Academic Accommodations
Academic accommodations are based on disability-related needs and are intended to minimize the impact of functional limitations due to disability. Accommodations are not intended to provide unfair advantage, because students are still expected to meet the same course objectives and complete the same set of course requirements as all other students in the course.
Student registration with PMC
Carleton students with disabilities are responsible for identifying their needs for disability-related accommodation(s) to the Paul Mental Centre and providing appropriate disability documentation. All documentation must be current and provided by a regulated health practitioner (e.g. physician, a medical specialist, psychiatrist, psychologist).
Documentation must include a statement that:
- the individual has an ongoing diagnosed disability, and
- the functional limitations of the disability warrant academic accommodation.
Students with learning disabilities must provide a written report from a comprehensive psycho-educational assessment conducted by a registered clinical psychologist that formally diagnoses a specific learning disability.
The student’s PMC coordinator will review the appropriateness of documentation, discuss possible accommodation(s), and establish an accommodation protocol. Factors taken into consideration when establishing an accommodation protocol are the specific impact of the student’s disability on academic functioning, the degree of the impact, the extent to which the documentation supports the request(s) and whether the accommodation will significantly compromise the essential requirements and/or academic integrity of the course or program.
Letter of Accommodation (LoA)
Each term, a student registered with PMC with a documented disability must make a request for accommodations for each course in the term. A request can be made in person at an appointment with a PMC Coordinator, or through the Ventus Student Portal for returning students with no restrictions on their accommodation protocol. See “Deadlines for Students to Request Accommodation(s)” section below for information on last dates for submission of requests for accommodations. Students registered with the PMC are encouraged to come in early in the term to request accommodations, however due to a large number of registered students, and lack of a follow-through on our recommendation, students make requests for accommodations at any time in the term prior to the deadlines. Also, some students will only request test/exam accommodations for final exams, late in the term but before the deadline.
Students request their accommodations in their Ventus Student Portal. Once those accommodations have been approved, a Letter of Accommodation (LoA) will appear in the Ventus Faculty Portal. The LoA outlines classroom and/or test/exam accommodations which have been approved for the student for the course for which it is issued, on the basis of the student’s disability documentation.
The student is responsible for connecting with the course instructor soon after the LoA is issued to discuss accommodation arrangements. The course instructors are encouraged to contact the student’s PMC Coordinator with any questions or concerns regarding the accommodations as outlined on the LoA. The Coordinator’s name and email address can be found at the top of the LoA.
Accommodation Arrangements
After a student’s Letter of Accommodation (LoA) is issued for a course, the course instructor is responsible for making arrangements for classroom and in-class test/exam accommodations.
Most common classroom accommodations include provision to voice-record lectures, request for a volunteer in-class peer notetaker, preferential seating, referral to Library Transcription Services for course readings in electronic format, consideration for spelling and grammar on in-class assignments, etc.
In-class tests and exams are those that are conducted within the classroom, or any tests that are NOT administered by Scheduling & Examination Services (SES) during the formal exam periods, regardless of when they are held during the term. Instructors are responsible for providing accommodation for all in-class tests/exams. To arrange for test/exam accommodations, the course instructors should submit a test/exam booking request to the McIntyre Exam Centre through the Notices of examination section in the Ventus Faculty Portal. For more information, please refer to section Tests and Exams.
Deadlines for Students to Request Accommodation(s)
- In-class tests: 14 calendar days before the date of an upcoming in-class test/exam.
- Formal Exams (December, April, July, or August): Last day for course withdrawal in the term. See Carleton dates and deadlines for specific dates.
Ventus Faculty Portal
Ventus is a one-stop solution linking the Paul Menton Centre (PMC), students with disabilities, faculty and course instructors, and the McIntyre Exam Centre (MEC) under a single academic accommodation management system.
The Ventus Faculty Portal allows course instructors to easily:
- View individual Letters of Accommodation (LoAs) of all PMC students in their course in one single place.
- Book tests or exams with the McIntyre Exam Centre (MEC) through a submission of a Notice of Examination (NOE).
- Upload a digital copy of tests or exams.
- View the accommodation arrangements of their PMC students for a test or an exam, including their start/end times and locations.
Additional information and support for accessing and using Ventus is available in the Faculty Support section of the Ventus Help website.