Accommodations Information for Faculty
For information about accommodated exams go to ‘Exam accommodations in the online learning environment’
Information about the role of the Disability Resource Centre at UBCO
The Disability Resource Centre is the department within the Associate Vice President, Students’ portfolio that works to ensure that the university meets its legal and ethical obligations to accommodate disabled students and students who have chronic medical conditions.
UBC Policy LR7 mandates the work of the DRC, outlines the responsibilities of faculty in the delivery of academic accommodations, and students’ responsibilities as they request and access those accommodations at UBC. We recommend that faculty members be familiar with this policy. The university is required to provide academic accommodations to disabled students in accordance with the BC Human Rights Code.
Seven to eight percent of the student population, up to 800 students, are affiliated with the DRC at any given time. This population crosses all faculties, undergraduate and graduate programs alike. It is the DRC’s responsibility to determine students’ eligibility for academic accommodations. There are three professional Accessibility Advisors who determine these accommodations and support the student throughout their academic career with UBCO.
The DRC administers 3,000+ quizzes/tests/exams each term. To accomplish this job, the DRC has an experienced Exam Coordination team to schedule quiz/tests/exams and to support instructors as they manage the students’ test/exam accommodations. This team has developed an online invigilation system and can provide information and support to faculty to ensure accommodations are set up properly in the online environment.
Faculty Accommodation Portal
The DRC uses an online system, the Accommodation Portal, for students and faculty to manage academic accommodations. Students send faculty their accommodation letters through this portal and request their exam accommodations here as well. Faculty receive email notifications about the activity happening in their portal. They can log into the Accommodation Portal to review and acknowledge their students’ accommodation letters for each course. They can also see which students have requested their exam accommodations and for which exams. They can provide their exam information directly to the DRC by completing the form in the Accommodation Portal. Faculty must provide the DRC with their Exam information two business days prior to the date of the scheduled quiz/test/exam.
The link to the accommodation portal is found on the DRC website main page. Faculty use their CWL ID and password to login to the portal.
Types of Academic Accommodations
Students may have exam, instruction/classroom, or procedural accommodations. Below is a list and brief description of the accommodations that faculty will see in the accommodation letters they receive from students. This is not an exhaustive list but will show the most common and/or the more complicated accommodations. The description will include the students’ responsibility as well as the faculty members’ responsibility when this accommodation is in place.
