New student disabilities data management system to launch

The Office of Student Disability Services will launch its new data management system, ACCOMMODATE, on April 16, making the communication process regarding accommodations for students with dis- abilities completely electronic.

Christine Mecke, Ed.D., director of Student Disability Services, said the change provides electronic accommodation plans to professors, making it easier to create reports and issue extended time requests more efficiently.

Mecke said the benefits of the paperless system will be most felt regarding requests for extended time, in part because that particular accommodation affects 90% of stu- dents registered with the Office of Student Disability Services.

“It really will cut down on not only the time it takes to put all this information in and then sort it, but printing out every accommodation plan, all the evaluations that come in, so now it can all be electronic,” Mecke said.

In the past, students needing extended time had to fill out orange forms to be signed by their professor and returned to the Office of Student Disability Services for approval. This process then had to be repeated every time the student wanted to have extra time for a test.

“There really isn’t a lot of confidentiality when you are throwing around an orange paper in front of somebody’s face,” Mecke said.

With the new electronic system, students complete the form online, and it is then sent to their professors who can approve the request.

“I really do see this as being very advantageous mostly for the students,” Mecke said. “That’s where my focus is mostly, and I think just the whole convenience and just the protecting of confidentiality by being able to submit their requests fully electronically will be so much better.”

In the beginning of the spring semester, the office launched a pilot version of ACCOMMODATE with 71 students and their professors participating, according to Mecke.

“Most of the feedback that we have gotten from those students has been very positive,” Mecke said. “We have also been in touch with many of the professors who have students who are in the pilot program, and they have been very receptive, very supportive, and given us some good feedback as well.”

Abbey Piro ’19 said she finds the new system more efficient.

“Going electronic will make requesting extended time 10 times easier, especially for students who are busy and don’t have the time to run back and forth to get and return forms,” Piro said. “I personally have a super busy schedule and sometimes find myself running out of time to pick up forms or forgetting and remembering too late and therefore I end up not always utilizing my extended time and as a result my grades on exams drop sometimes.”

Mecke said while she and her staff are hopeful about the success of the program, some students may have trouble adjusting to a new system that does not give them much leeway about deadlines for form submission.

“The trick is going to be that they have to submit one week before their test and it is to the hour,” Mecke said. “It’s always been that they have had to get the orange paper to their professor a week in advance. That’s not new. It’s just that some of their professors have been very lenient, and we’ve been very lenient about not holding everyone to the three days. Now because it is all just in the system and online, there is not going to be as much wiggle room.”

Alyssa Matanin ’20, vice president of the Green Fund, emphasized another benefit of the system.

“By going paperless, they cut back on the amount of paper they use and the amount of paper thrown out/recycled eventually,” Matanin said. “Efficiency can also possibly be increased because moving everything online can make many resources easier to access faster.”

Erin Breen ’19 contributed to this article.