Faculty & Staff Resources

Faculty should use the following statement on all syllabi:

Learning or Living Accommodations Request Process: Northwest Missouri State University complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 [ADA] and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 [ADAAA]. If a student has a documented disability that qualifies under the ADA/ADAAA and requests accommodations, they should review the Accessibility and Accommodations webpage at 8m5w.mikeshiner.com/titleixequity/accessibility for guidance, including the accommodations application and supporting documentation requirements. Contact ada@mikeshiner.com or 660.562.1873 for further assistance. For the university policy on disability accommodation refer to 8m5w.mikeshiner.com/policies/student/Disability-Accommodation.pdf

For more information on syllabus development, please refer to the Learning & Teaching Center: Teaching: Foundation Basics | Learning & Teaching Center | Northwest (mikeshiner.com)

The Learning & Teaching Center also has resources for faculty regarding ADA compliance and pedagogy: Teaching: Foundation Basics | Learning & Teaching Center | Northwest (mikeshiner.com)

Three important pieces of legislation related to the provision of academic accommodations, adjustments and services for students with disabilities at the university setting are:  The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008. 

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 1973 states:

No otherwise qualified person with a disability in the United States…shall, solely on the basis of a disability, be denied access to, or the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity provided by any institution receiving federal financial assistance.  For a more detailed description of Subpart E of the Rehabilitation Act, 1973, refer to the U.S. Department of Education’s web site at: http://www.ed.gov/about/ed-offices/ocr

The ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008 clarified the definition of “disability” for purposes of the ADA.  A person is considered to have a disability if the person:

• Has a physical or mental impairment, which substantially limits one or more major life activities. Major life activities include, but are not limited to self-care, manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working.
• Has a record of a substantially limiting condition.
• Is regarded as substantially limited.

For a more detailed description of Title II of the ADAAA, refer to the following U.S. Department of Education’s website at:  http://www.ed.gov/about/ed-offices/ocr.

With the passage of the ADA in 1990, Section 504 from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was expanded to include any public or private institution. Subpart E of the Rehabilitation Act requires an institution to be prepared to make reasonable academic adjustments and accommodations to allow students with disabilities full participation in the same programs and activities available to students without disabilities.  The ADA further clarifies and reinforces these statutes. With relation to a university setting, a qualified person with a disability is one who meets the academic and technical standards required for admission or participation in the institution’s educational programs or activities.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. For students with disabilities who attend a post-secondary institution, FERPA ensures the confidentiality of the student’s documentation and limits access to appropriate University personnel.

For more information, visit http://ada.gov

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Updated information coming soon!

If you have a student who is registered with the SSD office and who has an accommodation with extended time, as having an additional time accommodation, you must pre-set their extra time in Canvas. Here's how to do it:

1. Go to your Canvas course
2. Click the title of the exam which you would like to extend time for a particular student
3. Students clarify with their instructor(s) about their exams and where they will be taken. 
4. Click "Moderate this Quiz" in the upper-right hand corner
5. This will take you to a screen with a list of your students, and you can click the edit icon to the right of the student to whom you would like to give extra time
6. On the dialog that pops up, just type in the amount of extra time they should receive for every attempt, and hit save

Note: This will need to be done for every individual quiz or exam that this student will be taking; it cannot be applied globally to a student's account.

If you have any questions, please contact the Learning & Teaching Center or Title IX & Equity.

Flexibility with Attendance for Students with Disabilities

Faculty determine course attendance policies. Because attendance may be integral to the pedagogic process, these policies are set by faculty at the college, departmental, or individual level.

In some cases, attendance is fundamental to course objectives; for example, students may be required to interact with others in the class, to demonstrate the ability to think and argue critically, or to participate in group projects. In other instances, faculty may determine that students can master course content despite some or many absences. Rarely, faculty may decide that students do not need to attend classes at all.

Similarly, faculty also determine policies regarding make-up work and missed quizzes and exams. Faculty are not required to lower or affect substantial modifications of standards for accommodation purposes. The United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, which enforces disability law in higher education, uses the following heuristic to determine if
class attendance is fundamental to course participation:

• Is there classroom interaction between the instructor and students, and among students?
• Do student contributions constitute a significant component of the learning process?
• Does the fundamental nature of the course rely upon student participation as an essential method for learning?
• To what degree does a student's failure to attend constitute a significant loss to the educational experience of other students in the class?
• What does the course description and syllabus say?
• What is the method by which the final course grade is calculated?
• What are classroom practices and policies regarding attendance?

What Title IX & Equity (Accessibility & Accommodations) Can Do For Students

A&A can provide students with accommodation plans, i.e. written verification of their disabilities, based on appropriate medical and/or psychological documentation. This verification can address the legitimacy of absences. The accommodation plans may be distributed by students to faculty in order to initiate discussions of attendance and make-up policies and procedures. Faculty should make their policies clear so that students can make informed choices about which courses to take.

Faculty may choose to announce attendance/makeup policies on the first day of class, and to reinforce this information by including it on the course syllabus.

If faculty intend to disallow or restrict absences, they may choose to use wording similar to this:
"Your presence is fundamental to meeting the objectives of this course. Consequently, there will be (0, 1, 2…..) excused absences, and (0, 1, 2…) makeup quizzes/exams."

Please call Title IX & Equity at 660.562.1873 if you have any questions.