Accommodations & Services

The Peer Notetaking Program is a valuable accommodation/resource for students who may have difficulty taking notes while listening to class lecture or have a physical disability prohibiting writing. With these difficulties, provision of class notes may be considered a reasonable accommodation or auxiliary aid under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Notetaking is not a substitute for the student's own attendance and participation in class. We ask that professors make the announcement below, and then send any potential volunteers to sign up to be a volunteer notetaker:

There is a student in our class who needs a copy of the class notes. The Student Disability Access Center is asking for a volunteer notetaker. If you are willing to share your notes on a regular basis, please visit their website to sign up to be a volunteer at sdac.studenthealth.virginia.edu.

SDAC receives requests, reviews documentation, and works with Housing & Residence Life to facilitate accommodations for students with medical conditions or disabilities who have specific needs, such as wheelchair accessibility, modified safety alarms, kitchen access or access to specific dining halls, single room, a service animal or emotional support animal etc. Students should adhere to all the standard Housing division policies and deadlines for applications. The deadline for requesting housing accommodations is June 1, 2018. Disability needs will take priority over specific residence hall and/or roommate requests. (For instance, single rooms are not available in all residence halls.) For housing accommodations, we ask that students submit the following:

• Student Request for Housing Modification form (to be filled out by the student)
• Verification of Disability form (to be filled out by the treating provider)

SDAC works closely with Dining Services to accommodate students in need of meal plan modifications due to a disability, including severe food allergies or Celiac Disease. We ask that students submit:

• Student Request for a Meal Plan Modification (to be filled out by the student)
• Verification of Disability form (to be filled out by the treating provider) 

The University of Virginia does not waive its foreign language requirement. Instead, UVA has established a Foreign Language procedure which begins with the intake and eligibility process through SDAC. If the student is determined eligible for accommodations in their foreign language on the basis of disability, then an offical memo is sent on behalf of the student to the foreign langauge department coordinator. The student is expected to make a good faith effort in a foreign language course with accommodations. If, after a sufficient trial period, the language coordinator determines that the course is unworkable even with accommodations, they may recommend in writing to the student's Association Dean that the foreign language requirement be modified to allow for a course substitution. The substitutions courses must be approved by the College of Arts & Sciences, but it may be taught in English.

University policy (PROV-008: Teaching Courses for Academic Credit – Section 5) “prohibits the recording or transmission of classroom lectures and discussions by students unless written permission from the Instructor has been obtained and all students in the class as well as guest speakers have been informed that audio/video recording may occur.” 

Students receiving an accommodation including recording of classroom lectures and discussions are exempt from this policy, however, restrictions on distribution do apply. Also, a personal recording of this information is not a transfer of any copyrights. 

Instructors may want to include language in their syllabus alerting class members they may be recorded. It is also encouraged that a statement indicating that recording for personal study be allowed by any class member. Many students who benefit from later review of recorded lectures do not have a disability or issue that would qualify them for an accommodation through SDAC. Providing permission in the syllabus opens that option for all students. 

If broad application is not applicable to your class, a statement allowing recording by permission (per policy direction) should be included.