Faculty Resources

INSTRUCTORS QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE TO SAS

Student Accessibility Services (SAS) provides accommodations in compliance with the ADA (American with Disabilities Act), Section 504 and Title II and V.

Want to know more about faculty responsibilities and how to make your classes more accessible? SAS provides instructional workshops for faculty and staff at various times throughout the year. Click here to learn more about faculty responsibilities and rights.

ELIGIBILITY AND SERVICES

After an initial assessment meeting with a SAS counselor, a student with a verified disability may be eligible for specific accommodations while the college is in session. A few of the most common accommodations we provide are listed below:

Note-taking services
In-class Aide assistance (for safety or health purposes only)
Testing services (using scribes, readers, assistive technology, CC-TVs, enlarged print and Braille)
Equipment loan (digital audio recorders, hearing devices, bookstands, inflatable back-pillows, etc.)
Adaptable furniture (accessible chairs and tables)
ASL (American Sign Language) interpreting services for the Deaf

Accommodations can only be designated by a SAS counselor and will only be given to individuals, based on the nature of their verified disability. These verifications are usually given to students by their doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist or otherwise authorized specialist.

TESTING SERVICES

All testing services require five (5) to seven (7) working days’ advance notice from the exam date.

Testing services are available to assist and facilitate the proctoring needs of all academic departments at College of Marin. They are provided, at Student Accessibility Service's discretion, in the SAS testing center or at the ATC after a counselor has determined that the student's testing needs cannot be met in the classroom. SAS testing facilities and staff are limited; therefore, tests are proctored through SAS when all other options/possibilities to be tested by the instructor of record have been excluded. SAS follows the same procedures and policies regarding test integrity that one would find in the classroom.

All tests for SAS students should be preferably sent via email to sastesting@marin.edu and cc'ed to our Student Services Specialist, currently Xzarrehparvar@marin.edu or they can be dropped off at the SAS main office or sent via inter-campus mail to "SAS - Testing" to be received within five (5) working days of the exam date. Completed tests will be returned to the instructor's mailbox (or scanned and emailed if specified in advance).

INSTRUCTOR ASSISTANCE

At times, SAS might ask for an instructor's help or direct involvement (e.g., wearing microphones and transmitters for sound amplification for hearing devices), or an instructor may be requested to make a notetaker recruitment announcement for a student requiring a notetaker. Notification of any of the above circumstances, involving instructors, will be carried out via e-mail, telephone (school office/department extension) or as a letter in the instructor's box (in the mailroom).

FACULTY RESPONSIBILITIES AND RIGHTS

Faculty and instructional staff have a responsibility to assist in providing equal access to education by following these simple guidelines:

Provide written and/or verbal notification that accommodations for students with disabilities are available by

  1. Announcing during the first class session that accommodations are available for eligible students with disabilities through SAS;

  2. Appending the following statement to any course syllabi currently in use:

    Students with Documented Disabilities:
    Students who may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability must initiate the request with Student Accessibility Services. SAS staff will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty and instructional staff for the current semester. Students should contact SAS as soon as possible since advance notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The main office for SAS is located on the Kentfield campus in the Learning Resources Center, LC 40. The operating hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Friday – 9:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call us at 415.485.9406 or email at sas@marin.edu for more information.

  3. Please refer students with questions about accommodations to SAS. All arrangements for accommodations must be approved through SAS.

  4. Please protect student privacy and confidentiality by treating all disability-related information as confidential. Although faculty do not have the right to ask about the nature of the disability, if students choose to disclose their disability, this information should be treated confidentially.

  5. If possible, please make any and all syllabi, textbooks, course materials, outside and online resource links available in a timely manner. Converting print materials to alternate media for students who are entitled to use this reasonable accommodation is both labor and time intensive. For textbook material, please provide the following information upon request: Title, Author(s), ISBN, Edition and if another edition is acceptable.

FACULTY RIGHTS

Faculty and instructors retain the right to request verification of a student’s eligibility for reasonable accommodations in the form of an Accommodation letter prepared by SAS and delivered in a timely manner either in person or through e-mail.

If a student does not request accommodations and provide an Accommodation letter from SAS, faculty are not obligated to provide accommodations. SAS will determine disability documentation and eligibility for appropriate accommodations; consequently, faculty should not solicit nor review a student’s documentation or seek to arrange accommodations directly with the student.