requests. 
• Reply to faculty and student questions regarding implementation of classroom accommodations. 

ETEXT

• Train each student with the ETEXT accommodation on how to access ETEXT, text recognition programs, and text-to-speech programs. 
• Reach out to returning students with the ETEXT accommodation prior to the beginning of the semester. The ETEXT process can take several weeks, so SAA emails students 2 weeks prior to the start of the semester. When a student replies with the information needed to find their ETEXT books for the semester, it is then SAA’s responsibility to locate and send access information to the student.
• Train students on the use of any equipment SAA checks out to them. 

Exams

• Make sure we have a space available to proctor exams for students who have submitted a test room booking 4 days in advance.
• Maintain a distraction-reduced environment during exams and proctor according to the professor’s exam instructions.
• Maintain and have available the needed equipment and software based on the student’s exam accommodations. 
• Track all exams, keep them secure, and return to faculty based on their chosen method. 

You are an important part of the accommodation process. Below is a list of responsibilities that you must agree to in order to insure a smooth implementation of your accommodations throughout the semester. 

• Follow SAA’s policies and procedures 
• Semester Request must be submitted by the third week of the semester 
• Email your professors to schedule a time to meet and discuss the implementation of your accommodations. You cannot expect to use your accommodations until you have that meeting. 
• Immediately email SAA if an accommodation is not being implemented in the classroom, SAA testing center, or if you need to review your accommodations. 
• Read all SAA emails. These emails contain reminders and instructions on all processes that an SAA student is required to complete in order to do everything from requesting accessible books to exam bookings. 
• Respond to all SAA and instructor emails. 

• Abide by the Integrity Code of the University. 

  If you have an exam accommodation: 

• You must book your exams at least 4 class days prior to exam date. Monday exams cannot be booked over the weekend and must be booked by the prior Thursday at 12pm. 
• Exams must be taken during the class time; extended time can be added before or after class time. Tests cannot be taken at another time or day unless approved by your professor. 
• Arrive on time and check in with a proctor 
• Notify the proctor if you need to ask your instructor a question during the exam.
• Your phone must be off and stored in the SAA lockers during the exam. 
• SAA does not proctor exams that are not being proctored for the rest of the class.

If you wish to discuss accommodations, please schedule an appointment with our office by emailing saa@pugetsound.edu.

Declaration of a disability is not automatically a request for accommodations.

• Direct students who declare a disability to Student Accessibility and Accommodation.
• Implement the accommodations approved by SAA.
• To not solicit or review documentation of a disability.
• To not discuss disability related information with a student or anyone else in a public setting.
• Consider what are essential components of the course.
• Include a syllabus statement about Student Accessibility and Accommodation.
• Notify SAA if there is a problem with an accommodation.