CASAA current students

REQUESTING ACCOMMODATIONS FOR RETURNING STUDENTS

Students who have already been approved for accommodations through CASAA will need to request their accommodations each year. Until you have requested them, you will not have your accommodations. Students can reach out to the Coordinator of Accessibility Services for assistance. CASAA will not notify your professors of your accommodations.  It is the students’ responsibility to inform their professors that they have and wish to use their approved accommodations.

EXAM SCHEDULING

BEFORE YOU CAN TEST

In order to receive accommodations from CASAA, please connect with the Coordinator of Accessibility Services at the start of every term to discuss your accommodations.

HOW TO SCHEDULE AN EXAM

Please refer to the following instructions to schedule an exam with our office:

1. All requests need to be submitted at least 48 hours before your scheduled exam
2. Email your professor that you wish to utilize your accommodations for your exam
3. Come to the CASAA Office to fill out the following information in the Exam Request Binder:
   1. Date and time of your exam
   2. Professors’ name and course number with section
   3. Accommodation(s) you wish to use
   4. Indicate if it’s a paper or online exam
4. You can also email the Coordinator of Accessibility Services the information

PROCTORS

All proctors will be provided by CASAA. Students cannot provide their own proctors or be proctored by their tutor, a family member/guardian, or their personal care assistant.

RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

AIC and CASAA are committed to facilitating equal access to education for all.

While in high school, the student’s home school district was legally responsible for initiating, developing and providing all academic supports required for the student’s full access to and involvement in the educational process. At the Post-secondary level, this responsibility changes. CASAA does not have the same legal obligation. CASAA does not seek students out to determine if there are services they need; rather, it is the student’s responsibility to initiate contact with CASAA. CASAA does not track or seek out those students who have disclosed to us but have chosen not to access services.

In order for the accommodation process to go smoothly, it is important that all participants understand their rights, roles and responsibilities.

Every qualified AIC student with a documented disability has the right to:

• Equal access to courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities offered through the institution.
• An equal opportunity to work and to learn.
• Receive reasonable accommodations, appropriate academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services.
• Appropriate privacy of all information regarding their disability, except as disclosures are required or permitted by law.
• Receive information in accessible formats.

Students are responsible for:

• Providing CASAA with documentation of their disability.
• Keeping CASAA informed and providing updated documentation if their disability or symptoms change.
• Requesting accommodations each year as far ahead of time as possible. Some accommodations cannot be effectively arranged if they are requested on short notice.
• Following specific CASAA procedures for obtaining and arranging reasonable accommodations and/or services (e.g. scheduling exams).
• Communicating accommodations with faculty and staff members as needed.
• Notifying CASAA right away if there are any concerns or difficulties with receiving accommodations.

The CASAA Office is responsible for:

• Clarifying what documentation is needed to determine eligibility for accommodations and services, informing them when additional documentation is needed in order to receive requested accommodations, and discussing with students how their disability impacts them at the College.
• Maintaining student files in a private manner.
• Notifying faculty or staff members regarding reasonable accommodations. Notifications will detail who is responsible for specific parts of providing accommodations and what to do if there are any concerns.
• Partnering with students to identify reasonable accommodations and/or academic adjustments.

PRIVACY

The Center for Accessibility Services and Academic Accommodations (CASAA) recognizes the sensitive nature of the information it receives about students; therefore, CASAA views all material pertaining to a student’s disability as private. This policy is based on government mandates regarding the treatment of disability-related information.

• Any written material obtained by CASAA is used to verify the disability and plan for appropriate services and accommodations.
• Disability-related information we receive is housed in the CASAA offices. Each student has a separate file which is stored in a secure filing cabinet. Only staff persons working in CASAA have access to these files.
• Files located in the CASAA offices are maintained for a period of seven years after a student is no longer registered for classes or upon graduation from the College. After a period of seven years, the file is destroyed.
• The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), limits faculty access to student files and disability-related information.

Some level of disclosure to faculty is necessary for a student to receive accommodations through CLASS.

The Coordinator of Accessibility Services can discuss more fully with you how we share information with others such as professors, other campus services, your parents and family members, your doctors, and other clinicians.

• Information may also be shared with other professionals of the College on a need-to-know basis when there is a legitimate educational interest. What may be shared is the impact of the disability on a student’s functioning within the institutional community.
• For people outside the AIC community, including parents, we will need your written permission to communicate with them. FERPA laws apply on the restriction of disclosure of information related to the student’s college record.
• Any Institutional data collected from CASAA will be reported in a manner that protects the anonymity/privacy of the individual.
• A student may request to review the contents of his/her own file when the Coordinator of Accessibility Services is present. All information in the file is the property of CASAA.
• CASAA cannot forward documentation that originated with another institution or professional. Other disability related information may be released to an outside source only after the student has given permission.
• CASAA will comply with AIC’s policy on Mandatory Reporting with regard to “harm to self or others.”