Access Services Syllabus Statement Winona Campus
Saint Mary’s University is committed to assuring that qualified students with disabilities have access to equal educational programs and activities at the university. If you believe that you have a disability that may interfere with your ability to participate in the activities, coursework, or assessments of this course, you may be entitled to accommodations.  Please contact the office of Access Services at accessservices@smumn.edu to arrange a confidential discussion about your need for accommodation. 

Access Services Syllabus Statement Twin Cities Campus
Saint Mary’s University is committed to ensuring that qualified students with disabilities have equal access to educational programs and activities at the university. If you have a disability that is causing barriers in campus activities, coursework, or assessments of this course, you may be entitled to accommodation. Please contact Access Services SGPP at accessservicessgpp@smumn.edu as soon as possible to arrange a confidential discussion about your need for accommodation.

Qualified students with disabilities that are registered with Access Services will each have a Notice of Accommodation (NoA) that lays out their approved accommodations.  NoAs will be shared with faculty either directly by the student or in an email from Access Services, depending on the student’s preference, at the start of a new semester or term.  Students must complete the Renewal of Approved Accommodations Request Form each semester in order for their NoA to be updated and shared with faculty.  Please note that students can register with Access Services at any point during the year, so you may receive NoAs at various points in the semester, not just at the beginning. You are responsible for carrying out the student’s accommodations once their NoA has been shared with you.  Accommodations are not retroactive, so you do not need to apply accommodations to previous coursework that has occurred before the NoA was shared with you.

As a Saint Mary’s University faculty member, you have the right to:

• Require a student to initiate a request for accommodations.
• Require that a student provide you with a Notice of Accommodation (NOA) from Access Services before providing any requested accommodations.
• Require that a student meet with you to discuss their accommodations at the beginning of the semester or as soon as they receive accommodations to clarify the information.
• Question Access Services regarding accommodations that you believe would result in a fundamental alteration to an essential component of the course. 

Limitations to Faculty Rights
On the other hand, you do not have the right to: 

• Deny a student reasonable accommodation(s) listed on a Notice of Accommodation (NOA). 
• Ask students questions about their disability including any  diagnosis or the nature of any disability.  
• Ask if the accommodation is necessary. 
• Request documentation of a disability directly from a student. 

Faculty Responsibilities

• Ensure instructional materials are in accessible formats, which include captioned videos, text readable documents, etc. 

• Finalize textbooks and reading lists in a timely manner to allow time for books to be put in an accessible format. 

• Include a statement in the syllabus as to how students can receive accommodations. See Access Services Syllabus Statement section above.

• Announce to your class how you prefer to communicate with students with disabilities regarding their accommodations at the beginning of the semester. 

• Meet with students who provide a Notice of Accommodations (NOA) from Access Services to discuss implementation of their approved accommodations. 

• Provide accommodations in a timely manner.  

• Do not  provide accommodations to students who self-identify as having a disability, but are not registered with Access Services. Refer those students to Access Services. 

• Maintain appropriate confidentiality of accommodation notifications and communications regarding disability. 

• Contact Access Services with any questions or concerns about an approved accommodation, or how to best work with a student with a particular disability.  

Enabling Automated Captions in Zoom

For support with any educational technology, please visit SMU’s Educational Technology Department Website

Winona Testing Processes for Faculty

Step 1: Access Services will notify faculty of student accommodations via email.

Step 2: Students are responsible for filling out the Testing Agreement Form before they can test in the Access Services Testing Center (ASTC) .  

Step 3:  For each test they plan to take in the ASTC, students must submit the Student Testing Form at least 72 hours (business days) in advance.

Step 4: When Access Services receives a student test request, they will contact the professors with the test request details.

Step 5:  Professors then fill out the Faculty Testing Form at least 24 hours (business days) in advance of the scheduled exam. When completing the testing form, the professor has the option to upload the exam or drop it off at the ASTC. If the professor chooses to drop the exam off in the ASTC (SMH room 429), the test must also be dropped off 24 hours (business days) in advance of the scheduled exam. 

Step 6: Access Services Testing Center staff prepare test materials and carry out testing accommodations for that exam. 

Step 7: On the scheduled test date/time, the student will report to the ASTC to take their exam. 

Step 8: Faculty will receive an email from the ASTC staff letting them know when exam/s are finished and ready to be picked up from the ASTC.

SGPP Testing Processes for Students & Faculty

Step 1: Access Services will notify faculty of student accommodations via email.

Step 2: Students are responsible for communicating with their professors to coordinate any exam and quiz logistics related to their testing accommodations.  Tests should be taken at the same time as the class unless that time does not allow for extended time in the student or faculty schedule. 

Step 3: If a student and their faculty are not able to determine a plan for testing accommodations, students are responsible for notifying Access Services so that a plan can be coordinated with Access Services. 

Step 4: If you coordinate a plan with Access Services, the Student Testing Form should be filled out at least 72 hours (business days) in advance of their exam.  Students must discuss this alternate testing arrangement with instructors. The instructor must approve the alternate testing arrangement by completing the Faculty Testing Form.

Lockdown Browser with Accommodation of Read & Write
Faculty have the option to administer tests / exams in Canvas using Respondus Lockdown Browser and Respondus Monitor. If faculty select this option, and a student in their class has the accommodation of Read & Write, please follow these procedures:

Step 1: Either print a copy of your exam from Canvas or save it as a PDF file to send to the Access Services Testing Center.
Step 2: Provide Access Services with the print or digital copy of the Canvas Exam.
Step 3: The Access Services Testing Center will prepare the test for the student with the Read and Write accommodation. 

Extended Time on Exams & Quizzes
For Canvas tests and quizzes, faculty will need to adjust the amount of time this student has to test within Canvas.  Please see these instructions for guidance.

Students are responsible to disclose their disability to the office of Access Services to begin the interactive process for obtaining accommodations.

A student with a disability who requests accommodations must meet with Access Services and provide documentation of their disability and the need for accommodations.  

Determination of eligibility for accommodations will be made by Access Services, with input from any appropriate administrative and faculty members. The accommodations provided must be reasonable and not fundamentally alter a course or program in any way.

While requests from students who may need accommodations can occur at any time during the student’s career at the university, an inquiry to Access Services for accommodations relating to a preexisting condition should be made as soon as a student enrolls at Saint Mary’s University. This time frame allows the university adequate time to prepare necessary services and supports to carry out the accommodation.

Confidentiality is important. Access Services will not disclose a student’s disability or diagnosis to faculty.  Please do not make any reference to a student’s disability or accommodations in class or in front of other students.  A student may opt to tell you about their disability, and you are free to ask for details about the ways in which the disability impacts their class performance and learning.

Accommodations for students with disabilities do not weaken the academic standards of your course.  An accommodation provides a student with an alternative or modified way of accomplishing the requirements of the course, by eliminating or reducing disability-related barriers.

If a student identifies themselves as having a disability and requests accommodations, but you have never received a Notice of Accommodations for that student, please refer them to Access Services on their respective campus.  You can also reach out to Access Services directly.  

No. It is possible that a student with a disability has chosen not to register with Access Services. Faculty do not need to provide accommodations for those students.  If a student requests an accommodation and you have not received a Notice of Accommodation from Access Services or the student, please refer the student to Access Services.  You can also reach out to Access Services directly.  

Accommodations should not alter or compromise the basic nature of your course.  Accommodations and other learning aids are provided to “level the playing field” for students with disabilities.  If you are concerned that an accommodation will fundamentally alter the nature of your course, please contact Access Services to discuss your concerns.

Access Services advises faculty members throughout the accommodation process and also makes recommendations for the ways in which accommodations can be carried out. The department is a resource for faculty when they have disability or accommodation related questions or concerns. 

You may talk privately with the student to discuss your observations. Do not openly suggest that a student may have a disability.  Do not assume that the student’s difficulties are a result of a disability, but if, through discussion with the student, it appears appropriate, refer the student to Access Services.  If the student discloses that they have a disability, share the contact information for Access Services with the student so they can explore options for accommodations.

Access Services has determined that it is best practice for the student, faculty, and Access Services to meet at the start of a course to talk through the accommodations of limited flexibility with attendance and assignment extensions. During this meeting, reasonable extensions and/or the amount of reasonable absences available for the course can be determined. If a meeting is not set with Access Services, it is assumed that the student and faculty are working together to come to an agreement on these accommodations.  Please read through the Accommodations of Attendance & Assignments Guidance Document for more information.

Possibly. External videos from YouTube, Vimeo, etc, may have accurate, precise captions already. They may also only have auto generated captions. Videos with AI-generated or automatic captions that can be enabled on videos are sometimes not captioned using 99% accuracy.  You will need to watch a portion of the video to see if the captions are accurate and precise.  If it is determined that the captions are not accurate or there are no captions included in your video, you will need to work with Access Services to get the video captioned.  Use this document as a guide for getting course media captioned.