Classroom Accommodations

Accommodation: Preferential Seating

• Students should notify instructors of intent to use this accommodation in advance.  
• Students and instructors should work together to ensure there is a seating arrangement that works best for student learning.  
• For example, the instructor may discreetly save a seat for a student at the front of the room.

Accommodation: Student May Audio Record Lectures 

This is an accommodation to assist students in the note-taking process. Students with various disability impacts might utilize this accommodation to retrieve missed information or further clarification on concepts discussed in class.  

Students are responsible for recording lectures as needed after notifying the professor of their intent to record during the initial Accommodation Letter meeting.  

Students who are granted this accommodation understand these recordings are for personal use and are not to be shared with others. If recordings are used inappropriately, instructors could refer the matter to the Student Conduct System for review.  

The MSU Office of Student Support & Accountability offers resources and processes for handling code of conduct concerns. 

If needed, students and faculty can use a signed agreement for recording of lectures and use of recordings. Please contact the student and RCPD specialist to inquire about this.

Best practice: if an instructor has concerns about the recording of sensitive content shared in class, instructors can 1) make an announcement to make other students aware of possible recording and 2) facilitate an agreement with the student who is recording to stop during discussions that share personal and/or sensitive information.   

**Students, please contact your specialist for consultation on technology best suited to record lectures!  

Accommodation: Accommodation: Faculty facilitated Notetaking assistance by shared lecture notes or established partnership between students

Note taking assistance is intended to be a supplement to student notes, assisting a student to retrieve missed information or further clarification on concepts discussed in class, when disability directly impacts the note taking process. Students must request this in advance of when notes are needed.

• Receiving note-taking assistance does NOT relieve students from the responsibility of attending and actively participating in class.
• Students who are granted this accommodation understand these notes are for personal use and are not to be shared with others. If notes are used inappropriately, instructors can refer the matter to the student conduct system for review.
• The MSU Dean of Students Office offers resources and processes for handling code of conduct concerns: https://deanofstudents.msu.edu/

No matter how you access your notes, one important point to remember is that receiving note-taking assistance does not relieve you from the responsibility of attending and actively participating in class.

Student Responsibilities

• Request note taking assistance from your professor by distributing your Accommodation Letter and having a meeting as outlined in the Accommodation Letter distribution process.
• Discuss how, when, and in what format notes will be shared. 
• Tip: discuss assistive technology that can enhance independent note taking with your Ability Access Specialist.

Faculty Responsibilities

• To implement this accommodation, you may share PowerPoint slides or other lecture notes directly with the student or confidentially connect the student with supplemental class notes via a peer or TA/GA/etc. note taker.  
• For example, you may find a student in the class who is willing to share notes, have that student email the notes to you after each class, and then send the notes to students who have a note taking assistance accommodation (use a blind copy if there are multiple students). In cases where a call for volunteer note takers is made in class, please avoid identifying the specific student(s) who need the notes in order to maintain confidentiality. 

Faculty Considerations for Online Learning

Generally, students should be sharing their Accommodation Letter and specifically requesting the note taking assistance accommodation for the classes it's needed. It is the joint responsibility of the student and instructor to make a plan for how and when notes should be distributed.

Asynchronous Classes

• When course content is posted for students to review at their own pace and as often as needed throughout the semester, the note taking assistance accommodation may be irrelevant. When students are able to access the material and lectures and pause/rewind/re-watch as needed, they can take better control of their own note taking skills.

Synchronous Classes

• When a course meets at a specific day/time via live lecture and content is not recorded/posted, students may still need to request note taking assistance. This can be facilitated in a variety of ways:
  • Sharing PowerPoint slides or other lecture notes directly with the student
  • Confidentially connecting the student with supplemental class notes via a peer or TA/GA/etc. note taker
  • Allowing the student to record the live lecture for their own use, by recording via Zoom or an audio recorder (if audio quality allows)*
  • Recording the lecture and sharing with the student*
• *Typically, students will have Accommodation Letter differentiation between whether they utilize "faculty facilitated note taking assistance", "student may audio record lectures", or both. Sharing or allowing the student to record the lecture would usually fulfill "student may audio record lectures" and students with note taking assistance may ask for physical or electronic written materials. To meet the unique needs of online classes, there can be many solutions to both of these accommodations. We ask that students and faculty work together to find the best solution for both parties. RCPD specialists are available to assist.

Accommodation: Disability may require departure from class without penalty. If use of this accommodation becomes excessive or affects course integrity, please contact the student and specialist.

Students with this accommodation may need to step out of class for a brief period to manage their condition. This might also mean leaving class early if their condition is unable to be managed in or near the classroom.  

Students with this accommodation are still required to meet all course requirements, including completing exams, quizzes, and homework. 

Student Responsibilities:

• Use this accommodation in rare circumstances, only for reasons related to your disability.  
• Communicate with your instructor regarding use of this accommodation immediately after the departed class period.  
• Meet with your instructor to inquire about recovering missed material from them or a classmate and/or making up missed assignments. 

Sample Email: “Due to my disability, I needed to leave class today and will need to implement my accommodation for departing from class without penalty. Can you please let me know what course content I am missing and when we can meet to discuss a way to make up any missed work?” 

Faculty Responsibilities:

• Have an interactive discussion with the student regarding communication expectations when using this accommodation and strategies for recovering missed material. 
• The student should not be penalized for missing class and faculty should support make up of attendance, participation, quiz, etc. points. This may be facilitated via written responses from the student, a conversation during office hours, etc.
• An absence due to disability impacts should not be included as an “excused absence” under an instructor’s attendance policy. 
• If you believe departures are becoming excessive, please communicate with the student and RCPD. RCPD specialists as identified on the Accommodation Letter are available to consult on reasonable use of this accommodation.  

Accommodation: Disability may cause periodic unavoidable class absences. If absences become excessive or affect course integrity, please contact the student and specialist.

A major consideration for this accommodation is whether attendance is an essential, fundamental component of the course. Even though attendance is considered important and should be required, it may not be essential if the student could obtain the information, occasionally, from other sources such as classmates’ notes, lecture materials from the course website, and meeting with professors for summary information. 

There are instances where attendance flexibility is less reasonable or not reasonable. Lab courses without alternative sections, most language courses, and classes which are extensively based on participation are all examples where attendance is essential as the information from such classes cannot be reproduced. 

• This should be an individualized determination on a course-by-course and case-by-case basis.  

“Periodic” can ultimately depend on the course structure, attendance policy stated in the syllabus, whether in-person student participation is essential to the course, the impact that missing class will have on the experience of other students (ex: group project, discussion), and other factors related to the course and/or the student’s condition.  

• For example: If the course attendance policy allows three unexcused absences per semester and in-class participation is an essential element for meeting course objectives, two additional absences due to disability impacts may be reasonable.

If the student and/or instructor become concerned about the use of this accommodation, they should immediately communicate with the student’s assigned Ability Access Specialist. Waiting until the end of the semester to discuss attendance concerns will cause extreme difficulties with intervention and making reasonable determinations.  

• Students with this accommodation are still required to meet all course requirements, including completing exams, quizzes, and homework.  

• If a disability-related absence occurs on a scheduled exam and/or quiz day, it may be reasonable to permit a make-up assessment. This does not cover the student to reschedule/miss assessments regularly or for non-disability related reasons.   

• Absences for non-disability reasons are not excused by this accommodation. 

• Providing documentation to a professor is not required when a student is absent due to a disability flare up.  

• Like all accommodations, the accommodation periodic unavoidable absences cannot be implemented retroactively. Absence accommodation requests made late in the semester may not apply to absences that occurred earlier in the course.  

Student Responsibilities 

Use this accommodation in rare circumstances only for reasons related to your disability. Illness, personal conflicts, or other non-disability reasons are not covered by this accommodation and are held to the course policies.  

Students using this accommodation should communicate with their instructor(s) before class begins or immediately after the missed class period to inform them of the intent to use this accommodation. If you don’t promptly communicate with your instructor, the absence will not be considered an accommodation and will be graded based on the course policy.  

• It is recommended to communicate use of this accommodation via email. 
• You should also communicate your plan for making up missed work or gaining access to material missed in class.  
• You must communicate with your instructor to inquire about recovering missed material from them or a classmate. 

If your absences are becoming frequent due to disability impacts and are affecting your ability to be successful in the course, consult with your Ability Access Specialist and/or academic advisor to discuss further options.  

• Sample Email: “Due to my disability, I will be absent from class and will need to implement my accommodation for periodic and unavoidable class absences. Can you please let me know what course content I am missing and when we can meet to discuss a way to make up any missed work?” 

Faculty Responsibilities  

• Students use this accommodation in rare circumstances for reasons related to their disability.
• The student should not be penalized for missing class and faculty should support make up of attendance, participation, quiz, etc. points. This may be facilitated via written responses from the student, a conversation during office hours, etc.
• An absence due to disability impacts should not be included as an “excused absence” under an instructor’s attendance policy. 
• Have an interactive discussion with the student regarding communication expectations and recovering missed material from you or a classmate. This might include sharing lecture slides, having a conversation during office hours, etc.
• If you believe absences are becoming excessive, please communicate with the student and RCPD immediately. RCPD specialists are available to consult on reasonable use of this accommodation.  

Faculty Considerations

• Is there regular classroom interaction between the instructor and the students and among the students themselves? 
• Do student contributions in class constitute a significant component of the learning process? 
• Does the fundamental nature of the course rely upon student participation as an essential method of learning? 
• To what degree does the student’s failure to attend class constitute a significant loss of the educational experience of the other students in the class? 
• What do the course description and syllabus say regarding attendance? 
• What is the method by which the final grade is calculated? 

Accommodation: In rare circumstances, student may need extended time for assignments. Student will contact professor if needed to request an alternate deadline. If use of this accommodation becomes excessive or affects course integrity, please contact the student and specialist.

Students are granted this accommodation when their condition is unpredictable and/or chronic in nature and they may need to request an extension for reasons directly related to disability challenges. As assignments often develop over time and are referenced on the syllabus, careful consideration is important. The notion of “rare” can ultimately depend on the course structure, amount of assignments throughout the semester, and other course factors. RCPD recommends that “rare” might mean 1 or 2 extensions per class, per semester for a typical course. 

• Extended time granted may be advised by how long the assignment has been assigned for (with complete guidelines and materials available), the student’s progress on the assignment, course schedule, and student’s specific requests.  

• RCPD specialists are available to consult on reasonable use of this accommodation. 

• Sample Email: “Due to my disability, I will be unable to meet the [INSERT DUE DATE] deadline for [INSERT ASSIGNMENT NAME]. I would like to request additional time, per my Accommodations Letter. I request the opportunity to submit the assignment on [INSERT NEW REASONABLE DEADLINE].”

Student Responsibilities  

• Use this accommodation in rare circumstances only for reasons related to your disability impacts.  
• Communicate with your instructor before the assignment is due to discuss use of this accommodation.  
• Determine a specific due date and turn in your assignment according to this plan. Your instructors are not typically required to provide additional extensions if you cannot meet the new due date. 

Faculty Responsibilities  

• Have an interactive discussion with the student who is requesting the extension. 
• Use your judgement, the student’s request, and above guidelines to assist in determining an alternative due date.  
• If you believe requests for extensions are becoming excessive, please communicate with the student and RCPD immediately. RCPD specialists are available to consult on reasonable use of this accommodation.