Faculty Guide

Office for Students
with Disabilities

at

Florida Atlantic University

OSD MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Office for Students with Disabilities at Florida Atlantic University is to support students with disabilities in their pursuit of equity and excellence in education. The OSD works with FAU faculty and staff to ensure that reasonable accommodations are provided to allow this population of students an equal opportunity to learn in the classroom setting, and to have access to all areas around the FAU campus.

REGULATIONS

Florida Atlantic University is dedicated to achieving compliance with State and Federal regulations involving the rights of students who have disabilities.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 provides that no otherwise qualified individual in the United States shall, solely by reason of his or her disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 states that a person with a disability is:
a. Someone with a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities, including walking, seeing, hearing, thinking, breathing, and working.
b. Someone who has a record of such an impairment.
c. Someone who is regarded as having such an impairment.
FAU grants academic accommodations in order to ensure that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to attain the same quality of education as other students.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS

• Accommodations are authorized by OSD only after a thorough examination of the student’s documentation.
• Accommodations are determined based on an analysis of the current impact of the person's disability on academic or work performance.
• Accommodations are, by necessity, highly individualized, and are only granted to students on an "as needed" basis.
• The student is not required to utilize an accommodation authorized by the OSD. However, the student is responsible for keeping OSD personnel advised of any major changes involving an accommodation.
• An instructor and student may agree to enhance an accommodation authorized by the OSD as long as it is mutually acceptable by both parties.
• The faculty should consult with the OSD staff with any particular concerns regarding a student’s accommodations.

DOCUMENTATION

Students must present documentation from a physician or other diagnostician who specializes in the field of their disability. Both diagnostic criteria and an explanation of the current manifestations and functional limitations of their condition must be included.
This documentation must be thorough enough to demonstrate whether or not there is substantial limitation to one, or more, major life activities.
The OSD personnel will review the documentation, and then interview the student to determine appropriate academic accommodations.

TESTING ACCOMMODATIONS

• Students who are approved to receive testing accommodations from the OSD must submit a Testing Accommodations Form to the OSD with Sections A and B completed, at least one week prior to the date of the exam.
• The OSD sends the Testing Accommodations Form to the instructor via interoffice mail.
  ? The instructor reviews Sections A and B for accuracy and then completes Sections C and D.
• Section C informs the OSD staff what items are authorized for use with the exam (Calculator, scrap paper, open book, etc.). The instructor should indicate in this section under OTHER any exam requirements such as use scantron or blue book.
• Section C also requests the instructor’s contact information, and the length of time the rest of the class has to take the exam. Instructor should check off and sign the statement as to whether or not the student has permission to take the exam at a time other than the rest of the class.
• Section D indicates how the completed exam is to be returned. The instructor may pick up the exam, or the OSD personnel can deliver it to the departmental office within 24 hours after the student has completed the

STUDENT’S RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• It is the student’s responsibility to provide ample documentation to the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) in order to receive accommodations from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) due to a disability.
• It is the student’s responsibility to submit the “Request for Services” form and “Testing Accommodations” form to the OSD in a timely manner in order to be guaranteed the appropriate accommodations.
• It is the student’s responsibility to utilize authorized accommodations responsibly and keep in close contact with the OSD personnel.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Students who have a disability are not required to register with the OSD, but are encouraged to do so in order to receive academic accommodations from FAU. Due to the confidential nature of a student’s disability, specific information cannot be released by the OSD to faculty members unless authorized to do so by the student.
The instructor may be presented a letter to read aloud which requests a volunteer note taker for a student with a disability. Please read the memo verbatim, and do not mention the student’s name. The volunteer is to be sent to the OSD on the respective campus for more information, and is not to be introduced to the student.

FACULTY RIGHTS
AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• The student will present each instructor two copies of a Letter of Notification each semester from the OSD attesting to his/her approved accommodations. One copy of the letter is for the instructor to keep. The second copy is to be signed and returned to the OSD for record keeping, as well as State and Federal data collection purposes.
• On the letter, instructors indicate whether they wish to provide the test accommodations, or whether the test accommodations are to be made in the OSD. No instructor is required to accommodate a student due to a disability without an OSD “Letter of Notification”.
• When a volunteer notetaker has been approved by OSD, the professor is asked to assist the student in obtaining a volunteer notetaker by reading aloud the notetaker announcement and/or soliciting a student from the class.
• Accommodations for a student with a disability must not compromise course content or the requirements for satisfactory course completion. The faculty need not fundamentally alter the nature of their classroom materials.
• Faculty are strongly encouraged to include a statement regarding students with disabilities on their syllabus. For example: “In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) - Students who require special accommodations due to a disability to properly execute coursework must register with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) located in Boca - SU 133 (561-297-3880), in Davie - MOD I (954-236-1222),or in Jupiter - SR 117 (561-799-8585) and follow all OSD procedures.”
  

Boca/Port St. Lucie:
777 Glades Road, SU Room 133
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone (561) 297-3880 Fax (561) 297-2184
TTY (561) 297-0358

Broward Campuses:
2912 College Avenue, MD I Room 104
Davie, FL 33314
Phone (954) 236-1222 Fax (954) 236-1123
TTY (954) 236-1146

Jupiter Campus (Office of Diversity Services):
5353 Parkside Drive, SR Room 117
Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone (561) 799-8585 Fax (561) 799-8721
TYY (561) 799-8565
Website address: www.osd.fau.edu

Alternate format available upon request

Rev 04/06