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Classroom Accommodations

Common classroom accommodations include:

Audiobooks

  • CIA has an institutional membership with Learning Ally, an audiobook service.  Eligible students can get audiobooks for free through Learning Ally. Students can access audiobooks through their phones (iPhones or Androids), iPads, or computers (Mac, Windows and Chromebook). 
  • Please note: Not all classes have a textbook, some will have handouts and/or digital materials. We can connect students with assistive technology (i.e. scanner, browser plugins, operating system options, apps, etc.) to access an audio version of the materials.

Notetaking assistance

  • Disability Services uses JamWorks to provide students with notetaking support.

Preferred seating

  • Students typically will either request a specific area of the classroom (i.e. closer to the faculty) or will discuss the specifics with each professor regarding where it is best to seat in each classroom.

Breaks as needed to address immediate concerns

  • These breaks are typically short in nature (i.e. 5-10 minutes). Students are responsible for any course content or activities missed during their breaks.

Exam Accommodations

Common Exam accommodations include:

Extended time on exams

  • Increments commonly requested are an additional 50% or 100%.

Separate test location for on campus exams

  • This is a distraction reduced setting, which typically takes place in the Writing Center.

Read aloud

  • This is not an oral exam, Disability Services staff can read test questions and answer options to students.

Scribe or use of a word processor

  • Disability Services staff can scribe or write down answers for the student and/or the student may be approved to use a word processor to type their answers.

The following procedures govern an exam accommodation:

  • Students will determine which accommodations they want to use at least 7 days prior to the exam
    • Students will notify faculty if they intend to use extended time only.
    • Students will notify Accessibility & Disability Services (disabilityservices@cia.edu) if they intend to use any of the following: separate test location, separate test location with extended time, read aloud, and/or scribe.
  • If testing with Disability Services, they will arrange an exam time that takes into account the student’s schedule. Every effort will be made to give the exam at the regularly scheduled time.
  • Disability Services will secure the exam from the professor and will conduct the exam. There may be more than one student taking the exam in a given location at the same time. Academic integrity will be enforced as outlined in the CIA Student Handbook.
  • Students who are late to an exam are not able to make up the time lost.
  • Students who fail to show up for the exam will be considered absent, and the professor will determine the grade for the exam.

Students with documented disabilities can request housing accommodations via the Disability Accommodation Request Form for CIA Housing. The documentation process is different than when academic accommodations are requested. The two most common housing accommodations requested as Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) and a single bedroom.

ESAs

Emotional Support Animals provide necessary emotional support to a student with a mental or psychiatric disability that alleviates one or more identified symptoms of an student's disability so that a student may have full participation in and equal access to CIA's housing.

The process to request an ESA is to:

  • Review and complete the attached ESA Policy and Agreement.
  • Submit veterinarian records including a letter of good health/visit summary indicating good health and vaccine records.
  • Submit documentation via the attached ESA Information Request Form or submit a letter from your licensed health care provider on official letterhead that includes all of the following: 
    • A clear and specific diagnosis.
    • Explanation of the current manifestations or functional limitations of the disability.
    • Indication of an ongoing relationship between the provider and the student (not a single appointment).
    • Recommendation for an ESA, typically includes the current treatment plan.
    • Explanation of what symptoms an ESA will address and indicate how the ESA will address your symptoms.
    • Credentials of the licensed professional providing the diagnosis (no personal relationship with the individual being evaluated).

 

Once all documents are submitted, they are reviewed. If your request is approved, then we will let Dr. Smith, Director of Student Life & Housing, know. He will contact your roommates to make sure they are okay to live with an ESA. After your roommates confirm to Dr. Smith that they are okay with an ESA, Dr. Smith will notify you that it is okay to bring the ESA to your suite. The process to review documents and conduct the roommate check can take time. You should not plan to bring the ESA to your suite the same day that documents are submitted.

 

Please note: The letter of good health and vaccine records are required annually and must be submitted before you return to campus with your ESA. 

Single Bedroom

While CIA does not have any single suites available, students with documented disabilities, can request a single bedroom as an accommodation. This means students would have roommates within the suite but would have a bedroom to themselves.

 

Here is the process to request a single bedroom:

  • Register with Disability Services via the Intake Form.
  • Submit a letter from your licensed health care provider on official letterhead and includes your diagnosis, symptoms impacting you, recommendation for a single bedroom, and indicate how the accommodations will address your symptoms.

Once all documents are submitted, they are reviewed. If your request is approved, then we will let Dr. Smith, Director of Student Life & Housing, know. It is best to request this as early as possible. If all of the room placements are made, it is possible that a single bedroom may not be available.