Approximately 1,200 students are currently registered with Towson’s Disability Support Service department, but the policies implemented inside the classroom have become a source of discord among some professors this semester.
The department offers support for students with various physical, learning and psychological disorders to help facilitate their academic progress. Oftentimes students with disabilities utilize the service to gain extra time on exams in the DSS testing facility or to receive a note-taker in their classes.
Director of DSS Susan Willemin maintains that the DSS works extensively to inform teachers about policies. She said there are several informational packets, as well as frequent meetings and opportunities to discuss problems and policies.
“We really rely on faculty to do their best and they do a pretty good job overall,” Willemin said.
One of the main issues professors may have is with assigning note-takers for students who have physical or other disabilities, which impair their abilities to write notes. Professors are expected to assign someone in the class to be a note-taker for the student. The note-takers usually volunteer for the position and are paid $100 at the end of the semester, according to Willemin.
However, certain professors disagree with the way the policy is carried out.
“Professors don’t know, especially near the start of the term, who the best students are, much less who among them take the best notes,” Richard Vatz, professor in the mass communication and communication studies department, said. “It is yet another added, time-consumptive responsibility that professors are expected [to fulfill].”
However, Willemin feels that teachers do a good job of assigning note-takers and that there are rarely problems with the system.
“Most faculty implement it beautifully… Generally they do a pretty good job with identifying note-takers. We don’t have that many difficulties and if we do, we correct them,” Willemin said.
Rachel Burks, a professor in the department of physics, astronomy and geosciences said there is a particular issue she is having that concerns DSS procedures.
“The sheet came in [for a student with a disability] and it said, ‘alternate test format required,’ and I called your office and said, ‘what kind of test changes should I make?’ and the person told me, ‘well that’s really up for the student to decide,’” Burks said. “And I took issue with that. It’s not the student’s authority to say that… yet I’m not allowed to know what the disability is so I can’t recreate an exam.”
Vatz feels that another major issue is how students with psychological disabilities are assigned their allocations.
“How does one come up with the fact that someone needs two times extra on a test? It’s like guess work,” Vatz said. “I do think, generally speaking, the presumption should be against accommodation, and accommodation should only be given in the most compelling of claims.”
He said he also feels that stricter sanctions should be enforced to ensure that those students legitimately need the help they are given and are not receiving an advantage over other students.
“Faculty is so compliant and you have people who will play the system,” he said. “And some people will not play the system consciously but will believe what they hear and their diagnosis can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Willemin said there are very specific guidelines that ensure that students need the help they are given. Students must provide documentation that their condition is medically proven, as well as permanent.
“You have to have a condition that impacts a major life activity to a substantial degree. It’s not a minor thing,” Willemin said. “Typically what the student does is recommend, based on what their functional limitations are, what reasonable accommodations would be required to equalize their opportunity for success.”
Sophomore Alyssa Zauderer is currently registered with DSS. She uses the testing facility to receive extra time on her exam, and feels that the service is an important tool for those who truly need it.
“You can’t just call and say that you want to sign up for disability services… You need to have written documentation based on what you’ve had in high school,” Zauderer said.
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