Faculty/Staff Resources

If you have questions about facilitating approved accommodations for your Online, Remote Live, Remote Blended, or Hybrid class, please contact our office 714-628-4860 or email DSPS@scollege.edu​​.

Did you receive a notetaker accommodation from one of your students?
This means a notetaker is being requested for the indicated section of your class as a disability-related academic accommodation.  Your assistance is needed in meeting this request. We ask that you please solicit the help of a student volunteer in the class to take notes. Please be mindful of the DSPS students' privacy and make sure their identity remains anonymous during your announcement. Once you secure a notetaker, you can introduce the students if the DSPS student agrees to meet the notetaker. In some cases, DSPS students prefer to remain anonymous, at which point the notetaker can email us the notes, and we can forward them to the DSPS student. Notes may be photocopied in the DSPS office. You can also recommend the notetaker to use photos as a method of delivery for notes. Students may use apps such as Genius Scan or Cam Scan to convert their notes to a PDF file.

Who should be selected as a volunteer notetaker?
Volunteer notetakers should be good students who are able to produce clear, well-organized notes.  As an incentive, DSPS provides notetakers with priority registration for the following semester, provided they fulfill their notetaking responsibilities and are in good academic standing. Students who agree to serve as notetakers must register with DSPS at the beginning of the semester.

How should the announcement be made?
Please keep the student's identity confidential when making the announcement that a volunteer notetaker is being sought to assist this student. The student and volunteer notetaker should meet privately after class to discuss how notes will be made available.

A sample announcement is included below to help you identify a volunteer notetaker.

Sample Announcement:
I am looking for a student to volunteer to share class notes with another student in the class who needs a notetaker. As an incentive for volunteering, the notetaker will receive priority registration for next semester. If you are a student who takes good notes and are willing to help, please see me after class to pick-up an information sheet which will explain the next steps for registering as a volunteer notetaker.

Did you receive an audio record accommodation from one of your students?
This means the student has an approved accommodation to audio record the class lectures. Please notify the student if recording needs to stop due to a sensitive lecture, or if the class material is not appropriate to record.

How will the student audio record the lectures?
The student has the opportunity to check out a digital audio recorder, or a smartpen from DSPS if approved. A smartpen​ digitizes the student's handwriting while audio recording the lecture to be synchronized with the students hand written notes.

Did you receive a notification of a sign language interpreter for one of your students?​
This means that an interpreter will facilitate the communication between the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) student(s) and the instructor and other classmates.

Where will the interpreter be?​
There will be a designated chair for the interpreter in the classroom.

What happens if the interpreter does not show up?
Please contact DSPS immediately if student is in class but the interpreter is not.

What happens if a student using interpreting services misses multiple class sessions?
If a student misses any three (3) class sessions during the semester without notifying the DSPS/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services office, the interpreting/captioning services will be suspended after the third absence. The student will be asked to sign a Student No-Show Policy & Procedures form each semester he or she requests interpreting services.

For students approved for a Memory Aid, the purpose of the aid is to facilitate the recall of information for those whose disability and/or medication impacts their memory. This accommodation is for students with significant documented deficits in rote memory, sequencing memory, working memory, and/or long-term memory recall. 

A memory aid is a tool developed by the student and reviewed by the professor to assist in recalling, recognizing, and/or associating class concepts, without fundamentally impacting course competencies. An example could be a keyword, acronym, symbol, and/or graphic, or a general formula. A memory aid is NOT a course outline or course notes and should not include specific examples of how formulas are used. 

The memory aid enables the student to demonstrate knowledge of course material by helping to prompt their memory. A proper memory aid is a ‘pocket reference’ that will not be useful to the student unless he/she has a solid knowledge of how to use the information it contains. If the student does not understand the course material, a memory aid will not help. 

A memory aid is typically a 3x5 notecard (size to be agreed upon through an interactive process) that: 

• May include diagrams, mind maps, general formulas, acronyms, pictures, etc. 
• May be organized chronologically, by module, or by chapter 
• Makes sense only to the student who created it and will use it ​

A memory aid is not meant to record all the facts, concepts, or processes being tested. This means that a memory aid: 

• Should not include specific examples of how formulas are used 
• Should not include specific information being tested on (i.e., if memorizing the formula is being tested, then it should not have the formula on the memory aid) 
• Should not include complete terms and definitions 
• Should not include all information from the course (only the information the student is unable to remember) 

Memory Aid Submission Procedure 

After creating the memory aid, the student must present it to the instructor for review and feedback. The instructor will either approve or reject the aid. 

• If approved: The instructor will staple the memory aid to the exam and submit both directly to DSPS. 
• If not approved: The student must revise and resubmit the aid until it is approved. 

Students may not submit memory aids to DSPS on their own behalf. The instructor must submit the approved aid.