Faculty and Staff

Accommodations/academic adjustments are reasonable modifications to programs, facilities, or curricula that ensure equal access and opportunity for students with disabilities. By definition, accommodations must be reasonable in nature and should not compromise course standards or fundamentally alter the curriculum. Examples of some kinds of accommodations you may encounter are extended time for exams, sign language interpreters, note-takers, or the use of different kinds of assistive technology.

Accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis. Students are required to submit documentation when requesting to receive services. CSD staff then reviews the documentation and meets individually with each student to determine the accommodations that best suit their needs.

If a student wants to self-identify as having a disability and requiring accommodations, CSD staff will notify you via e-mail with a letter detailing the accommodations that the student receives. The student is also given a copy of this letter. Please note that the letter only discloses the student’s accommodations; we do not disclose the student’s disability.

Sometimes, students will disclose their disability status to their professor before making contact with the CSD office. If a student discloses to you, it is best that you recommend that they make an appointment with us so that we can determine the accommodations that best suit their needs.

We encourage all professors who have questions about student accommodations to bring those questions to CSD staff. Some accommodations may require a collaborative effort between CSD staff and faculty, and an open dialogue may be necessary to ensure that students get the services that they need.

Information about a student’s disability status is considered confidential information under the Family Education Rights Protection Act (FERPA), and any public disclosure of a student’s disability status or accommodations is considered a violation of the law. If you need to talk to a student who has disclosed their disability status to you about their accommodations, it is best to do so in a private setting away from the rest of the class.

One of the best ways to make your students aware of accommodations that they may need is to include a statement in your syllabus. Below is a sample statement that York College faculty can use:

“York College is committed to providing access to programs and services for qualified students with disabilities. If you are a student with a disability and require accommodations to participate and complete requirements for this class, contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (Academic Core Building (AC), Room 1G02, 718-262-2191) for verification of eligibility and determination of specific accommodations.”

All York College students are held to the same code of conduct. While a student may require accommodations in the classroom, those accommodations do not extend to behaving in a way that is disruptive to the way that you teach or how other students learn.

Incorporating some concepts of Universal Design in Learning (UDL) is a good idea. For example, you could make course materials available in multiple formats (electronic as well as physical) for students who may not be able to read paper handouts. Use video material with captions, which benefits the hard of hearing as well as other groups outside of the disabled population. If you have a policy forbidding the recording of your lectures, consider why that policy is in place and how it may feel exclusionary for a student who uses a recorder as an accommodation.

No, it does not. Under copyright law, students with disabilities are allowed to make one copy of copyrighted material (such as a lecture) for personal use. Furthermore, in instances where a student is allowed to record lectures, the CSD office can provide them with digital recorders. Students with this accommodation also sign a contract each semester that details what students are and are not allowed to record and what they are allowed to do with their recordings. This contract can be shared with faculty upon request.

All CSD students have to submit a completed Testing Accommodations Form to the office if they want to test with accommodations. This form has a section that faculty should fill out with information necessary for administering the exam. It is the student’s responsibility to pick up the form and bring it to you, and it is the student’s responsibility to bring the form down to the office. Faculty are not required to pick up, fill out, or submit the testing forms on the student’s behalf.

Please note: CSD proctors exams during the hours when the office is open. Evening and weekend students should discuss with you an alternate time to take the exam, and you should indicate that alternate time on the Testing Accommodations Form.

On the date of the exam, the student will come to the CSD office in room 1G02 rather than the classroom. Faculty can ask that CSD pick up the exam from the classroom, or they can deliver the exam to the CSD office either in person or via e-mail at access2test@york.cuny.edu. Faculty will also be asked to verify what materials the class is allowed to use for the exam; how long the class gets to complete the exam; and whether the student should return to class upon completing the exam. Once the test is completed, it can be returned to you via e-mail or to your departmental mailbox, or the CSD office can hold it for you to pick up in person.

All students who take an exam in the CSD office are required to put their personal belongings in lockers. No electronic devices or material not specifically permitted for use on the exam (either by the professor or as part of a student’s accommodations) is allowed in the testing room. If a student requires use of a computer for an exam, they are given a login by the CSD office rather than their own personal login so that they cannot access materials stored on their York College network drive.