Testing Accommodations

If you use testing accommodations and your professor has indicated that s/he cannot administer your exam and that you will need to make testing arrangements in Disability Services, please follow these steps:

You must contact the Disability Services Center a minimum 1 week before the date of the test. If you do not provide 1 week advanced notice, your test will not be scheduled. Requests made with less than 1 week will be documented for further review by the Director of Disability Services to determine 1.) The reason adequate notice was not given, and 2.) Whether a waiver of the rule would be possible based on room availability and also how many times the same student has made requests with less than one week advanced notice.

If your course syllabus already lists all dates that tests will be given, you are strongly encouraged to pre-book all of your tests for the semester.

To contact Disability Services Call 401-456-2776, e-mail dsc@ric.edu, or stop in Fogarty Life Science.

Information to include when scheduling your test:

• Your first and last name
• Name of your class and name of your professor
• Date and Time that the class will be taking the test
• How much time the professor is giving the rest of the class for the test. This information is needed to calculate the correct amount of time for your test.

A room will be reserved for you by Disability Services. On the day of the test, report to Disability Services in Fogarty Life Science at your scheduled time and staff safely store your belongings and will escort you to the reserved room.

If your test is scheduled to run the whole class period, you are not expected to return back to class when finished. In you are eligible for extra time you may need to schedule your exam to start earlier and/or end later. 

If your test is scheduled to run only a portion of the class period (e.g. test first followed by lecture), you should return to class when finished with the test. If the test is followed by lecture you should schedule the test to have an earlier start time, so you can arrive back to class on time when you are done with your test.

If your test must rescheduled due to inclement weather or the professor’s decision to postpone, contact Disability Services on the day you are notified of the new test date by your professor. 

Absent extraordinary circumstances, you must schedule take your test on the same date the rest of your class is taking it. Professor permission is always needed, in advance, if you are seeking to take your test on a different day. The Disability Services Center will only support moving a test date if there is a clear, disability related reason for needing an alternate date. Disability Services will not advocate for moving tests for non--disability related reasons such as work schedules or other student commitments.

For students needing extra time and/or a separate location for testing, in most cases accommodations will be provided by the professor within the professor's department. If a professor is unable to make the arrangements, the student must notify the Disability Services Center at least one week in advance of the test date to schedule the test with Disability Services.

Student Responsibility:

• You should provide your professor with a Request for Reasonable Accommodations form (obtained after you have registered in Disability Services) at the beginning of the semester and discuss how this accommodation will be implemented.
• In addition to providing the initial letter, for each test, you must ask your professor to arrange your testing accommodations within his/her own department at least one week before the actual test date to ensure your needs are met.
• If your professor indicates that he/she is unable to make arrangements within his/her department, you must contact the Disability Services Center at least one ahead of the tests date to schedule your test.
• If you do not provide Disability Services with at least one week advanced notice of the test date, your test will not be scheduled and your request will be documented for further review by the Director of Disability Services.
• Extended time for tests allows you to have additional time to complete the exam on the same day it is scheduled for the class, not the ability to take the exam at a later date (e.g. due to lack of preparedness of any non-disability-related circumstances).
• If documented, discuss your need to have a separate location in which to take your exam that will help to reduce distractions. Please keep in mind that separate rooms are not guaranteed to be 100% distraction-free or private. However, disposable earplugs are available from Disability Services upon request
• Discuss with your professor the amount of time you will need to complete the exam (usually 1 ½ to double time, dependent upon documentation). The extra time should be scheduled to NOT interfere with your regularly scheduled classes.

For Students needing specialized testing accommodations (for example: scribes, readers, or assistive technology), testing accommodations usually need to be arranged in cooperation with Disability Services.

Student Responsibility

• Call (456-2776) or stop by Disability Services at least one week ahead to schedule your test, if such accommodations are needed.
• If you do not provide Disability Services with at least one week advanced notice of the test date, your test will not be scheduled and your request will be documented for further review by the Director of Disability Services.
•  Extended time for tests allows you to have additional time to complete the exam on the same day it is scheduled for the class, not the ability to take the exam at a later date (e.g. due to lack of preparedness of any non-disability-related circumstances).
• Make sure you arrive on time. If you are late, you will cut into your extended exam time and you may not have enough time to complete the exam.
• If you are unable to take your exam as scheduled, you must call your professor AND Disability Services. The professor will determine when or if you will be allowed to reschedule.
• If you do not call or show up, your exam will be returned to your professor.
• Only items indicated by your professor on the Accommodation form will be allowed into the testing location.
• You will not be allowed to bring personal items (purses, backpacks, cell phones, smartwatches, food and/or beverages, etc.) into the exam. All personal items will be locked up and returned to you upon completion of your exam.

Academic Integrity is the foundation of the academic community. Students who violate College rules on academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure or removal from a course, disciplinary probation, and/or dismissal from the College. Individual schools may have additional standards and policies related to academic honesty.