As you know, some students are granted accommodations for disability-related class absences.

• The instructor and student must now use the required SDS form to document the accommodations granted for disability-related class absences.
• The form may be found at the top of the SDS website under the title DRADM* Agreement or at https://sds.studentlife.uiowa.edu/assets/DRADM.pdf.

*DRADM stands for Disability-Related Absence and Deadline Modification

• Other accommodations do not require the use of this form.
• The instructor and student should discuss specific accommodations in detail and must add these to the agreement form, including the number of allowed absences and the plan for handling missed deadlines or exams if an allowed absence interferes with the completion of tests, assignments, or presentations, for example. These details will vary by student and by course.
• The student and instructor must each keep a copy of this agreement.
• Students with disability-related absences should not be asked to submit additional documentation during the semester for absences or modifications of deadlines if these are already documented on the DRADM agreement form.

The purpose of this new form is to clarify communication between the student and the instructor while creating a way to resolve misunderstandings.

Not all courses are appropriate for students with accommodations for disability-related class absences. For example, performance and participation-based courses require students to be present for almost every class. Instructors must decide the number of absences that may be allowed without damaging the achievement of the course’s learning outcomes. This limit in some cases may not work for the related situations through no fault of the instructor or of the student.

In some cases, it may be better for the student to enroll in a different course. The student must be informed of this as soon as possible. As questions arise, please consult with me and with SDS on this matter.

Please also keep in mind these ongoing policies and procedures related to SDS accommodations.

1. The need for an accommodation must be stated in the student’s Letter of Accommodation (LOA) from SDS.  Typical accommodations are described at the SDS website but are not defined in the LOA. See this page for more information about accommodations:
   https://sds.studentlife.uiowa.edu/accommodations/descriptions/
2. Accommodations begin from the time that the student presents the letter to the instructor. In other words, accommodations are not retroactive.
3. The student and the instructor share responsibility for the implementation of accommodations. Student and instructor rights and responsibilities are listed on these two pages:
   https://sds.studentlife.uiowa.edu/instructors/rightsresponsibilities/
   https://sds.studentlife.uiowa.edu/students/rightsresponsibilities/
4. SDS now offers technological solutions for providing class notes to students who need this accommodation and who find these options helpful. Many instructors also find these solutions convenient. https://sds.studentlife.uiowa.edu/accommodations/descriptions/classnotes