Faculty Best Practices

The following paragraphs provide accommodation-related best practices for faculty.

Use Inclusive Language

• Ensure language on the program website for prospective and current students is welcoming and inclusive.
• Use the ASC’s Accessibility Syllabus Statement.
• Show your students the ASC New Student Orientation video at the beginning of the semester or have the link available for students in your syllabus.
• Revise technical standards from an organic focus towards a functional focus. Focus on the “what,” not “how” the skill is being demonstrated.
• Do not refer to accommodations as “special accommodations” or that utilizing them leads to an “unfair advantage.”

Promptly Respond to Requests

• Students are responsible for contacting their faculty each semester they plan to utilize their accommodations to discuss implementation.
• When meeting with students, it is essential to discuss and determine the preferred method of communication.
• Establish plans to correspond with other program staff, such as the need to schedule exams, etc.

Respect Confidentiality and Privacy

• Registered students are not required to disclose a diagnosis, and you are not to diagnose. This includes any medical details.
• Accommodation plans are shared with faculty and program staff on a strict need-to-know basis, with the student’s approval. As such, faculty and staff should resist discussion with colleagues about any particular student and their disability. Students may not choose to utilize accommodations in all courses, so some faculty lack the “need to know” about the student having a disability.
• Never ask students registered with the ASC to identify themselves in any way in front of their peers as a person with an accommodation plan. Always connect with them about their accommodations through a private conversation.
  • If you need to contact all students with accommodations in your course, be sure to BCC them in an email.

Discriminatory Language and Treatment – What NOT To Do

• Disparate treatment based upon knowledge/existence of a disability.
• Denial of opportunities in response to the need for particular accommodation.
• Requesting additional work or further processes not required of all students.
• Requesting documentation related to the student’s disability from the student.

Use Universal Design Classroom Strategies

• Ensure PDFs, PowerPoint slides, guided notes, images, and content are accessible via Canvas before class.
• Ensure PowerPoints/Slides have a solid background. PowerPoint has accessibility features!
• Read essential information on slides aloud.
• If questions are being asked, repeat the question from the audience.
• Avoid talking when your back is facing away from an individual or audience.
• Encourage regularly scheduled breaks in the schedule.
• Record lecture to allow students to review.