Information about arrangements for disabled students taking degree

Information about arrangements for disabled students taking degree programmes and courses organised by School of Biological Sciences. The School of Biological Sciences welcomes disabled students on its courses. These notes describe the procedures that are in place to allow them to participate as fully as possible in courses. Arrangements for disabled students are made through the School Disability Co-ordinator (currently Dr Trevor Stuchbury) and the School Disabilities Secretary (currently Mrs Wendy Wilson). Routine queries about disability-related issues should be directed to the Disabilities Secretary and more complex queries to the Disability Co-ordinator. The School makes arrangements for disabled students on the basis of information provided by Student Support and recorded on the Student Record system. If you feel that you have a disability or need support you should initially approach Student Support to arrange for an assessment of your needs. At the start of each course the appropriate course secretary prints and circulates to course coordinators, lists of the provisions agreed for disabled students taking each course. The course coordinator, who is aware of the detailed schedule for the course, then informs all staff, demonstrators etc involved in teaching the course of any arrangements to be made for these students. For those students who have provisions agreed with Student Support, assistance can be provided for lectures, practical classes, field visits and assessments. Lectures Provision of lecture notes in advance of lectures For the vast majority of lectures, notes are available on-line via WebCT to all students in advance of delivery of the class. In those cases where on-line notes are not available or where disabled students are entitled to additional resources, these have in the past been provided in hard copy form via the teaching technicians in Zoology Room G10. During Session 2006-7 the School is moving to providing these additional materials on-line via a WebCT site to which only disabled students have access. Permission to tape record lectures Most staff readily give permission for lectures to be recorded for later transcription. Queries should in the first instance be directed to course co-ordinators who will co-ordinate arrangements for their course. Provision of note-takers On recommendation of Student Support, disabled students may be provided with note-takers to assist in providing written records of lectures. The School will make arrangements for these and will inform students and Course Co-ordinators of the assistant who will provide this service. Notetakers are usually postgraduate or senior undergraduate students. In many instances a single note-taker will provide notes for several students taking the same course. Provision of a notetaker is intended to allow students time to better listen to and absorb the content of the lecture. Note-takers do not replace the need for disabled students to attend lectures. Once the disabilities secretary has informed students and note-takers of the arrangements it is up to each student to arrange with the note-taker for prompt collection of notes. Notetakers are advised of student’s email address and asked to email the student to arrange to meet up to discuss their notetaking requirements and how they will get the notes from the notetaker. When the notetaker gets no response from the student notes are left with the disabilities secretary who will try to contact the student and arrange for collection of notes from the office. Personal assistants at lectures and practical classes. In some cases personal assistants will be provided at lectures and practicals. Where this is the case arrangements will normally have been agreed in advance between the School and Student Support. Practical classes Many SBS courses, especially those at levels 1 and 2, include practical classes. Level 1 practicals are held in the ground floor teaching laboratories in the Zoology Building. These were refurbished in 2004 and now provide practical workspace and access to computers for up to about 190 students. Provision for use by wheelchair users in the form of height adjustable benches was incorporated into the design. In 2006 basement laboratories in Zoology were also upgraded to include similar facilities. Thus the physical resources available for laboratory work by students with impaired mobility are excellent. Commonly practical work involves working in groups and often write-ups are submitted at the end of the practical. Under these circumstances it is difficult to provide proof readers or extensions to submission deadlines. The assessment of practical reports generally depends more on the scientific content rather than on spelling or grammatical accuracy. Field courses and visits The majority of the School’s field courses and day visits are accessible to disabled students. However parts of some field courses would not be accessible to students with limited mobility as they require access to rough ground or time spent at sea etc. A limited amount of information about the nature of the courses appears in the University Catalogue of Courses and more details are contained in the course handbooks and course web pages. Where students are not able, for reason of disability, to participate in a planned field course, alternative activities and/or venues will be arranged to enable them to meet the course learning outcomes. These will be agreed between the student and the course co-ordinator, if necessary after consultation with the appropriate the External Examiner. Assessment (coursework, exams) The School follows normal University procedures for assessment of students with disabilities, including provision of extra time, of computers and of readers and scribes. Guidance for staff making examination arrangements for candidates with disabilities is provided in the Academic Quality Handbook: Appendix 7.2. The School makes arrangements for students requiring extra time in examinations. Students requiring 10 min/hr extra time take the examination in the normal examination venue and are allowed to remain beyond the normal finish time. Those requiring longer than this are allocated other rooms, which are either shared with other candidates or allocated on an individual basis if this has been specified in their provisions. Students requiring the assistance of a reader or scribe are allocated an individual room for examination. Where agreed, students may be allowed to use a computer to complete their examination. This may be either in a shared or in an individual room depending on other provisions required. This facility is organised through DIT who ensure that the computer does not carry any stored data that might be of assistance to the candidate. It is not normally possible to use a computer for examinations based mainly on MCQs. Some students who are entitled to extra time or use of a computer do not like to be in a room which is separate from the other students and choose to give up this entitlement and use the normal venue. Where this is the case it is essential that students inform the Disabilities Secretary in good time - arrangements often require attendance of invigilators etc who are severely inconvenienced when expected students do not attend. The School Disabilities Secretary communicates (normally by e-mail to the students university email address) the examination arrangements for disabled students. At the same time information is sent to any assistants (invigilators, scribes etc) who may be involved in the assessment process and to appropriate staff. These arrangements are often not in place until near the end of the week prior to the start of examinations so it is essential that students check their e-mail especially regularly at this time. Where appropriate, students may be given extensions to deadlines for submission of coursework. This is by agreement between the student and the Course Co-ordinator. In addition, on the recommendation of Student Support Services, students may be provided with the services of a proof reader to check grammar and spelling. This is arranged through the School Disabilities Coordinator and is particularly appropriate for long essays and dissertations. It is School of Biological Sciences policy that students will not be penalised for poor spelling or grammar if the meaning of any work submitted for assessment is clear. Such a policy is consistent with anonymous marking and does not penalise students who have not disclosed a disability related to these areas. Support (library, web pages, on-line teaching, computing facilities) Links to these pages and other useful sources of information are also provided via the School of Biological Sciences disabilities web page. Useful contacts School Disability Co-ordinator School Disabilities Secretary Teaching Technicians Dr Trevor Stuchbury e-mail: e-mail: e-mail: e-mail: t.stuchbury@abdn.ac.uk w.wilson@abdn.ac.uk n.graham@abdn.ac.uk k.g.bruce@abdn.ac.uk Mrs Wendy Wilson Mr Nigel Graham (second & fourth year courses) Mr Kevin Bruce (first & third year courses) Updated February 2007 Responsibilities of disabled students Agree provision required with Student Support and promptly inform the School Disabilities Secretary where any provision agreed is no longer required. Agree with any note-takers, arrangements for collecting notes. Attending lectures even when note-takers are provided. Agree with course co-ordinators arrangements for taping lectures, extensions to submission dates for coursework etc as appropriate. Collecting from the teaching technicians or printing from the web any additional course notes to which they are entitled. Responsibilities of course co-ordinators Inform staff on course about disabled student needs. Agree extensions to deadlines where required. Give/arrange permission to record lectures. Provide teaching technicians with copies of lecture material in advance of lectures to enable this to be photocopied or scanned prior to distribution to disabled students. Responsibilities Secretary of School Disabilities Co-ordinator/Disabilities Maintain and distribute up to date information about student needs. Provision of note takers – inform students, note-takers and course co-ordinators of arrangements in place. Agree with students access to proof readers and inform course co-ordinators of arrangements. Make arrangements for examination of disabled students and inform students, staff and assistants of these arrangements.