Frequently Asked Questions 

• Civil rights laws require reasonable accommodations of non-essential elements of academic programs in order to ensure access. The accommodations only change in the learning environment that permit students with disabilities to have equal educational opportunities.
• Students with disabilities must meet or exceed academic standards with or without reasonable accommodations. Under no circumstances should any accommodation result in a fundamental alteration to the course.

• We encourage students to notify faculty early in the semester and request accommodations for the course. However, be aware that this is not always the case; some students may choose not to use their approved accommodations or may not request accommodations timely. Accommodations are not retroactive; faculty are not required to apply them to past coursework.

• For clarification, please promptly contact the Disabilities Support Services (DSS) office at 406-683-7388.

• Faculty establish course attendance, participation expectations, and assignment policies. DSS approves the flexibility accommodations when a student’s disability severely affects their course attendance or assignments on occasion. This accommodation is designed to build in a slight amount of flexibility, not intended to allow students to miss an unlimited number of courses or assignments.
• DSS has established the general parameters that apply in most cases for flexibility accommodations.
• For general parameters, procedures, responsibilities, and expectations, please visit Flexibility with attendance & deadlines.

• Students approved for note taking accommodations are encouraged to connect with a classmate who is willing to share their notes.
• If they are unable to find a volunteer, they may reach out to you for assistance. You can help by either connecting them with an assigned student note taker in your course or by making a general announcement to the class to seek a volunteer.
• A suggested announcement can be:
• “A student in this class is looking for a note taker. The note taker will receive a certificate of volunteer service from DSS. If you are interested, please see me after class for more details.“
• Then, please connect a volunteer note taker with the students who asked for assistance.

• Elevator breakdowns constitute temporary access barriers for students with mobility limitations. Students may miss critical course information, be unable to take scheduled exams or pop quizzes, or be unable to give required presentations. This is a no-fault situation in many respects, but the University still assumes the responsibility of equal access. In such circumstances, the student should contact the faculty member as soon as possible and request assistance in obtaining course notes or rescheduling an exam or presentation. The student’s attendance record should not be adversely affected.

• If this is an immediate emergency, call 911.
• If this is not an immediate emergency, call the Facilities Services Work Order at (406) 683-7142 to report the problem. After hours and on weekends, call the UM Police Department at [UPDATE PHONE].

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a service animal is defined as a dog that has been individually trained to perform specific tasks or work for a person with a disability. Only service animals are permitted in public areas on campus, including classrooms. In general, service animals may accompany their handlers anywhere on campus where the handler is allowed, though exceptions may apply in certain health- or safety-sensitive environments.

Assistance animals—commonly referred to as emotional support animals (ESAs)—are not considered service animals under the ADA. These animals are only permitted in University housing and are not allowed in classrooms or other public spaces.

If you are unsure whether an animal qualifies as a service animal, you may ask the handler two legally permitted questions:

• Is the dog required because of a disability?
• What work or task has the dog been trained to perform?

• No. The accommodation letter does not include information about the student’s use of a service animal. The handlers of a service animal are not required for approval, request, documentation, or proof of training. It is also prohibited to ask that the dog demonstrate its ability to perform the work or task.

• Allergies and fear of dogs are not valid reasons for denying access and refusing individuals using service animals. A possible solution may include asking the dog handler to use different locations within the classroom or take a different section of the course

• The handler must keep their service animal under control at all times. You can ask the handler to remove the service animal from your classroom if: 1) the service animal is out of control, 2) the handler does not take effective action to control the animal, or 3) the presence of the dog poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others.
• Please refer the student handler to DSS for further guidance. Contact our office directly if you require support.

• If a student discloses a disability or suspected disability and may need accommodations but is not yet connected with DSS, please refer them to our office.
• If a student connected with DSS shares concerns and has been registered with our office, please encourage them to contact us directly.
• Note: Please use email to contact DSS.

• How do I phrase my email when referring a student to ODE?

• To support clear communication and documentation, follow up with both the student and DSS via email. This reinforces your support and provides a record of the referral.
• Here are email samples:

Subject: Follow up on accommodation support

Dear Student,

It was good to see you today. I appreciated the opportunity to learn about your interest in disability-related accommodations.

As a follow-up, I wanted to share information about the Disability Support Services Office (DSS), which is the appropriate resource for exploring and requesting academic accommodations. You can find more information and request process on their website at https://www.umwestern.edu/disability-support-services/.

I’ve also copied DSS on this email to help you get connected with them. They are a great resource and can assist you in determining what accommodations may be available.

Best,
Faculty, Advisor, or Staff Name

• Civil rights laws for people with disabilities are founded on the assumption: the same treatment does not always fairly measure. The laws protect students with disabilities from being subjected to the arbitrary measure of what is best for others, except in cases of the safety of others. The law assumes that modifying non-essential tasks should give students with disabilities an equal or fair chance to demonstrate their ability by minimizing their functional limitations to the greatest extent possible.
• Examples:
• With writing or typing limitations, the student may be an excellent writer even though they cannot print or type the letters and words. Thus, the physical act of writing is a non-essential task. The student’s mastery of language and course material must not, under the law, be judged by their ability to manipulate a pencil or to use a keyboard. Providing a scribe to record the student’s essay responses permits the student to show whether they can write effectively.
• No unfair advantage over non-disabled peers is gained by using a scribe. In using this auxiliary aid, the student must clearly communicate the words and structure of their answer to the scribe, including punctuation and spelling. Even with extended time on an essay exam to compensate for the additional time of dictating to the scribe, the student can only hope for equal access.

• It is impossible to accommodate disruptive behavior on the part of a student with a disability. Students with disabilities must adhere to the Student Conduct Code like any other student. If disruptive behavior occurs, faculty should give the student a fair warning and report an incident. Contact the Dean of Students’ Office or the CARES Team for reports, questions, concerns, or guidance.

• Our Planning accessible events page provides essential guidance. Prepare your presentations with techniques such as using a microphone, accessible documents, and captioned videos.

• Contact Nicole Hazelbaker at [email protected] . For more information, go to Interpreting/captioning services for campus events.

• We are a resource for UMW faculty, staff, departments, and schools. We offer consultations on implementing accommodations and effectively engaging with students with disabilities. DSS is available for one-on-one meetings, classroom visits, departmental presentations, or larger group sessions.
• To request a consultation, please contact us at [email protected] or 406-683-7388.

• DSS does not provide testing accommodations for non-disability-related reasons. It is faculty’s discretion to grant extended test time or other test accommodations to English language learners. Additionally, faculty are responsible for the administration of any exams they wish to extend or accommodate for English language learners.