Welcome to Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services (SAAS)
You’re probably here because you have a student with approved accommodations. Or, maybe you have a student who could benefit from accommodations and you’re not sure what steps to take. Whatever the reason, you will play an important role in carrying out the SAAS mission to foster an inclusive and equitable educational environment for students with disabilities.
Accommodation Offerings for Students
Accommodations give students with disabilities a fair and equal chance to do well in their courses.
Types of accommodations might include:
- Audio-recorded lectures or note-taking tools: These accommodations typically don’t require your assistance.
- Attendance flexibility or an individualized testing plan: SSD will contact you to assist with these accommodations.
- Specific exam environments: Based on a student's additional needs, you may test students yourself or schedule an exam at a Testing Accommodations Center using Accommodate.
- Extended time for test taking: Refer to Canvas Accommodations to learn how to add extended time to a student’s profile.
- Closed captioning for teaching videos: MiVideo, U-M’s cloud-based media streaming service, provides free automatic speech recognition captions for videos. Faculty should plan ahead and ensure all audio and video course materials used for the semester are accessible to students. To submit a captioning request, please complete the Caption Request Form through TeamDynamix or email ssdrequest@umich.edu.
Speaking to Students About Accommodation Services
Students aren't obligated to share their disability status, some disabilities might not be noticeable, and students may not even know they have a disability.
If you believe a student could benefit from accommodations:
Refer them to SAAS. Informing a student about SAAS is not a violation of privacy. Any referral discussions about accommodations should take place privately, before or after class. It’s important to describe what you are seeing, not diagnose a condition.
If a student comes to you and requests accommodations:
It is your responsibility to refer them to SAAS. It is the student’s responsibility to follow through with an application for accommodations. Students can request accommodations later in the semester, but they are not retroactive.
Providing Accommodations for Students
If you have students with disability accommodations in your courses, you will receive an email at the beginning of the semester. The email lists the students’ names and their approved accommodations. Then, you will log into the Accommodate platform to access additional information for each student and learn how to meet their accommodation needs.
Accommodate Platform
Log in to Accommodate. Begin by selecting Faculty & Staff in the Accommodate platform. Faculty and staff includes professors, instructors, GSIs, course coordinators, and any other roles associated with a course.
Accommodations are part of the student's record and are protected under FERPA. If there is a person not listed as an instructor who should know about the student's accommodations, you can forward the student's accommodation information on a need-to-know basis.
View your course rosters. You should always check the course roster at the start of the semester to:
verify students whose accommodations were processed before they were added to your course as you will not be notified of these students in the email.
verify that the student names from the email are listed in Accommodate. If a student is not listed, it's because they've chosen not to request accommodations for your course, they haven't completed the process, or they're not currently eligible for accommodations.
In these instances, no action is needed, and you can remove them from the list of approved students you will need to track for the semester.
Log in to Accommodate
Booking an Exam at Testing Accommodation Centers (TAC)
Some students will require specific exam environments as part of their approved accommodations. If you're unable to provide the proper environment, you will need to:
Submit an exam request through Accommodate as early as possible. (The actual exam does not need to be provided at the time of the booking.)
When we receive your request, we will email your student and invite them to schedule an exam as soon as possible to guarantee availability.
To ensure the process runs smoothly, the final version of the exam must be provided by 8 a.m. the day before the exam.
If you are checking on a student’s exam reservation, and it is not showing up under “Alternate Test Room Bookings,” it is still pending. It will become visible once it has been processed by TAC staff.
Book an exam for your student
Suggested Syllabus Statement
The University of Michigan recognizes disability as an integral part of diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive and equitable educational environment for students with disabilities. Students who are experiencing a disability-related barrier should contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) at 734-763-3000 or ssdoffice@umich.edu, or visit ssd.umich.edu. For students who are connected with SSD, accommodation requests can be made in the Accommodate platform. If you have any questions or concerns please contact your SSD Coordinator or visit SSD’s Current Student webpage. SSD considers aspects of the course design, course learning objects, and the individual academic and course barriers experienced by the student. Further conversation with SSD, instructors, and the student may be warranted to ensure an accessible course experience.
Americans With Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008
Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) engages in a collaborative process that is responsive to the needs of each individual as advised by the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). The process is as follows:
- During a Welcome Meeting, the student communicates their lived experience and any academic barriers they face to their SSD coordinator.
- The coordinator will then follow the department’s process to explore the disability-related accommodation requests made by the student. Visit Accommodations - Services for Students with Disabilities for more information.
- During the exploration process, SSD will evaluate the unique attributes and requirements of the course, program, or activity. Course modifications, auxiliary aids, or services that are ineffective or constitute a fundamental alteration will not be reasonable and therefore will not meet the ADA and Section 504’s minimal standards.
Faculty are obligated to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and state and local requirements regarding individuals with disabilities.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact the SSD office at (734) 763-3000 or ssdoffice@umich.edu to speak with an accommodations coordinator or schedule a meeting.