Qualifying
Many students who register with the Accessibility Resource Center qualify for testing accommodations, such as extended time, reduced-distraction environment, and other accommodations depending on the student’s disability.
Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) approves testing accommodations when the functional impact of a student’s disability affects their ability to display content mastery in the same time frame and circumstances as students without disabilities.
Submitting Accommodation Requests
As with other accommodation types, ARC notifies professors of a student’s testing accommodations by emailing them their “Faculty Notification Letter” via e-mail after the student logs in to their AIM portal and submits their accommodation requests each new semester.
These letters constitute a three-way agreement between ARC, the student, and the instructor, all of whom share some degree of responsibility for making sure that accommodations are met reasonably.
Discuss alternative testing times with your instructor if, due to accommodations, there may be times where you will encounter a conflict with other classes or with the ARC hours of operation. We will work with you to identify an alternate testing time.
Student Responsibilities
In order to schedule an accommodated test be taken in ARC, students can submit an alternative testing request by logging in to the AIM portal. For detailed steps on how to log in and submit this request, see the AIM for Students PowerPoint slides available for download in our Student Resources section.
The student is responsible for submitting each exam request in AIM. ARC will notify you via email when an exam request is approved.
Upon receiving a request for alternate testing request, ARC will review and either approve, deny, or request more information. Five (5) business days’ notice for regular exams/quizzes and 10 business days' notice for final exams is required. This is necessary for seat assignment in the testing room and allows ARC time to communicate with the professor and coordinate exam details, test times, and instructions. We encourage all students to use their syllabi at the beginning of the semester to submit as many test requests up front as possible so they will not be marked “late” in AIM. AIM will track how many late requests a student has made, and when they accumulate 3, ARC staff requests a meeting with the student.
Location for Accommodated Testing
The majority of tests taken with accommodations require proctoring within the Accessibility Resource Center testing space. Some tests, due to the nature or format of the course, don’t travel well outside of the department (for example, laboratory exams with special equipment, foreign language exams with listening components, live performances, etc). In these cases, instructors can make individual arrangements with the student.
Online tests generally do not need to be taken in the ARC Testing Center, since most accommodations can be provided online.
Test Integrity
Typically, tests being taken with our office are to begin at the regularly scheduled class time. Any changes to the schedule (i.e. requests to take exam earlier or later than the regular time, at a later or earlier date, etc.) must be arranged with the professor. We require the professor’s written consent before any changes can be made. Professors may consider late arrival for a test an integrity violation, and refuse to grade the test.
The testing space is video monitored by Accessibility Resource Center staff, and cellphones are not allowed. Any suspicions of misconduct or academic integrity violations will be reported immediately to the course instructor.