At AUP, disability support services are developed to allow all students the opportunity to study and be evaluated as fairly as possible. On this page, you can access more information about our services and download the exam accommodation request form.
The Student Development Guidance Counselor is the primary contact for disability support services. The Counselor coordinates with other offices to provide the appropriate needed accommodations for students with a learning or physical disability and will assist students in requesting accommodations from faculty.
Additionally, the Guidance Counselor will provide information about on-campus support services and off-campus learning specialists for testing and/or support. Finally, the guidance counselor will review and approve accommodation request forms for upcoming exams and serve as a liaison with Academic Affairs and the ARC group.
The student counselor will send reminders to all students at the beginning of each semester, so it’s highly recommended to students to regularly check their AUP email account.
The Academic Affairs Office Manager manages requests from the Office of Student Development and coordinates proctoring arrangements and serves as a liaison to confirm exam accommodations with professors and students.
In collaboration with the Academic Affairs Office, the Academic Resource Center will manage laptop requests and serve as a liaison with professors regarding accommodation arrangements, drop-off and pick-up laptops at exam locations, and deliver completed exams to professors.
Academic accommodations for exams will only be considered after the student has submitted valid documentation to the Office of Student Development indicating the educational disability and the recommended accommodations. The Office of Student Development Office will then notify all relevant faculty and staff members, and recommend specific accommodations to professors.
Important Note: once a student has submitted valid documentation, there is no need to present it again at the beginning of each semester, as long as the documentation remains valid. However, it is the student’s responsibility to request from the student counselor that current professors be notified of his or her disability and of needed accommodations, and to provide the name of each professor.
Documents that will be considered and accepted as valid, must meet the following criteria:
If your documentation doesn’t meet all of the above criteria, you will be asked to be retested in order to be eligible to receive accommodations at AUP. Please contact the student counselor for a referral to a specialist.
If you want to be tested, or if you want to know about how to register for academic accommodations during your studies at AUP, you should make an appointment with the student guidance counselor in the Office of Student Development at the start of the semester—and ideally at the beginning of your studies. We work with off-campus specialists who are qualified to conduct widely accepted testing in American higher educational environments.
It’s better to be registered, and for your professor to be aware of your eligibility from the beginning of the semester, even if you decide you don’t need to request exam accommodations.
Your professor will already have received a memo from Student Development regarding your eligible accommodations, so this discussion will be welcome. Most likely, professors have had other students with similar requests in their classes before you. We highly recommend you discuss your disability during your professor’s office hours because this will allow for adequate time to go over the entire semester’s logistics regarding your specific accommodations: the dates of exams, the use of a laptop for class notes or exams, and/or applying the extra time on exams.
In addition, you can talk about your general academic strengths and weaknesses to determine if there is additional support your professor can provide. In the event that a professor doesn’t understand your request, you can always come and speak to the Student Guidance Counselor, who can help communicate with faculty.
An exam accommodation form must be filled out by both the student and professor to request Academic Affairs support for exams (a proctor, a clean laptop, a room reservation, etc). If you’re eligible for extra time, a laptop, or a separate location as part of your accommodations for exams, you should complete the above mentioned form and submit it to the Student Counselor no later than two weeks before the anticipated exam date. Last minute requests for exam accommodations cannot be honored. Please, plan ahead!
Someone from Academic Affairs or the ARC will send an email to you and your professors after they have processed your request. Stop by, or call Academic Affairs if you haven’t been contacted at least 48 hours before the exam.
Remember that AUP professors are happy to work with you, and they see exam accommodation forms as a tool to best measure the knowledge you acquire in a course rather than your disability. Since your needed accommodations are based on personalized testing, they will be considered seriously by professors at AUP. Give your professors a chance to provide guidance and advice early in the semester. Don’t put off these conversations.