The mission of Disability Services at CSU-Global is to provide equal access to students with disabilities while maintaining the academic integrity standards of the university. Disability Services at CSU-Global collaborates with instructors and staff to create effective, equitable, and inclusive learning environments so that qualified students may achieve their educational goals.

Disability reflects an assortment of characteristics and experiences; it is a key component to understanding diversity in our global society. To optimize the online environment and to support accommodations requested, Disability Services encourages students to self-identify disability-related accommodations requests early in their enrollment at CSU-Global.

What to do if a student self-discloses

If a student self-discloses a disability, please encourage them to reach out to Disability Services. When a student discloses, please do not imply/promise that the student will be approved for accommodations or diagnose/guarantee the kind of accommodations they will receive if approved. Please refer them directly to Disability Services:

• Email: ada@csuglobal.edu
• Phone: (720) 279-0650
• For more information about Disability Services’ mission and registering for services, visit our webpage: https://disabilityservices.csuglobal.edu/
• Let the student know that if they do not receive a response with 48 business hours, to reach out to their Student Success Counselor. Sometimes students use an incorrect email address or phone number, so this helps to ensure we connect with them.

Registering with Disability Services

• In order to register with Disability Services and request academic accommodations, students must contact Disability Services directly. They must complete two forms: the Request for Academic Accommodations and the Informed Consent for Information Release. They also must submit supporting documentation for their disability(ies).
• In a general sense, supportive documentation needs to address the functional limitations in an academic setting experienced by the student as a result of the disability. It also must include recommendations from their medical professional for academic accommodations. The CSU-Global Documentation Guidelines, which have been shared on the Disability Services web page, outline the specific information needed to determine appropriate academic accommodations.
• The Request for Academic Accommodations, the Informed Consent for Information Release, and supportive documentation provide Disability Services the information needed to identify and approve appropriate academic accommodations. Once all forms and documentation are received, Disability Services will complete a file review and then notify the student of approved academic accommodations.

Accommodations

An academic accommodation is any modification or adjustment in the learning environment that enables a qualified person with a disability to participate in a course, program, facility, activity or service. Academic accommodations assure that a student with a disability has rights and access equal to students without disabilities. Accommodations create equal educational opportunities. Providing accommodations does not mean setting different standards for students with disabilities.

After a student registers with Disability Services and is approved, they must request Faculty Notification Letters for each course at the start of every term. It is the student’s responsibility to 1) contact Disability Services to request a Faculty Notification Letter of Accommodations and 2) email the professor their Faculty Notification Letter of Accommodations at the start of the term. A student’s accommodations are effective from the date that they share the Faculty Notification Letter with you – accommodations are not retroactive. So if a student does not provide you with a Faculty Notification Letter until week 5 in the term, the accommodation(s) are not retroactively applied to the first 4 weeks of the term.

Do your best to remember which students have submitted letters and what their accommodation(s) are. For some students, reminding you of their accommodation and the fact that they have a disability can feel uncomfortable.

NOTE: Students registered with Disability Services may choose to not submit their Faculty Notification Letter for every class they take. It is their choice whether or not to use the approved accommodations. However, also bear in mind that accommodations are not retroactive should you receive a Faculty Notification Letter after the start of the course.

Common academic accommodations at CSU-Global

• Extended time
  Some students may need extra time on assignments and exams. As a general guideline, the student should be allowed one extra day to complete Discussion Posts (primary and responses) and two extra days to complete course assignments, including Critical Thinking assignments, Portfolio Milestones, and the final Portfolio Project. If there are timed quizzes and exams, the allotted time will need to be extended to double time. Extended time begins at the initial assignment deadline, which means the late policy begins after the student’s extended time. If your course has times quizzes and/or exams please reach out to Disability Services if you need assistance with how to extend the allotted exam time for a student with this accommodation.
• Texts in alternate format
  When a student’s disability requires alternate formats, Disability Services works with the student to provide PDF versions of textbooks, Word versions of PDF articles, audio versions of course material, etc. Ideally, students let Disability Services know 4-weeks prior to the start of the course so that we can obtain and/or convert materials into their preferred alternate format. Generally speaking, if you see this accommodation on a Faculty Notification Letter, there is no action that you need to take. However, if you post additional articles or resources in a course update or discussion forum, consider the fact that some students may not be able to access them. Contact Disability Services if you find yourself in this situation so that we can help work on alternate formats.
• Accessible visual materials
  Some students will need visual materials (videos, images, PowerPoint presentations, charts, tables, etc.) made accessible. When a student contacts Disability Services for their Faculty Notification letter(s), we complete a course audit to determine the course content which needs to be made visually accessible. From there, we work with Curriculum to have the identified course content made accessible. If you post additional visual resources in a course update or discussion forum, consider the fact that some students may not be able to access them. Contact Disability Services if you find yourself in this situation so that we can assist in making new visuals accessible.
• Accessible audio and video media
  Some students may need audio and video materials captioned. When a student contacts Disability Services for their Faculty Notification letter(s), we complete a course audit, tracking the videos that need to have captions added. We then submit them to a third-party captioning service. If you post additional video resources in a course update or discussion forum, consider the fact that some students may not be able to access them. Contact Disability Services if you find yourself in this situation and we can help make the new materials accessible. In addition, if you have a student with this accommodation and you need to meet with over Zoom or if your course involves live classroom sessions, please reach out to Disability Services so that we can set up an appointment for live captioning.
• Submission of written assignments
  Some of the assistive technologies students use are not able to submit assignments through Canvas. Allowing students to submit assignments via email circumvents this issue. Students with this accommodation should not be penalized for submitting assignments via email versus Canvas due to potential hindrances posed by technology. The student will CC Disability Services on the email to you with the assignment attached. Disability Services will then upload the assignment into Canvas on behalf of the student. You may need to provide assignment feedback in the body of an email to ensure your comments are accessible.

Please note that these are just common types of accommodations and this is not a comprehensive list. If you have any questions about a student’s accommodations or accommodations in general, please reach out directly to Disability Services.

Institutional Accessibility

Web accessibility is a hot-button topic in higher education right now. Simply put, web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, as well as contribute to web-based formats. For an online university, web accessibility is tantamount to wheelchair ramps in public spaces. Equal access is a civil rights matter.

An estimated 19% of the U.S. population has a disability. Roughly, this breaks down to 1 in 5 (according to 2010 U.S. Census data). Out of the student population, only 0.45% of CSU-Global students are registered with Disability Services. Of that 0.45% we know that some students choose not to use their accommodations in every course. Consider that some of our military students dealing with PTSD do not want to document their disability or that some older students have only recently been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and are still determining when and where they need support. Every student is different.

With that disparity in mind, alongside the current push for broader web accessibility in higher education, CSU-Global is working to make sure that students of all abilities are fully able to engage with university content, platforms, and materials. We appreciate your support with this initiative. As faculty, you work closely with our students. Please help us create equal opportunities for learning and inclusive spaces for students of all abilities by making accessibility a priority in your classroom.