Disability Information/Resources for Faculty

Man with Prosthetic Leg Jumping Photo

The DRC is your partner in making your course materials more accessible for students. Please contact us for further information.

"Accessible" means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use. The person with a disability must be able to obtain the information as fully, equally and independently as a person without a disability. Although this might not result in identical ease of use compared to that of persons without disabilities, it still must ensure equal opportunity to the educational benefits and opportunities afforded by the technology and equal treatment in the use of such technology.

U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Civil Rights

Helpful Resources and Fast Facts for TMCC Faculty

Accessibility Assistance

Accessibility assistance for faculty is available by reaching out to DRC's staff member Thomas Kearns.

ADA Process

We would appreciate your reading the ADA statement below on your syllabus the first day of class to notify students about the services our office provides. Direct interested students to contact the DRC.

You may tell students that they will need to have documentation of their disability. We can help students obtain referrals, if needed. Students should not receive accommodations without first meeting with the DRC specialist. You will receive DRC paperwork from the student after they register with us. Documentation and accommodation determinations will be handled through the DRC. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance to you!

See Also: ADA Policy and Procedures

ADA Statement

Students who feel they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability must contact the Disability Resource Center to establish documentation of their disability and coordinate reasonable accommodations. Students are encouraged to meet privately with their instructors to discuss their specific needs as well.

Memory Aids

You may receive a service letter from the DRC approving a memory aid (such as a formula card or fact sheet) to a registered DRC student with a documented memory deficit, although it is not a typical accommodation. Please see the Memory Aid information for details of the process.

During the initial intake process the DRC Specialist reviews documentation and determines accommodations based on the functional limitations of the student. Accommodations that are deemed appropriate for an individual may occasionally violate the essential course requirements or published learning outcomes for certain classes or programs. Memory aids such as a note card, fact sheet, open book, notes or take-home exams may or may not be a fundamental alteration of the course objectives. For example, it may be possible that a note card including formulas, without listing applications, may be appropriate in a math class if what is being tested is the application of a formula rather than the formula itself.

Disputing Accommodations

If a faculty member feels that an accommodation violates an essential function or learning outcome, the faculty member must contact the DRC with an explanation of how the accommodation alters an essential aspect of the course before denying the approved accommodation. The DRC approved accommodation will remain in place pending faculty provision of evidence that the accommodation violates an essential function for a course or program.

In that event, the DRC will work with the student and the faculty member to determine if there is an alternative way to mitigate the impact of the disability without compromising the essential element(s) of the course or program.

The U.S. Dept. of Education's Office for Civil Rights has determined that, so long as the College has a process used to reach the determination, such as consulting with the instructor and department chair and examining each individual test, the College would not discriminate on the basis of a disability (which would be in violation of federal disability laws) when it denies a requested accommodation (University of Akron, Ohio, #15-02-2049).

Service Animals

The only animals allowed in TMCC classrooms are service animals. Service animals are defined as a dog or miniature horse which has been individually trained to mitigate the effects of a person’s disability.

A DRC accommodation letter must be presented to the instructor before a service animal can be allowed to remain in a classroom. 

See Also: TMCC Service Animal Policy.

The Faculty Room

University of Washington's "DO-IT" website serves to increase the participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs and careers.

The "Faculty Room" is a space for faculty and administrators at postsecondary institutions to learn about how to create classroom environments and academic activities that maximize the learning of all students, including those with disabilities".