nice accommodations language

[smasongarrison]

I had a student request this once, similarly related to anxiety. In response to their outreach, I reflected on what the essential learning outcomes of the assignment were and if the public speaking piece of it was truly “essential”. It sounds like you’ve done that, but that’s usually my first gut-check.

We had a conversation about what possible accommodations might look like and what were the anxiety dealbreakers on their end.

I often start by asking the student. For instance, “part of this class involves you doing x, largely because learning how to y is very important in college/ the profession. I know x doesn’t seem very doable, but I still need to make sure you can y. What might be some ways I can still see you can y that feel reasonable and equitable for this task?”. I don’t have to say yes to the suggestions, but it helps give them some agency and makes it a collaborative process.

We ended up settling on a pre-recorded presentation (and I amended this as an option for the class as a whole, because that didn’t seem like an unreasonable adjustment, and makes an accommodation less obvious- when possible).

That student later commented on my evaluations that in their four years at the college I was the only faculty who had taken their mental health concerns seriously.

source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Professors/comments/qp9o4w/student_asking_to_be_exempt_from_presentation_due/hjssyxo/

[smasongarrison]

Students with Disabilities

The University of Minnesota views disability as an important aspect of diversity, and is committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for all students. The Disability Resource Center (DRC) is the campus office that collaborates with students who have disabilities to provide and/or arrange reasonable accommodations. If you have, or think you have, a disability in any area such as, mental health, attention, learning, chronic health, sensory, or physical, please contact the DRC office on your campus (UM Twin Cities - 612.626.1333) to arrange a confidential discussion regarding equitable access and reasonable accommodations. If you are registered with the DRC and have a disability accommodation letter dated for this semester or this year, please contact your instructor early in the semester to review how the accommodations will be applied in the course. For more information, please see the DRC website, https://diversity.umn.edu/disability/

source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vpr3d4eCGiFOpxlYoxgG0NYNL5LayvolZn0E8gzQPao/edit

[smasongarrison]

https://twitter.com/the_tweedy/status/1498028559452889088?s=20&t=Y050sLZgr12s7jhmGoenAw

[smasongarrison]

https://twitter.com/Arley_McNeney/status/1500609017407688706
access friction