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- The accommodation process can be lengthy; therefore, students are urged to contact ODS at the earliest possible time. Current students should make an appointment with ODS staff at the ERC as soon as possible. Prospective and transfer students should contact ODS as soon as possible after being admitted to Tulane University, ideally several months before their first semester on campus. ODS is the only office on campus that can grant official accommodations protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
- Fill out an Accommodation Request Form and a Confidentiality Statement. These can either be downloaded here or be obtained in hard copy directly from ODS.
- Send or bring in required documentation. Documentation must be substantial and current (i.e., usually within the past 1 to 3 years, depending on the type of disability). Even if you have had a long-standing disability diagnosis, ODS needs current documentation in order to determine the types of accommodations you need at this point in time. Guidelines for the documentation of a disability are available in hard copy at ODS and online here.
- If the required documentation is not available, ODS staff will inform you in writing as to what is needed. You are responsible for providing any needed documentation (e.g. missing, not current, supplementary, etc.). You are responsible for paying for any costs involved in obtaining missing or updated documentation.
- Once you have submitted all required documentation, ODS staff will review the documentation. Through a deliberative process, each request is reviewed on an individual, case-by-case basis. ODS insures that each accommodation granted is reasonable, appropriate, and based on a disability which substantially limits a major life activity. Please note that accommodations offered by Tulane may not necessarily be the same as those received in high school or at another college or university.
- When the review process is complete, ODS will notify you of approved accommodations and will generate a Course Accommodation Form (CAF); this is assuming that the documents provided verify a disability as defined by ADA/Section 504. The CAF discloses that you are officially registered with ODS and then describes which accommodations have been approved for you. To complete the registration process and receive your first CAF, you must schedule an ODS intake appointment with a member of the ODS staff.
- Accommodations do NOT apply retroactively. Accommodations apply to present and future, not past events. If students neglect to follow the ODS registration process, fail to disclose their official ODS accommodations to instructors, or do not discover that they have a disability until after an exam, paper or other assignment, neither instructors nor the University are under any obligation to retroactively correct for this.
- You must request and pick up copies of the new CAF each semester at ODS. Please pick up the CAF as soon as possible each semester, preferably before or during the first two weeks of class. Forms given out by ODS within 14 days of the start of final exam period will be accompanied by a cover sheet explaining that accommodations may or may not be rendered at the instructor’s discretion due to administrative burden. To coordinate most classroom accommodations, including the note taking assistance and alternate text services, you must make an appointment with the ODS Accommodations Coordinator each semester as well.
- A copy of CAF’s or any ODS letters (e.g. note taker assistance letters, letters of consideration, etc.) are kept on file at ODS, and the academic dean's office can be notified of the student's accommodation status.
- You must give a copy of the CAF to each instructor of the classes for which you need accommodations. We strongly recommend that you do this during the instructor’s office hours or by appointment. A copy of the form should be given to your instructors within the first two weeks of class or, if you are first diagnosed during the middle of a semester, as soon as possible after being granted accommodations. Instructors do not have to provide accommodations if forms are given to them less than a week before a test or two weeks before a final exam.
- The instructor keeps one copy of the CAF and the student keeps the original copy. Both copies should be signed and dated on the day the student first gives the instructor the form. The signatures and dates can be an important protection for the instructor and/or the student.
- If you encounter any difficulties obtaining your accommodations, or think that your accommodations may need to be modified in some way, please contact ODS staff immediately. It is not appropriate to try to change an accommodation with an instructor without involving ODS staff.
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New Orleans ·
What's Happening in Student Affairs?
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