Faculty Information
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DSS Disability Support Services (DSS) is the campus office responsible for coordinating disability-related services for students as well as faculty and staff. Students will provide disability documentation to the Director of DSS who will review it and determine the student's eligibility for accommodations. The Director will then assist students and faculty in facilitating necessary accommodations for eligible students. Faculty members may or may not have had experience with teaching students who have disabilities. One may be uncertain about the disability particulars a student may share, how much to inquire about the information shared, and how to arrange for the needed accommodations. Be discreet in discussing disability accommodations, guard the confidentiality of personal information shared with you, and create a welcoming atmosphere to enable the student with a disability to "fit in" rather than "stand out". The academic expectations you have need to be the same for ALL students including those students in your classes that need disability accommodations. Accommodations may change the manner in which a person participates in your class or gains access to information - perhaps the student uses specialty equipment or resources to access information such as a sign language interpreter or a large screen monitor or even uses extra time to complete a written task - but accommodations are not to give extra advantage or to raise or lower academic expectations. Faculty members are encouraged to include a statement on their syllabi which informs students about methods for receiving disability accommodations. Recommended Syllabi Statements (PDF). When a student notifies a professor that he or she has a disability and will need some type of accommodation(s) the professor should inquire about whether the student has registered with Disability Support Services and refer the student to the office if the student has not yet registered. If the student has already established himself or herself as a student with a disability by registering with DSS, the faculty member should ask the student to bring an Accommodation Letter from the DSS office which is a verification of the need for accommodations. Professors may need information about the limitations posed by a particular disability, what types of adaptive equipment will benefit the student's learning, or effective teaching techniques for working with a specific student. Jean Ashmore, the Director of Disability Support Services, is the on-campus resource for this type of information . Contact her at Extension 5841 or through E-mail at adarice@rice.edu. Dan Starr, Adaptive Technology Specialist, prepares materials for students in alternate format and is a resource on preparing texts, tests and supplemental teaching materials for students with print disabilities. Contact Starr at Extension 5754 or through E-mail at danstarr@rice.edu. Some excellent on-line resources for information about working with students who have disabilities are:
As representatives of Rice, professors are responsible for responding to requests for disability accommodations. Most often this involves directing the student to DSS, engaging in a dialogue about appropriate accommodations, and working with DSS to resolve any problematic issues. Ideally, a professor can work from the Accommodation Letter from DSS and discuss with the student how needed accommodations will be accomplished. If a professor feels a needed accommodation is not compatible with the structure of his/her class, the Director of DSS should be contacted immediately. Faculty members are cautioned about providing any academic accommodations that would be considered disability-related without verification of disability status from DSS. When in doubt, contact the Director of Disability Support Services to clarify whether the student has a disability and is in need of accommodations. Periodically Disability Support Services sends out an E-mail newsletter to faculty and others on campus. |
