91¹û¶³

Accommodations related to notetaking are individually approved for eligible students with disabilities and health conditions that impact their notetaking speed, quality, or handwriting/typing capacity.

The “access to peer notes” accommodation provides you with permission to utilize notes from classmates in addition to your own notes. This accommodation is intended to remove any class-specific policy prohibiting the sharing of notes. It is your responsibility to obtain peer notes as needed by coordinating with fellow students and/or utilizing the class notetaker system. This accommodation should NOT substitute your personal notetaking or class attendance.

To ensure course content is fully captured, students with this accommodation are strongly encouraged to request and utilize additional notetaking accommodations such as permission to audio record class or permission to utilize technology for notetaking. Please contact OAA with any questions or concerns. Resources related to developing notetaking skills and strategies are available in the Academic Success Center.

Class Notetaker System

The Office of Accessibility and Accommodations (OAA) works with faculty to identify class notetakers. Once identified, notetakers upload their personal notes to the OAA portal, and students with this accommodation receive an email notification alerting them when new notes are available for viewing. This process allows both the student and class notetaker to remain anonymous and provides a seamless method for viewing the supplemental notes.

Important Considerations

It is possible that an official class notetaker will not be identified in a course. This can be due to a lack of student volunteers or to the format of the course (online, asynchronous, etc.). It is also possible that a class notetaker may be absent from class, not upload notes in a timely manner, take insufficient notes during a class session, or have a non-preferred notetaking style. You are encouraged to notify OAA if the class notetaker notes are inconsistent or of low quality. OAA will attempt to recruit additional notetaker volunteers in these circumstances and discuss alternative notetaking accommodations with you.

Alternative Options

Because access to peer notes is dependent on many variables, it is NOT recommended as a primary notetaking accommodation. Recommended notetaking accommodations include permission to audio record class, permission to utilize technology for notetaking, and priority seating. All notetaking accommodations are reviewed on an individual basis based on the current academic impact of the student’s disability. Please contact OAA to discuss.

Step-by-Step Instructions

To activate your accommodation eligibility in individual classes each semester, send official notifications to your professors through the OAA portal and discuss the logistics of the accommodations with each professor. Steps 1-3 are detailed in the link below. Be sure to complete ALL steps. Please contact us with any questions.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Cumberland Law students do not need to follow the online portal steps. Approved law school accommodations are coordinated directly with the Director of Student Services and ADA Compliance at Cumberland School of Law. More information is below under “Accommodation Procedures for Students Enrolled in the Juris Doctor Program”.

Every student with a documented disability has the following rights:

1. Equal access to courses, programs, services, jobs, activities,and facilities available through the university.
2. Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids determined on a case-by-case basis.
3. Appropriate confidentiality of all information pertaining to his/her disability with the choice of whom to disclose his/her disability to except as required by law.
4. Information reasonably available in accessible formats.

Every student with a disability has the responsibility to:

1. Meet the university’s qualifications and essential technical,academic, and institutional standards.
2. Identify themselves in a timely manner as an individual with a disability when seeking an accommodation.
3. Provide documentation from an appropriate professional source that verifies the nature of the disability, functional limitations,and the need for specific accommodations.
4. Follow specific procedures for obtaining reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids.

Institutional Rights and Responsibilities

91¹û¶³, through its disability contact persons has the right to:

1. Maintain the university’s academic standards.
2. Request current documentation from a student completed by an appropriate professional source to verify the need for reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids.
3. Discuss a student’s need for reasonable accommodations,academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids with the professional source of his/her documentation with the student's signed consent authorizing such discussion.
4. Select among equally effective and appropriate accommodations,adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids in consultation with students with disabilities.
5. Deny a request for accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids if the documentation does not identify a specific disability, the documentation fails to verify the need for the requested services, or the documentation is not provided in a timely manner.
6. Refuse to provide an accommodation, adjustment, and/or auxiliary aids that is inappropriate or unreasonable including any that:
   • pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others;
   • constitute a substantial change or alteration to an essential element of a course or program; or
   • pose undue financial or administrative burden on the University.
    

91¹û¶³ through its contact persons has the responsibility to:

1. Ensure that university courses, programs, services, jobs,activities, and facilities, when viewed in their entirety, are offered in the most integrated and appropriate settings.
2. Provide information regarding policies and procedures to students with disabilities and assure its availability in accessible formats upon request.
3. Evaluate students on their abilities, not their disabilities.
4. Provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids for students with disabilities upon a timely request by a student.
5. Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication concerning students with disabilities except where disclosure is required by law or authorized by the student.

More specifically, the university’s contact person has the responsibility to:

1. Assist students with disabilities who self-identify and meet university criteria for eligibility to receive reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids determined on a case-by-case basis.
2. Assure confidentiality of all information pertaining to a student's disability.
3. Inform students with disabilities of university policies and procedures for filing a formal grievance and/or through external agencies (e.g., Office of Civil Rights).

This policy applies to students enrolled in the Juris Doctor program through the Cumberland School of Law who wish to request accommodations. The information provided outlines the collaborative procedures between Accessibility and Accommodations and the Director of Student Services and ADA Compliance for the Cumberland School of Law.

The office of Accessibility and Accommodations is responsible for verifying disability and determining eligible accommodations for all students enrolled in the University. Once a student has been deemed eligible to receive accommodations, accommodation support is provided to assist the student in following procedures for notifying faculty and making appropriate arrangements to receive accommodations each semester.

Learn More

Questions and concerns over accommodations should initially be directed in writing to the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations (OAA). If the director cannot resolve the disability rights issue, a meeting with the student, the faculty member (if applicable), representative from OAA, and the senior associate provost is the second step in resolving disagreements or challenging a denied appeal. If agreements cannot be rendered, the final step in the grievance procedure is to file a formal appeal to the 91¹û¶³ provost’s office. Should you disagree with the outcome of this step, you may file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights.

During the grievance process, the student is entitled to receive any accommodations recommended by Accessibility and Accommodations.

It is important that concerns are addressed promptly so that the student's participation in the course or activity is not affected. The appeal should clearly state the basis and rationale for the objection and should be transmitted as a confidential document to the 91¹û¶³ provost.

Address

91¹û¶³ Office of the Provost
800 Lakeshore Dr
Birmingham, AL 35229

The university provost will consider the appeal and render a final decision, which will be communicated to all parties.

Steps in the Grievance Process

1. Consult with appropriate Accessibility and Accommodations staff member(s).
2. If the situation cannot be resolved in step one, you are encouraged to meet with Accessibility and Accommodations staff member(s), the course instructor (if applicable), and the senior associate provost to discuss your concerns.
3. If a result is not achieved in step two, it is recommended you submit a formal, written appeal to the university provost’s office.

Should you disagree with the outcome of the grievance process, you may file a formal complaint with the Office for Civil Rights:

Regional Office for Civil Rights
Office for Civil Rights, Region IV
U.S. Department of Education
Atlanta, GA 30301-3104