SAS Faculty Information

SAS works with eligible students with disabilities. These students present current medical and/or assessment-based documentation to substantiate both the condition/disability and the accommodations being requested.

SAS staff are trained to read and understand the documentation presented.   We also have an understanding of how the particular condition(s) may interact with the academic or residential/co-curricular environments. We work carefully and collaboratively with the student, faculty, and administrators to recommend reasonable accommodations that help ensure equal opportunity for the student.   

We also know that these accommodations should never alter the central functions of the course, or reduce the standards of course requirements.   Students with disabilities, like all students, are accountable to standards of course performance and academic integrity.

Likewise, in residential/co-curricular areas, accommodations support equal opportunity or equal enjoyment of student life, but all students are accountable to the behavioral standards set by the university.    

Students who are eligible for accommodations and who may experience significant or substantial barriers in the academic or physical environments of the University, have presented documentation of a current disability or a current medical condition.  The Documentation Review Committee carefully reviews this documentation, and makes case-by-case recommendations about accommodations that are designed to reduce or eliminate these environmental barriers.   

Examples of environmental barriers may include but are not limited to:

• strict time limits on exams or tests: when the student has a physical/mobility condition, or a learning disability.
• stairs or no elevators in buildings: where students have physical/mobility conditions or certain medical conditions.
• power-point presentations without alternate format: when students may have vision conditions or medical conditions.

SAS works very specifically and very carefully to recommend accommodations that support equal opportunity for the student, AND that uphold integrity of the course or program.

Most students and their families send documentation of the disability as the student begins their academic career at RWU. Other students may be referred to SAS without having current documentation, and SAS recommends resources for obtaining evaluations to help substantiate accommodations.  Also, members of the campus community (Counseling, Health Services, Faculty) refer students to SAS based on their interactions.   Sometimes students refer themselves to us.

Please let students know that resources such as SAS exist as a support for Roger Williams students!   But please also be sensitive about student privacy when you have such conversations with your students.

Disability or medical information is confidential and is not shared outside the SAS office.  On rare occasions, with student permission, we may share aspects of a students situation for the purpose facilitating reasonable accommodations.

You will know that your student is supported by SAS, if the student specifically tells you, or if you received a letter of accommodation form from SAS.

Academic records, course rosters, or the Colleague student records system do not publicly identify students receiving support from SAS.

Although faculty or administrators should never specifically ask a student about their disability or medical condition, you may have meaningful conversations about student performance and student behavior.   

Asking a student what they may need for increased success is appropriate.   Referrals to resources in the Center for Student Academic Success are welcome.

Students who need accommodations in your courses may feel more welcome and more confident about approaching you, IF you have made a welcoming announcement in class and have a welcoming syllabus invitation to speak about their particular needs in your class.

Eligible students must electronically request a Letter of Accommodation (LOA) through their ClockWork portal each semester. Faculty should expect to receive a copy of the Letter of Accommodation via email. The LOA establishes accommodation integration for the semester. It is the student’s responsibility to electronically request the LOA in a timely manner at the beginning of each semester or once approved for accommodations. 

Additionally, when a student is approved for extended time on exams, it is the student's responsibility to schedule exam accommodations and notetaking through their ClockWork portal. 

Instructors are not expected to provide accommodations “on demand” or “after the fact".

A student with a disability should have equal access to your course and course materials (with or without accommodations approved by SAS); and the student is equally responsible to perform to the standards of your course, using resources (with or without accommodations through SAS) that are available to all students.    

Please contact the SAS office (sas@rwu.edu or 401-254-3841) with general questions about disability support and academic accommodations.  The SAS staff may be able to share specific disability-related information with a faculty member with a student’s written consent in order to facilitate the accommodation process. 

Extended time for testing is an accommodation that helps to remove barriers in the exam environment for eligible students. Extended time IS NOT unlimited time.  Faculty will receive letters of accommodation from the student and/or from SAS that provide information and instructions. Professors are encouraged to implement the accommodations themselves in exam-appropriate environments (e.g. no hallways or noisy offices); or professors may work with the SAS Testing Center for implementation.    For questions, please contact Student Accessibility Services, which is located on the 1st floor of the University Library in the Jeremy Warnick Center for Student Accessibility, Monday through Friday 8 am - 5 pm.  Phone or email contact are welcome:   401-254-3841 or sas@rwu.edu

The Office of Instructional Design has prepared a set of instructions for faculty who have exam takers that need extended time for exams taken on the Bridges platform.  The instructions address how to create an "exemption" for students who need a different amount of time or a different timeframe than the rest of the class.  For further support, please contact the Office of Instructional Development at id@rwu.edu.

Due to a documented disability (for example, mobility or vision concerns), a student registered with SAS may make a request for classroom relocation.  Student Accessibility Services forwards the request to the Registrar's Office, which then arranges for the classroom change.  Please be aware that faculty may be notified of a room change if a student on the classroom roster presents with an accessibility concern. 

Notetaking assistance is an accommodation provided for students who have qualifying conditions.  Notetaking assistance may mean: 

• students recording their lectures,
• professor-provided online copies of lecture notes or power points,
• students using electronic devices to take notes, or
• SAS-provided peer notetaker.

In all cases, students with the notetaking-assistance accommodations are expected to attend class and take their own notes.  Students who do not attend class are in jeopardy of losing this accommodation.  SAS should be notified of student non-attendance and we will discuss appropriate protocol with the student.  The decision to maintain the accommodation rests with SAS.

If a Peer Notetaker is the recommended accommodation, the notetaker’s notes are intended to supplement the notes already taken by the student.  The peer-notetaker is a student enrolled in the course who has demonstrated a strong ability to take clear and thorough notes.  Whenever possible, a note taker is selected by SAS from an existing pool of qualified students who have provided this service in the past.   Student peer notetakers are compensated for their work each semester.

Faculty members may also be asked to identify strong students in the course and/or make a general announcement.  Faculty would be contacted by SAS for assistance in locating a qualified peer-notetaker.

Once a notetaker has been secured, the notes are confidentially posted to an online system (such as Bridges) for private viewing/download by the requesting student.