Dear UO Faculty and Instructors,
The Accessible Education Center (AEC) welcomes you back for Fall term 2025! We hope you had a great summer and are feeling recharged and ready for this new academic year.
This email contains information about the following:
- Instructors’ Primary Responsibilities Regarding Disability-Related Accommodations
- Faculty Survey-please complete to help us understand your experiences!
- Campus Resources (i.e. when to refer students to offices other than the AEC)
- Invite the AEC to your Department!
- Audio Recording Accommodations
- AEC Connect Instructor Portal
- Involving TAs or GEs in Accommodation Implementation
- Faculty and Staff Support Page & Website Resources
Instructors’ Primary Responsibilities Regarding Accommodations
The University collectively has responsibility to remove barriers impacting access to programs, activities, and services for students with disabilities. It is important to understand the roles and responsibilities that instructors, students, and the AEC have in this process. If you have any questions about your responsibilities, please do not hesitate to contact the AEC by phone or email to gain clarification. You can contact AEC at 541-346-1155 or via email at uoaec@uoregon.edu.
Instructors’ Primary responsibilities:
- Read all notification letters, take appropriate actions, & maintain confidentiality of student information.
- If a student requests to use their approved accommodations in your class, you will receive a notification letter via email. You can also log in to the AEC Connect Instructor Portal to access the notification letters requested for your class, export a list of all students with requests in your class, as well as see a list of exam requests that students have submitted for your course(s). If you have any questions about AEC Connect or how to utilize the Instructor Portal, please contact uoaec@uoregon.edu.
- Refer students who may need disability accommodations to the AEC.
- Contact the AEC if you have any questions about a student’s accommodations, or if an approved accommodation might fundamentally alter course objectives. Do not deny any accommodations without consulting with the AEC.
- Complete the testing agreement right away, and provide your exams to the AEC at least two days before a scheduled exam.
- Only implement disability-related accommodations for students who are registered with the AEC.
Faculty Survey
Please complete this survey to provide us insight into faculty experiences regarding collaboration with the AEC, working with students with disabilities, implementing accommodations, and accessibility of courses. Responses will help us understand your experiences and how the AEC can continue to strengthen relationships, training, and collaboration with faculty. The survey will be open all of Fall term, but please complete it at your earliest convenience.
Additional Campus Resources for Instructors
Some issues may be outside the scope of AEC. The following resources can be used for any of your students, including AEC students, when appropriate:
- If you are concerned about a student and it is a non-emergency, you are encouraged to complete a Community Care and Support Form. This can be completed if you are concerned about a student's physical or mental wellbeing, if they are demonstrating concerning behaviors, or if you are concerned they are missing. Additional information about reporting concerns can be found on the Dean of Students webpage.
- If you have an academic concern, you can use the Faculty and Staff Referral Outreach Form to share concerns related to non-attendance, non-engagement, a student being unresponsive to communication, or a sudden drop in performance.
- If you have concerns about student misconduct, including academic misconduct, you should make a conduct report. The Dean of Students office also has additional Resources for Faculty regarding student conduct.
- Students seeking accommodations for pregnancy should be referred to OEOA for resources
- Students seeking religious accommodations should be referred to the Religious Accommodations policy and request form.
- For students with language barriers: there are no formal resources to support accommodations for students for whom English is their second-language. If the student is an International Student, refer them to International Student and Scholar Services for resources.
- Students and employees can report a physical on online access barrier through the Physical/Online Access Barrier Report form
Audio Recording Accommodations
We understand that there may be some concerns with the accommodation to record classes, especially given the current political/national climate. While this accommodation has been common since the inception of the ADA in 1990, you may notice a higher number of students in your courses with this accommodation, which may be because:
- There continues to be an increasing number of students connected to the AEC (14.9% of all students (undergraduate and graduate) in AY 24-25); and
- We offer a few technology-assisted notetaking support accommodations which utilize recording.
Students who are approved for this accommodation sign an agreement indicating that the recordings will be used for their personal studies only and they will not share or post the recordings in any format.
Also, if a student has been approved for this accommodation, it has been determined to be necessary for equitable access to their courses. The AEC cannot determine reasonable accommodations based on faculty concerns that a student may misuse a recording. Faculty/instructors should not deny an accommodation or negotiate an accommodation with a student. On the other hand, if an instructor believes that an accommodation would fundamentally alter the nature of their course, they can reach out to the AEC Access Advisor to have that discussion, which may lead to an assessment of fundamental alteration.
Invite the AEC to your Department!
The AEC offers a variety of different types of trainings and engagements with campus partners, such as Disability 101, Q/A time, general information about the AEC, disability, and how we can work together to create more accessible environments, and more. We are happy to come join you or your teams for a training or discussion. If you would like the AEC to join you in a department meeting or other setting, please visit our Request a Training/Outreach page and fill out the request form.
AEC Connect Instructor Portal
AEC Connect is the program AEC uses to manage student files and accommodation requests. This is where instructors will login to complete testing agreements, upload exams, and view student accommodations. Review AEC Connect instructions and video tutorials on our website. Note that when you View Student Accommodations, you are able to export a list of all students in your class who have requested accommodations!
Involving TAs or GEs in accommodation implementation
If faculty involve TAs or GEs in accommodation implementation:
- They are strongly encouraged to complete FERPA training
- TA/GE position descriptions should include supporting with accommodations and instructors being specific about such.
- If you have questions about whether you should assign accommodation implementation to TAs or GEs, please contact AEC Senior Director, Norma Kehdi
Faculty and Staff Support Page & Website Resources
There are often misconceptions about what it means to have a disability. Please visit the AEC Faculty and Instructors webpage to find information about best practices, instructor responsibilities, Universal Design strategies, our past Faculty/Instructor Newsletters, and more. You can also find information on our website about what a disability is, and the legal mandates that guide the work of the AEC.
Go Ducks!
On behalf of all AEC staff, we wish you a smooth Fall 2025 term! Please review the AEC website for additional information, and don’t hesitate to reach out to us if we can be of any assistance. We look forward to continuing to work with you and support you in ensuring access and inclusion at UO. Go Ducks!