Faculty and Instructors FAQ

The implementation of the Academic Accommodation Policy for Student with Disabilities is a shared responsibility between the Paul Menton Centre (PMC), academic staff, and relevant campus partners at Carleton. Using an integrated model, the PMC works with academic staff and Scheduling & Examination Services (SES) to deliver accommodation services to students with disabilities at the university.

The Paul Menton Centre (PMC) is the designated department on campus for assisting the Carleton community in integrating students with disabilities into all aspects of student life. PMC is responsible for coordinating the provision of comprehensive and professional services necessary to respond to the needs of students with disabilities. It is responsible for assessing the needs for academic accommodation of students with disabilities through assessments that are carried out on an individual basis, in accordance with related legislation, and on the basis of relevant professional/medical documentation, information gathered from the student, and evaluation by PMC Coordinators.

The McIntyre Examination Centre (MEC) is part of the Scheduling & Examination Services. Established in 2009, the McIntyre Examination Centre is designed to provide services to both students and instructors at Carleton in order to meet a variety of accommodation needs during scheduled in-person and online tests and exams. MEC has two main exam sites – Room 133 University Centre and 710 Dunton Tower. Other locations on campus are used during large formal examination periods and during busy times. MEC operates 7 days a week.

Often, the McIntyre Examination Centre (MEC) is mistaken for being a part of the Paul Menton Centre (PMC). While the PMC and MEC have a close working relationship in facilitating test/exam accommodations for students with disabilities, the two offices are separate operations under a different reporting structure.

Faculty and course instructors, supported by administrative staff, share the University’s responsibility under the Ontario Human Rights Code to provide appropriate academic accommodation to students with disabilities.

Scheduling & Examination Services (SES) offers a range of services to support instructors in the accommodation of in-person and online tests and exams.

Students are expected to be active participants in the accommodation process. Some of these responsibilities include:

• Request accommodations in Ventus in a timely manner;
• Follow-up with appropriate academic staff after they have requested accommodations in Ventus;
• Discuss with each instructor which of their template accommodations are applicable to a specific course and how the accommodations will be implemented;
• Advise their PMC coordinator of any problems/issues with their accommodations during the term.

Students with disabilities must be registered with the PMC before they can request accommodations through the Ventus Student Portal.

Once they have completed registration with PMC, we recommend that they request academic accommodations at the beginning of every term as a best practice.

For in-term tests or midterms, we recommend that they request accommodations at least10 business days before an upcoming test or midterm in the course.

For final exams, the deadlines to request accommodations are published in the University academic calendars for both undergraduate and graduate students.

This request is done at the course level, which includes exam and/or teaching accommodations they have selected from a list of approved template accommodations

Information on what to include in your course outline is provided by the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic). Students are encouraged to visit the Course Outline Information on Academic Accommodations page of the Current Student website for information regarding academic accommodations.

According to the Policy on Accessible Education for Students with Disabilities, OHRC (2018), “An appropriate accommodation at the post-secondary level would enable a student to successfully meet the essential requirements of the program, with no alteration in bona fide standards or outcomes, although the way the student demonstrates mastery, knowledge and skills may be altered.”

An academic accommodation will be considered “appropriate” where it will result in equal opportunity for an otherwise qualified student with a disability to attain the same level of performance, or enjoy the same level of benefits and privileges experienced by others, without compromising bona fide academic requirements.

Essential requirements are defined by the Ontario Human Rights Commission as “the knowledge and skills that must be acquired or demonstrated in order for a student to successfully meet the learning objectives of that… course or program.” The essential requirements are components that contribute to the achievement of the learning outcomes of the program.

Teaching and Learning Services (TLS) has a variety of resources for course instructors to explore in furthering their understanding how to create accessible resources for classroom material. Please visit their Accessibility Resources for Instructors page for more information. There are also staff at TLS who are qualified to review and assist in creating accessible material for Brightspace.

Staff at PMC and the READ Initiative can also provide insight into creating accessible learning environments. Contact either office to be connected directly with a staff member.

Registration with the PMC is voluntary. Students with disabilities are invited to contact us at pmc@carleton.ca or 613-520-6608 to schedule an intake appointment with a PMC Coordinator. Our reception staff will walk the students through the registration process including documentation requirements and any additional intake assessments required.

If you wish to refer a student to the PMC, please complete the contact form on the PMC website, and our team will reach out to them. Make sure you obtain permission from the student before making the referral.

Students are required to provide medical documentation from a regulated health care practitioner to confirm there are a disability and related functional limitations that impact on your post-secondary academic studies and participation.

For Learning Disabilities (LD), the standard document requirement is a Psycho-Educational Assessment (PEA) completed by a registered psychologist within the last 5 years or at the age of 18 years or older.

The majority of concerns are often resolved informally through constructive discussion with the student’s PMC Coordinator. If you have concerns regarding a particular student’s recommended accommodations, please reach out to their PMC Coordinator whose email can be found in the student’s LoA.

Students with disabilities must be registered with the Paul Menton Centre (PMC) before they can request accommodations through the Ventus Student Portal.

Once they have completed registration with PMC, we recommend that they request academic accommodations at the beginning of every term as a best practice.

For in-term tests or midterms, we recommend that they request accommodations at least 10 business days before an upcoming test or midterm in the course. Note that MEC is not able to accommodate requests for test or exam accommodations made less than five (5) business days before the test or exam.

For final exams, the deadlines to request accommodations are published in the University academic calendars for both undergraduate and graduate students.

This request is done at the course level, which includes exam and/or teaching accommodations they have selected from a list of approved template accommodations. 

You are seeing template accommodations that have been approved for the student during the intake appointment with their PMC coordinator. These template accommodations are intended to address functional impairments and disability barriers anticipated for the duration of a student’s academic studies if there are no changes to their disability status. We recommend that you meet with the student to discuss which of their template accommodations are applicable in your course. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the student’s PMC Coordinator whose email can be found in the student’s LoA.

Template accommodations are based on a student’s functional impairments and determined during their intake appointment with a PMC coordinator. These template accommodations are intended to compensate for the anticipated impact of a student’s functional impairments on their academic studies. The accommodation process is dynamic. A student’s accommodations can be adjusted at any time if there is a change in their disability status or if they have a new disability diagnosis.

You will be notified by email about the first student (and only the first) who sets up accommodations in your course after which you will be able to view individual LoAs for subsequent PMC students in the Ventus Faculty Portal. You will only be able to see the LoAs of students who have requested accommodations for your course.

There is no deadline for registering with the Paul Menton Centre (PMC). Students are able to register with the PMC at any point during the term. As a best practice, we always recommend that students request accommodations early in the term. The majority of PMC students do request accommodations early in the term. However, we do get some accommodation requests late in the term due to a variety of reasons, most of which are due to extenuating circumstances, including any of the following:

• A newly diagnosed disability;
• A newly acquired temporary disability (e.g., broken arm) due to unexpected circumstances;
• Difficulty getting documentation to register with the PMC;
• Students are in the process of being assessed for a disability; or
• Students being referred to PMC by instructors and student services because of academic difficulties.

The student may have not requested accommodations for your course in Ventus or they may not have fully registered with Paul Menton Centre (PMC) to receive accommodations through Ventus. In either scenario, please direct them to their PMC Coordinator.

The relevant PMC coordinator and their contact information will be listed in the LoA. If this information is missing, please contact pmc@carleton.ca or 613-520-6608 to be connected to the student’s PMC coordinator.  PMC coordinator contact information can also be found on the “Our Team” page of the PMC website.

Exam accommodations are adjustments to the ways or conditions in which tests or exams are being written, such as extension of exam duration, use of assistive technology, or writing in a different testing environment.

Teaching accommodations are additional support services and resources that allow students with disabilities to equally participate and benefit from instructional activities in the classroom. Examples include ASL interpreters, captioning, computerized note-takers, lecture notes provided peer volunteer note-takers, etc.

The Paul Menton Centre (PMC) works collaboratively with course instructors to support students who Dead and Hard of Hearing through the provision of Hearing Services that include ASL interpreters, computerized note-takers, and captioning for both in-person and online courses. The contact person for Hearing Services at the PMC is Hunter Calder at HunterCalder@cunet.carleton.ca.

Hundreds of peer note-takers volunteer with the Paul Menton Centre (PMC) every term. Course instructors play an important part in helping us to recruit volunteers from their classes. For this purpose, we have created a sample volunteer notetaker announcement that can be adjusted as needed to reflect the specifics of your course.  

Students with disabilities are expected to meet deadlines like all students. However, there may be unavoidable or extenuating circumstances where a student’s disability may impact their ability to complete an assignment by the due date. In these instances, we advise students to discuss this need with their professors early in the term and agree on a process for requesting an extension if it is needed.

As a general practice, Paul Menton Centre (PMC) does not include assignment extensions on a Letter of Accommodation. However, we will support an extension on an assignment-by-assignment basis. A student’s PMC Coordinator can be contacted to verify this is a disability-related request and supported by documentation in their file. Please visit our Extended Time for Assignments webpage for more information on how students are advised to handle assignment extension requests.

You may request that the student completes a “Student Agreement – Classroom Audio/Video Recording Use Privacy Agreement” whereby a student would agree to using the audio/video recordings and transcript only for their own learning needs. They are also required to acknowledge that this content cannot be shared with another individual or posted on public forums.

Not all classrooms have accessible seating for students with disabilities. In these cases, ergonomic furniture (e.g. accessible table, padded or ergonomic chair) may be requested to accommodate a student with accessibility needs in your classroom. The PMC can request accessible furniture from Facilities Management and Planning (FMP) to be installed in the classroom for your student. Alternatively, a request for accessible furniture to FMP can be made through your departmental administrator. This furniture is usually labelled with signage that it is reserved for use for accessibility purposes.

The test booking form will be called Notice of Examination (NOE). Upon receiving the first LoA in your class, you may submit a Notice of Examination to MEC through the Ventus Faculty Portal.

Absolutely, please provide all test/exam related information to your TA or the administrative staff, and email us with their name/Banner ID at ExamRoom so we can grant their access to Ventus as your designate for the specific course.

It’s recommended that you submit all NoEs by the deadline established by the McIntyre Exam Centre for the term in order to avoid late fees. This deadline is communicated in the Examinations Memo to all course instructors at the beginning of the term.

If you have missed the deadline for the term, it is still possible to submit your Notices of Examination (NoEs) through the Ventus Faculty Portal but a late fee to the department may apply. Should you have issues submitting your request please contact ExamRoom.

It’s not usually recommended to book MEC space for quizzes less than 30 minutes. From our experience, students tend not to show up as they don’t want to miss the class. One suggestion for short quizzes, you could try to accommodate all students in class by providing extended time to the whole class.

Most certainly, you can set these up in Brightspace yourself, and only need to do it once for quizzes for the whole term by applying accommodation on the course level. For assignments though, you will need to set up Special Access each time you have an assessment. Please see Setting Accommodations in Brightspace webpage for step-by-step instructions.

The process is the same when it comes to submitting the NoE, although it can be more challenging for us to provide in-person test/exam accommodation due to the restrictions on resources (e.g. space, proctoring, etc.).

Exam accommodation will be automatically set up for your PMC students during formally scheduled final and deferred exams. You don’t need to submit a NoE to reserve MEC space and apply accommodation in Brightspace. Please refer to the Final Examination Memo that you will receive once the formal exam schedule has been released.

Please email us to ExamRoom or call us 613-520-2600, ext. 1571

You and your PMC students will receive an email notification from the McIntyre Exam Centre (MEC) that accommodation arrangements have been made for your test or exam. You will be required to log in to the Ventus Faculty Portal to view details of the accommodation arrangements for each student.

You can upload your test or exam materials via the Ventus Faculty Portal using the MEC Exam Upload Form. Go to the Class List, Notice of Examination you created for the , choose “Upload a file”, and complete the form.

For large print requirement over 18-point, we recommend that the course instructor provides a separate large print test/exam paper for the student, and upload it to Ventus Faculty Portal along with the regular print test/exam paper. MEC can enlarge standard-size test/exam papers on the photocopier for large print requirements between 14 to 18 point.

Please provide a digital copy of your test/exam paper in MS Word by uploading it to the Faculty Ventus Portal. Make sure to label it is for a specific student.

Our proctors will attempt to contact you using the information provided on the NoE. If we are unable to reach you, the student will be advised to state their assumption about the question and continue with the exam.

You will be contacted by our proctor; it’s at your discretion whether to allow or deny a late student to start the exam.

We have a dedicated runner who will deliver the completed test/exam to your department the following business day after it is written.

You need to fill out a separate e-Proctoring application form by the registration deadline set for the term. Kindly note the deadline is usually pretty early in the term, be sure to submit it on time if you are considering e-Proctoring for your online assessment.

Zoom is the live e-Proctoring solution where a web-conferencing tool will be used with human proctors monitoring. CoMaS is the automated solution where the student’s computer will be monitored, and screenshots will be taken throughout the exam. For more information, please visit the e-Proctoring resource page.

A McIntyre Exam Centre proctor will greet students at the entrance of the exam centre and walk them through the sign-in process. Students will be informed of any exam requirements provided from the proctor information sheet. Those instructions will also be reflected on the student sign-in sheet available to them throughout the exam. Students are monitored by proctoring staff throughout the exam and are available for any questions or concerns students may have.

For in-term tests, student can hand in their exam and will be advised to contact their course instructor for next steps. For formally scheduled final exams, it may be possible for them to submit a petition to apply for a formal deferral.