The Office of Accommodative Services encourages faculty members to inform students of their intent to accommodate them. Having a syllabus statement invites students to initiate the accommodation process in a respectful and effective way. Announcing how students can receive classroom accommodations on the first day of class and including a statement in the course syllabus provides students with a welcoming and inclusive classroom environment.
Below are examples for possible syllabus statements. Feel free to edit them to fit the style of your course.
Note: Any syllabus posted online (e.g. a Word/PDF file or an online syllabus) should include clickable links to outside websites/resources, such as in the examples below. This will help SUNY Potsdam in reaching our goal of creating accessible materials for everyone.
Here are some examples:
SUNY Potsdam welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. SUNY Potsdam has an office for students with disabilities. For more information, visit the Accommodative Services website.
In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the Office of Accommodative Services, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation. If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, the Office of Accommodative Services will provide you and your instructor with an accommodation letter via email. Please discuss the accommodations with your instructor as early in your courses as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommodations.
If you are a student with a disability and wish to discuss reasonable accommodations for this course, contact me privately to discuss the specific modifications you wish to request. If you have not yet contacted Accommodative Services, located in Sisson Hall Room 137, please do so in order to verify your disability and to coordinate your reasonable modifications. For more information, visit the Accommodative Services website.
If you are a student with a disability who will require reasonable program modification in this course, please meet with Accommodative Services in Sisson Hall Room 137 for assistance in developing a plan to address program modifications. If you are already working with Accommodative Services, arrange to meet with me during my office hours to discuss reasonable modifications that may be necessary. For more information, visit the Accommodative Services website.