Dear Colleagues,
We have all reengineered our work over the last few semesters to adapt to the pandemic and the remote environment. There have been challenges along the way, but also many opportunities to reconsider the way each of us does our work. We all anticipate many more adaptions and changes when students, faculty and staff return to campus. The Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) is looking forward to reimagining the collaborative work that we do with instructors and students.
In the past, the CSD assisted with assessment administration when instructors were unable to provide testing accommodations to their students, either in the classroom or in a separate space. This CSD resource was considerably limited even prior to the pandemic’s impact and will be increasingly limited going forward. Given the lessons we have learned from the past year and the efforts that faculty have made to redesign their courses and create authentic assessment options, the CSD, in partnership with colleagues across the University, has reimagined other ways to provide assistance to faculty with accommodated assessments, and on more sustainable and equitable alternatives. Over the last year, many instructors have made amazing and thoughtful changes to their assessments, including open resource exams, portfolios, and other authentic assessment alternatives to standard testing. CSD and CETL are available to discuss assessment options like these and the incorporation of universal design elements that promote inclusion and equity for students with and without disabilities.
Apart from alternative authentic assessments, faculty will continue to have the following options for proctoring of more traditional tests:
- Respondus Lockdown Browser and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
- Respondus Lockdown Browserwith Monitor and BYOD (Monitor now compatible with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet for live proctoring capabilities.)
- If a student does not have access to a personal device to complete assessments on, they may check out iPads or laptops from the library. Additionally, there may be iPads or laptops available to faculty to check out to students in some classrooms through ITS.
- Gradescope – may provide instructors with utility of assessment grading.
Several other options for coordination assistance of less complicated accommodations (such as extended time and reduced distraction) will also be available in partnership with CSD in the exceptional circumstance when an instructor, TA, or departmental designee is unable to proctor or locate space:
- If instructors are planning to administer traditional assessments in their courses, the CSD will have a pool of trained proctors that may be able to monitor students with less complicated accommodations in a separate, location close to the original classroom (arranged by the instructor) in the event a TA or another department designee is not available to proctor. Instructor requests for proctoring assistance must be submitted to the CSD by the end of the second week of the semester. The deadline for the Fall 2021 is September 10th, 2021.
- If instructors are unable to reserve a space (i.e., conference room, office, classroom, etc.) for students with accommodated assessments that is close to the original classroom, CSD may be able to assist with locating and reserving an alternative location. Instructor requests for assistance in reserving a space must be submitted to the CSD by the end of the second week of the semester. The deadline for the Fall 2021 is September 10th, 2021.
- Visit the CSD website for more information and guidelines for requesting assistance: https://csd.uconn.edu/testing-accommodations/
For those students who require the coordination of more complicated assessment accommodations (for example, Assistive Technology or a Scribe), the CSD will continue to schedule, administer, and proctor these assessments. If after communicating with their instructor, students with more complicated accommodations need to take their assessments at the CSD, they must schedule their exams/quizzes at least 7 days in advance of the test date. Students with complicated assessment accommodations can schedule their tests with the CSD through their MyAccess account at https://myaccess.apps.sa.uconn.edu/.
Instructors should plan to administer their assessments for students with disabilities with approved accommodations at the same time as the rest of the class. While the CSD may be available to assist with reserving space and providing proctors in the exceptional cases listed above, it is the responsibility of the instructor to arrange for and provide approved assessment accommodations for their students.
Please distribute this information amongst your department colleagues. If there are any questions about the coordination of accommodated assessments, like extended time and reduced distraction environment, please contact the CSD Accommodations Team to discuss options at csdexams@uconn.edu.
For more information, contact: CSD Accommodations Team at csdexams@uconn.edu