Acadia University - Faculty Resources

Your Role in Supporting Students with Disabilities

We all have a role and responsibilities for creating an inclusive educational environment and equitable access to full education experience inside and outside of classroom.

As a faculty member at Acadia University, you have the responsibility to:

• Receive and make note of the confirmation of students’ accommodation sent from our office.
• Upon receipt students’ accommodation, bring to the immediate attention of Accessible Learning staff any accommodation that compromises the course, program’s essential academic requirements or other concerns.
• Work with students and accessibility services to implement academic accommodations.
• Understand that students with the same disability may have different accommodations, and accommodations are tailored to each student, not each disability.
• Consult and collaborate with Accessible Learning staff to resolve challenges related to student accommodation plans.
• View students with disabilities as being as valuable and capable as any other student.
• Integrate UDL to make learning more accessible to everyone.
• Ensure course design, content, materials, instruction, labs, and field trips are accessible to all students.
• Maintain students’ dignity, privacy, and confidentiality.

Students are not required to disclose to you about their disabilities or why they have registered with our services. Should a student choose to disclose to you about their disability, do not disclose to others without their explicit written permission. It is also important to recognize that there exists a certain dynamic between a student and professor. While students have the right to not answer any questions about their disabilities, they may feel obligated to in certain situation. If you have any questions about the student’s accommodation, please contact our office.

Protecting student privacy

• Save information about students’ accommodations in a secure platform and not visible to the public.
• Engage students outside of class time (never in class) to discuss their accommodations and/or other potential supports.
• Do not ask a student to disclose medical or other information related to their disability.