September 5, 2024
Dear Colleagues,
I hope you had a relaxing summer and are having a good start to your fall.
As you are aware, USC is committed to supporting its students with disabilities, and faculty routinely do this through the provision of academic accommodations. I am writing to provide you with two updates on our institutional approach to accommodations.
First, you may have noticed that your students in recent years have been using accommodations that you did not see in the past. Two areas stand out. You may have experienced students with accommodations of Digitally Accessible course materials and for Course Policy Modifications, such as requests for absences and deadline extensions. We are not unique; these are trends seen across the nation. I’d like to provide more information about both areas.
Digital Accessibility refers to how we make courses accessible for students who may not be able to see materials or hear course content, or who may not use a keyboard or mouse in a typical manner. These students rely on Assistive Technologies, such as screen reading software to access course materials. If you learn that a student in your class requires Digitally Accessible course material, the Office of Student Accessibility Services (OSAS) can usually secure digital versions of textbooks, articles, and novels from the publisher without any additional work from the faculty member. Faculty-created lecture slides and assignments must be individually remediated. In these cases, OSAS and your school will work with you to develop a remediation plan that will be guided by your discipline, the type of materials, and the technologies the student uses. Your role is to reasonably cooperate to make the materials accessible, and you can expect support from OSAS, your department, and your school.
When you receive accommodation requests that would modify your course policies, such as additional absences or deadline extensions, you are encouraged to consult with OSAS to determine how these modifications might work in your class. In some cases, these accommodations may work well. In other situations, specific course requirements or learning objectives limit whether these accommodations can be used without fundamentally altering the nature of your course. Your role in these situations is to reasonably cooperate with OSAS to discuss your course requirements so that a fair and consistent decision can be made intentionally, in consultation with OSAS, and clearly communicated to the student in a timely manner.
I want to stress you are not required to change your course requirements or lower your academic expectations. Faculty determine course content, learning objectives, and discipline-appropriate pedagogical approaches. While faculty are expected to reasonably cooperate to make materials accessible and implement accommodations, you can also expect support from OSAS, your department, and your school.
If you have any questions about either Digital Accessibility or Course Policy accommodations, please reach out to Dr. Nicole Smith, director of OSAS, at smith.nicole@usc.edu. If you would like to learn more about Digital Accessibility in the classroom, you may reach out for additional support to the Center for Excellence in Teachingor to the Office of Institutional Accessibility.
Providing appropriate access to our students with disabilities is a shared responsibility, and I thank you for your partnership.
Sincerely,
Andrew T. Guzman
Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs