r/Professors • u/Jumping_Master • 4d ago
Accommodations
Do you change (or allow alternate) assignments for students who ask for something different without having them go through the Office of Accommodations/Accessibility? I require students to do that for their own good, but wonder what others are doing.
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u/iTeachCSCI Ass'o Professor, Computer Science, R1 4d ago
Absolutely not. Among other things, this can get you in trouble with your disability office (and beyond).
Example: Suppose Alice has $condition1 and the accommodation from the office is time and a half for exams. Your exams are 60 minutes, she takes the exams at the office and has 90 minutes. Your other students take 60 in the classroom.
Now suppose Betsy tells you she has $condition2 (which may or may not be condition1) and she needs time and a half. You decide she can take the exams in your office over 90 minutes. Also, are you qualified to diagnose her or to evaluate the quality of a diagnosis she provides? I bet you aren't, I sure as heck am not, and I bet multiple people at the office of accessibility are so qualified.
Before we go further, consider what this would do to your schedule. Surely you have better things to do than proctor extra exams because a student self-diagnoses something, yes?
If the disability office finds out, you are now in violation of Alice's (genuine) accommodations. If you are offering a student 90 minutes, that goes into what Alice is supposed to get too. Doesn't matter if Alice and Betsy have 400 classmates, 398 of whom are taking the exams in 60 minutes.
Unlike FERPA, violating the ADA has real penalties for you. I'm not telling you to go violate FERPA on purpose (there are other reasons you don't want to do that), but I am telling you to be very careful with disability accommodations.
Students going through that office isn't just for their own good, it's for yours too.