Faculty Response

Surveys have been conducted in the last several years to analyze aspects of the accomodation process and the quality of services provided by the staff of Disability Services for Students.

One survey, conducted in 1996, related to faculty experiences and attitudes regarding the accommodation process for students with disabilities. The purpose of this survey was to determine faculty perceptions of the URI accommodation system, and the level of faculty willingness to provide academic accommodations.

Results

There is general willingness to provide most academic accommodations that are requested through DSS, specifically, "extended time on exams", "allowing the lecture to be recorded", and "private test space". Faculty expressed less willingness to provide some accommodations such as "alternate exam format," "copy of professor notes," "alternate dates for exams/assignments" and "reader or scribe to assist during the exam". Slight differences exist among various academic colleges.

The analysis reported the percentages of respondents who have provided accommodations for students with disabilities. Very few faculty members have had no experience in providing accommodations:

Faculty members were asked to comment on any topic they felt was relevant. Several themes emerged from these comments:

	Concern for academic integrity of accommodated exams
	Desire to know more about the details of the student’s disability.
	Reluctance to create an unfair advantage for students with disabilities.

A literature search revealed that attitudes and perceptions of the URI faculty are similar to those at other colleges and Universities; and, also, there was some (37%) interest in attending workshops on issues of disability.

Recommendations to emerge from the analysis

	A positive working relationship between service providers and faculty members is essential.
	Collaboration with faculty is essential. Faculty should be involved in policy decisions.
	Provide an updated information resource (booklet or brochure) to all faculty members. This resource should be updated periodically as policy changes are made.
	Service providers should have a list of essential elements of courses. This would help avoid blanket accommodations, and would demonstrate that service providers are equally concerned about academic integrity.
	Increase programming in the form of informational seminars to enhance the communication between faculty members and service providers about the quality of students with disabilities.

For more Assistant information, contact Pamela Rohland, Director of Student Life, Director of Disability Services rohland@uri.edu