Faculty FAQ

• What is a Disability?
  • According to the Americans with Disabilities act (ADA), a disability is a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.

• What does Interactive Process mean?
  • The goal of the DAC is: access within higher education, and we are here to support both students and assisting faculty in providing access. Accommodations are case-by-case for each student and class. Please reach out if you have any questions. Faculty must always make a good faith effort  to explore each accommodation request, and go through the interactive process with the DAC to determine the feasibility of each accommodation.

• What is the Faculty Interactive Accommodation Protocol?
  • A student discloses a disability and requests accommodations through the Disability & Access Center (DAC). The DAC evaluates the request and provides documentation to the student, who then informs faculty. Faculty review the request, discuss its implementation with the student, and address any concerns with the DAC. If unresolved, the issue escalates to the Vice Provost and potentially results in a denial form. The student can appeal the process through the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance and ultimately to the Office of the President if necessary.

• What is the Accommodation Letter process?
  • Once letters have been sent, students are encouraged to approach teachers either in person, via e-mail, or by phone to discuss accommodation implementation. However, if students do not initiate the accommodation implementation conversation, Instructors are then responsible for initiating an implementation plan with the student or the DAC.

• What does Modified Attendance mean?
  • DAC Students with a modified attendance accommodation still must attend class like any other student. However, students with this accommodation have disclosed a disability that is unpredictable in nature and severely impactful enough that if the diagnosis(es) manifests, it could lead them to missing class sporadically. This accommodation is only to be used in disability related emergencies, and if the student has to miss a few classes more than their peers, please be flexible.

• How does Deadline Extensions for Homework due dates work?
  • Students with this accommodation have disclosed a disability that is unpredictable in nature and severely impactful in relation to time, if the diagnosis manifests, it could lead them to needing additional time for an assignment. Common examples of the need for a deadline extension accommodation could be a disability that causes one to work at a much slower pace or a disability that can suddenly cause a student to lose hours or days of time.

• Do I have to allow Audio Recording accommodations?
  • Students who have audio recording accommodation may need to record lectures with phone, laptop, tablet, or a  livescribe smart pen for note taking assistance. Audio recording is a notetaking accommodation and legally is viewed as equivalent to handwriting or  typing notes. In times where students are allowed to write or type notes, a student with an audio recording accommodation should be allowed to record for note taking purposes.

What is a Disability?

According to the Americans with Disabilities act (ADA), a disability is a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. Please keep in mind many disabilities are “invisible”. Whether or not a Disability is visible or invisible, each impairment that would qualify one to register with the DAC is impactful.

What does Interactive Process mean?

Disability related accommodations at Middle Tennessee State University are based off the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) guidance, which follows the Americans with disability act and case rulings from investigations by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). The DAC is made up of disability experts here to communicate student accommodations to faculty, and to advise faculty when it comes to implementing accommodations. The goal of the DAC is: access within higher education, and we are here to support both students and assist faculty in providing access. Accommodations are case-by-case for each student and class. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Faculty must always make a good faith effort  to explore each accommodation request, and go through the interactive process with the DAC to determine the feasibility of each accommodation. Faculty and students can reach out to the DAC at any point with questions. The DAC staff are disability experts and the only person(s) at MTSU qualified to determine disability accommodations. Faculty are content experts and instructors play a critical role by interacting with the DAC to determine if an accommodation is reasonable or unreasonable based on learning objectives and course format. They, in some unique circumstances, may not be able to grant an accommodation,  if the said accommodation could potentially fundamentally alter the course objectives. Faculty should communicate with the DAC to determine if a fundamental alteration is present and explore all alternative accommodation options. If you are interested in learning more about important and relevant OCR rulings, please reach out.

What is the Faculty Interactive Accommodation Protocol?

1. The student voluntarily discloses a disability through the Disability & Access Center’s(DAC) disclosure process and makes an accommodation request
2. The DAC determines whether the request is reasonable based on the disclosed medical need and makes an official document of the request available to the student who chooses which faculty receive the notification
3. The faculty member reviews the notification and should prepare to engage with the DAC to explore feasible alternatives if necessary. Ideally, the faculty member should acknowledge receipt of the notification.  The faculty member determines whether the request is reasonable based on the fundamental principles of the course
4. If there are no concerns, the faculty member should take the initiative and speak with student privately to discuss implementation or respond to the student’s request to speak about the document should the student take the initiative
5. If there is any concern with a request, the faculty member should express the concern to the DAC as soon as possible
6. The DAC will work with the faculty member to address the concern and explore reasonable alternatives
7. If a satisfactory resolution of the concern cannot be achieved, the DAC will include the Vice Provost for Faculty and Strategic Initiatives in the conversation
8. If a resolution is not achieved, the DAC will send a denial form to the faculty member
9. The faculty member must complete the form and submit it to the DAC
   • Faculty refusal to complete the form will not inhibit the process
10. The DAC will notify the student of the result of the process
11. If the student concludes that the process was not properly conducted or the decision was not reasonable, the student has the option to contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance(IEC) and work within IEC’s processes to determine the best form of intervention.
12. If the student has a concern with IEC’s methods of findings, the student may appeal to the Office of the President.   

What is the Accommodation Letter process?

Each semester, students who are registered with the DAC and self-request accommodations will submit accommodation letters via our system, AIM. From there, the DAC student’s accommodation requests will be emailed to the professors of the classes the student chooses to utilize said accommodation(s). Once letters have been sent, students are encouraged to approach teachers either in person, via e-mail, or by phone to discuss accommodation implementation. However, if students do not initiate the accommodation implementation conversation, Instructors are then responsible for initiating an implementation plan with the student or the DAC. If faculty have any questions or concerns about accommodation letters, please consult the DAC.

What does Modified Attendance mean?

In some cases, students that have registered with the DAC and have provided substantial medical and/or psychological documentation may require attendance accommodation. At MTSU this is referred to as modified attendance accommodation. DAC Students with a modified attendance accommodation still must attend class like any other student. However, students with this accommodation have disclosed a disability that is unpredictable in nature and severely impactful enough that if the diagnosis(es) manifests, it could lead them to missing class sporadically. This accommodation is only to be used in disability related emergencies, and if the student has to miss a few classes more than their peers, please be flexible. Though faculty should not penalize students with modified attendance accommodation for missing a reasonable amount of class meetings, the student could make up missed classroom work, if allowed. Faculty are encouraged to be flexible and understanding at the times when this accommodation is crucial, but students are responsible for communicating and / or making up any assignments that were missed during the class meeting.

This accommodation does not cover weeks of absences or missing an unreasonable amount of class and/or meetings. Students that miss weeks of class meetings should always consult their professor and / or the MTOnestop about dropping the course. In some cases, students may qualify for an extenuating circumstances withdrawal if they have the needed documentation. This is all handled by the MTOnestop . There is not a set number of absences tied to this modified attendance accommodation. In higher education, each class may be formatted differently. The nature of the coursework and the reasonable number of absences vary. Faculty are encouraged to be flexible (as needed) when determining a reasonable number of absences and what work can be made up another day or remotely. For example, for some science labs, the nature of the coursework may not allow the instructor to be as flexible. However, the accommodation could be met by allowing them to attend another lab that week to complete the assignment. Whereas for example, the lecture-based science class section can allow the teacher more flexibility when accommodating a Disability related absence since the nature of the coursework is not hands on handling chemicals in a laboratory. Faculty should always reach out to the DAC if they have any questions or concerns about modified attendance accommodation, and/or if they feel a student has exceeded a reasonable amount of absences.

How does Deadline Extensions for Homework due dates work?

In some cases, students that have registered with the DAC and have provided substantial medical and/or psychological documentation may require an occasional deadline extension accommodation for assignments (not to be used with /combined with an exam/quiz accommodation). Students with this accommodation have disclosed a disability that is unpredictable in nature and severely impactful in relation to time, if the diagnosis manifests, it could lead them to needing additional time for an assignment. Common examples of the need for a deadline extension accommodation could be a disability that causes one to work at a much slower pace or a disability that can suddenly cause a student to lose hours or days of time. An example, such as not being able to leave the bed due to physical or psychological reasons, or not being able to rely on cognitive functioning  for large gaps of time, are reasons we often see within the DAC student population. Students should never intend or aim to turn in homework past the original due date. Furthermore, extension should only be used as needed due to disability related flare ups or emergencies (e.g, Chron’s Disease).

Receiving an accommodation letter with a deadline extension accommodation is simply the DAC notifying instructors that in specific situations the student may need a one- or two-day window to complete an assignment. Students should not use this accommodation for every single assignment to avoid falling behind. Students are encouraged by DAC staff to keep up with the class. However, it is in place on an as needed basis and the student with the disability is aware of when it is needed. If the student submits a homework assignment within the deadline extension window, please do not deduct points for late work unless this submission exceeds the deadline extension window. If faculty feel a student is not keeping up and/or falling behind on many assignments, please consult the DAC. When it comes to deadline extension accommodations, instructors may determine extending a due date is a fundamental alteration. Advanced notice, such as announcing a homework assignment in August that is not due until November,  is not a fundamental alteration. The disability severely impacting time is still present if it manifests and as long as it is not a fundamental alteration the extension should be granted.

In some cases, assignments that are interactive and must be completed with peers such as group work or a discussion, are those times when the deadline extension cannot be utilized. If a student can’t complete the assignment individually and completing it with a classmate is an essential part of the assignment, the instructor could deem that fundamentally alters the assignment and deny the extension for that assignment. It is important to note faculty cannot, for example, plan their course around accommodations by extending a due date or increasing testing time limits across the board. Time Accommodations are based on dates or times assigned to the entire class. For example, if a student had a two-day deadline extension accommodation and the faculty decided to move the original due date back two days for everyone, the student with a disability could still be allowed two more extra days if the disability manifested causing a need for it. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Do I have to allow Audio Recording accommodations?

Students who have audio recording accommodation may need to record lectures with phone, laptop, tablet, or a Livescribe smart pen for note taking assistance. Audio recording is a notetaking accommodation and legally is viewed as equivalent to handwriting or  typing notes. In times where students are allowed to write or type notes, a student with an audio recording accommodation should be allowed to record for note taking purposes. There may be some instances where allowing audio recording isn’t possible such as: if the instructor says students are not allowed to write notes. Then, the instructor can tell the student not to audio record. Some courses could potentially involve “sensitive” information, wherein the instructor could request students to not record. Examples of sensitive information could be the following: A portion of a clinical course where a patient’s confidential medical case is being discussed as a teaching method, or a legal course discussing details of a confidential law case. It would fall along the same times that the entire class is being told not to jot down abouts about this confidential topic.

Some students have to fully rely on audio recording as their notetaking method due to a disability. One example is a student who has a  vision impairment. One’s Personal, political, or taboo sociological beliefs does not constitute confidential sensitive information like the medical or legal examples above. If you have any questions or concerns on audio recording, please reach out to the DAC , the ADA director, or MTSU’s legal team. It is important to note audio recording is a note taking accommodation. Where students can record for studying purposes, they are not allowed to share the recordings with others.  DAC students with this audio recording accommodation must sign a contract every semester stating they understand they are not allowed to share the recording.  Furthermore, students are also told during the initial intake process that recordings are not to be shared. Additionally, on top of this MTSU policy in the state of Tennessee it can be illegal and punishable to share or circulate an audio recording with malicious intent such as sharing/ posting to social media in hopes of causing harm.