Supportive Learning
ACCESS wants to build collaborative relationships with all faculty to provide support in the institutional goal of providing equal access for all SIUE students. We encourage faculty and staff to reach out to the ACCESS office to:
- Talk about an individual student's accommodations
- Help refer a student you suspect has a disability/diagnosis
- Troubleshoot any difficulty you are having with implementing accommodations
- Support and document your efforts in providing access
- Discuss the boundaries between characteristics or a diagnosis and student conduct
- Visit your department meeting to answer accommodations questions unique to your discipline
- Offer teaching strategies, tools or equipment that increase the accessibility in your curriculum
- Teach you how and provide resources to improve accessibility of classroom materials
Part of our job is to assist you in finding ways to remove unintentional barriers and identify accommodations that ensure diverse learners are able to fully access the courses and programming available at SIUE.
Accommodate for Faculty
Accommodate is the online system that ACCESS uses to coordinate with faculty and students to ensure the provision of accommodations, such as approving exams or receiving accommodation notices.
Tools and Guidance for Equitable Student Support
Essential Course Requirements
Essential course requirements are the core learning outcomes (skills, knowledge, and attitudes) that all students must demonstrate to pass a course or program either with or without accommodations. The requirements should focus on essential, non-negotiable mastery of concepts rather than the specific, flexible methods used to achieve them. A clear understanding of a course or program's essential requirements will assist ACCESS and affiliated students in determining whether a requested accommodation would constitute fundamentally alteration.
Recorded Lecture Policy and Agreement
Recording lectures is one of the academic accommodations specifically identified in Section 504, Subpart E, Postsecondary Education, of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as a means of ensuring full participation in educational programs or activities for students with disabilities. Refusal to allow this accommodation to qualified students violates federal law.
Course Substitution Policy & Procedure
The Course Substitution Policy and Procedure allows students to replace a required course with an alternative course that has similar content or learning outcomes, often due to barriers that exist due to a documented disability. This process requires a formal petition, and department approval as well as appropriate documentation to maintain degree integrity.
Guidance on Trigger Warnings
Content warnings are verbal or written notices that precede potentially sensitive content. These notices are intended to flag the contents of material that follows, so readers, listeners, or viewers can prepare themselves to adequately engage or remove themselves from the environment for the benefit of their own wellbeing.
Guidance on Memory Aids
A memory aid is an approved support measure for students with clinically assessed memory impairment which impacts memory recall during exams or quizzes. For faculty, students, and academic departments, a memory aid accommodation ensures that students can fully participate in academic assessments without compromising academic integrity.
Accommodations for English Language Learners
ADA accommodations for English Language Learners (ELL) with disabilities focus on removing barriers to access without lowering academic expectations. Key supports may include extended time, access to bilingual dictionaries, visual aids, simplified instructions and/or modified, flexible assessment formats to ensure students can demonstrate knowledge despite linguistic or physical challenges.
Evacuations and Students with Disabilities
Evacuating students and community members with disabilities requires tailored, pre-planned procedures emphasizing supports, and designated areas of refuge. Key actions include avoiding elevators, and using clear and appropriate communication specific to the needs of the individual.
