The American with Disabilities Act: What Faculty Members Need to Know

How Do TTU Students Establish ADA Eligibility?

In order to be eligible for any disability benefits and services, a student must: register with Student Disability Services and

file appropriate documentation if available

Complete an intake meeting to determine accommodation need and eligibility.

What Are Other Important Things to Know About Eligibility?

No further proof of disability should be required of the student.

Students presenting other kinds of verification should be referred to Student Disability Services for the appropriate certification.

No requirement exists that accommodation be made prior to completion of the approved university process.

What Are TTU Procedures for Establishing Reasonable Accommodation?

The university-approved mechanism for establishing reasonable accommodation is written notification in the form of a Letter of Accommodation (LOA) from Student Disability Services. This will be sent to the faculty’s TTU email address!

The email heading will include the students name, the course name, and the course number, and section number.

What Is a Letter of Accommodation?

A Letter of Accommodation (LOA) is a legally binding document between the instructor and the student. The LOA will contain the list of accommodations that needs to be provided for the student in the classroom. Always contact the SDS office should you

have ANY question about how an accommodation should be provided.

Important Things to Know about Accommodation

Ideally, LOAs should be presented to instructors at the beginning of the semester; however, federal regulations mandate that LOAs may be submitted at any point during a semester.

If a LOA is presented after a semester begins, the accommodation applies only from the date presented to and reviewed by the instructor and the student until the completion of the semester.

LOAs are NOT retroactive.

The Most Important Thing to Remember

Do not provide a requested accommodation that is NOT on the LOA unless you would be willing to provide that same assistance

for any student in your classroom.

If there is an accommodation on the LOA that the student indicates they do not want, ask them

to send you a new one WITHOUT the accommodation

What’s My Timeframe?

One week is considered a reasonable amount of time to allow the faculty member to

implement the accommodation.

Understanding Accommodations:What are some typical accommodations students might need?

What Are Common Accommodations?

Extended time on tests, quizzes, and exams (Also applies to online courses)

Distraction reduced testing environment Note-Taking Services Sign language interpreters Preferential seating Priority registration (Provided by SDS) Use of assistive technology (Provided by SDS) Materials provided in an accessible format

Testing Accommodations

Faculty have the option for administering exams using testing accommodations of extra time and a reduced distraction testing environment in their classrooms.

If they do not have the space or staff to administer these in their classroom, they can have the student test in the Academic Testing Center in West Hall.

Important Things to Know about Attendance

No accommodation exists that allows for a student to miss class simply because of a disability.

Should there be medical or emergency causing a student to miss class for more than one week, the student will need to contact the instructor as well as the Associate Academic Dean to determine if they are able to make up work or take an incomplete.

Service Animals

Federal guidelines allow for service animals in the academic classrooms. A service animal is defined as a dog that is trained to

perform a task for a student with a disability that they cannot otherwise perform themselves.

Service animals may be used for disabilities other than visual impairments.

What Can I Ask About a Student’s Service Animal?

It may not always be obvious what the service animal is for. Faculty members may only ask two questions to the student prior to the student bringing a service animal into the classroom:

1. Is the animal required because of a disability?

2. What service or task does the animal provide for you?

Important Things to Know About Service Animals

Students with service animals do NOT have to register with the Student Disability Services office in order to bring the animal into an academic building.

Students are NOT required to submit documentation of a disability or to provide documentation of the service animals training.

Service animals are considered an extension of the student themselves and thus must follow the same code of conduct.

The service animal may not be disruptive in the classroom, such as barking or walking around and must be under control at all times. Faculty may ask the student to remove the disruptive animal from the classroom.

Important Note:

If you need to ask a student to remove their service animal, the student must then be allowed to return to the classroom once the animal has been removed should they wish to do so.

Accommodations Regarding Food Allergies

Food allergies are now a protected class under ADA.

Faculty may be asked to make an announcement that food cannot be brought into the classroom due to this. In this situation, the faculty member will be provided with

a script to read to the class if this is necessary.

Syllabus Requirements & Mandatory StatementsWhat needs to go on my syllabus?

Mandatory Syllabus Statement:

Any student who, because of a disability, may require special arrangements in order to meet the course requirements

should contact the instructor as soon as possible to make any necessary arrangements. Students should present appropriate

verification from Student Disability Services during the instructor’s office hours. Please note instructors are not

allowed to provide classroom accommodations to a student until appropriate verification from Student Disability

Services has been provided. For additional information, you may contact the Student Disability Services office in 335

West Hall or 806-742-2405.

Syllabus Requirements for ADA Compliance

All test dates and assignment due dates need to be in the syllabus.

Assignments without due dates can be subject to requests for extensions.

The university approved mandatory syllabus statement is required in all course syllabi.

Accessible Course ContentAre my course materials accessible?

How Do I Know If My Course Materials Are Compliant?

Faculty need to ensure all course materials are in accessible formats: Any video used in class must be closed captioned All electronic files, handouts, and notes must be in an

accessible format such as MS Word or PDFs to allow for screen reader compatibility. Note: documents scanned as a picture (i.e. using a copier instead of a scanner) are not compatible.

Supplemental content used from the internet must also be accessible to screen readers and all video content must be captioned

Resource for Material Accessibility

The Office of eLearning and Academic Partnerships can assist faculty with converting materials into accessible formats.

The Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center can also be a good resource for materials.

Questions & Concerns

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