Sample Syllabus Statement on Accessibility

Faculty members should consider including a statement such as the following on your syllabus for next semester to inform students about Access Services and the process for requesting accommodations:  

Bryn Mawr College is committed to providing equal access to students with a documented disability. Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first register with Access Services. Students can call 610-526-7516 to make an appointment with the Director of Access Services, Deb Alder, or email her at dalder@brynmawr.edu to begin this confidential process. Once registered, students should schedule an appointment with the professor as early in the semester as possible to share the verification form and make appropriate arrangements. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive and require advance notice to implement. More information can be obtained at the Access Services website. (http://www.brynmawr.edu/access-services/)

Because some students with a disability may be eligible to record lectures—and it is state law in Pennsylvania that individuals are given advance notice that they may be recorded—professors also need to put a statement such as the following in their syllabus:

Any student who has a disability-related need to record this class first must speak with the Director of Access Services and to me, the instructor. Class members need to be aware that this class may be recorded.

The name of the individual having permission to record should not be revealed to the rest of the class.