Academic and Campus Accommodations
Columbia Health provides academic and campus accommodations for students registered with Disability Services (DS) due to a disability or temporary injury. If you’re interested in requesting accommodations through DS, begin by registering with DS or attending DS Drop-in Hours.
Academic and Campus Accommodations with Disability Services
DS provides a wide range of academic and campus accommodations for registered students. These include:
- Testing accommodations (such as extended time, breaks, fewer test takers in a space, etc.)
- Classroom accommodations (such as note-taking, permission to audio record, etc.)
- Communication accommodations (such as interpreters, captioned content, etc.)
- Campus accommodations (such as elevator access)
- Learning specialists
If you believe you may be eligible for academic accommodations but haven’t registered with Disability Services, you must register first.
Students will collaborate with their Disability Services Case Manager, professors, academic advisors, and designated faculty or staff liaisons to identify the accommodations they qualify for and to ensure they receive them.
Who is eligible?
Any Columbia student with a disability or temporary injury on the Morningside, Manhattanville, and Medical campuses are eligible to request accommodations through Disability Services.
If you’re a Barnard or Teachers College student, please contact your respective offices for disability and accessibility accommodations.
How do I access academic accommodations with Disability Services?
You must first register with Disability Services to determine your eligibility for accommodations. Once you are registered, you may make requests to access your eligible accommodations.
Accommodation letters for both undergraduate and graduate students are the first step to accessing any eligible accommodations. These letters provide official notification of your registration with Disability Services and your eligibility for specific accommodations. Undergraduate students and graduate students follow different processes to secure accommodation letters.
- Undergrads:
- Submit an online request via the Accommodation Letter Request Form for your accommodation letters before or during the first two weeks of each semester.
- Within three business days, DS will email your professor(s) a copy of your accommodation letter.
- Grad students: Graduate students must contact their school’s Disability Services Liaison before or during the first week of classes to begin the process of notifying faculty (in lieu of the accommodation letter request form).
Be sure to refer to the other sections for additional accommodation request forms (e.g. testing or note-taking request forms) in order to access those specific accommodations, if eligible.
If you have further questions about how to access these accommodations, contact DS during drop-in hours or your Disability Services Case Manager for support.
The steps to receive a testing accommodation include:
In-person exams
- Submit a Testing Accommodation Request.
In-person quizzes
- Submit a Quiz Accommodation Request.
Deadlines
- Session A: Wednesday, June 3
- Session X: Wednesday, June 3
- Session B: Wednesday, July 15
If you have an exam on or before Tuesday, June 2 or you have an urgent last-minute request and the webform has closed for your quiz/exam date, please email [email protected] with the subject line “Last-Minute Testing Accommodation Request” and include your name, UNI, phone number, course name, professor name and quiz/exam date in your email.
Request guidelines
- The webforms will not accept requests for quizzes or exams with less than 1 week's notice.
- All requests submitted after the deadlines above are subject to availability in exam rooms and proctor schedules
- For any questions about exam or quiz accommodations, email: [email protected].
Please review your exam schedule carefully to ensure all of your final exams are scheduled, and scheduled at the correct dates/times.
Undergraduate students and graduate students follow different processes to access accommodations.
- Undergrads: Submit an online request for note-taking accommodation for each class.
- Grad students: Submit your course schedule and note-taking request to your school liaison. They will recruit a note-taker and let you know how they’ll be delivered.
You must submit a new note-taking request each semester. Please allow up to two weeks for note-taking services to be coordinated.
The steps to receive a foreign language substitution or modification include:
- Speak with your academic advisor about the language requirements of your degree program.
- Submit a Request for Foreign Language Substitution form, along with disability documentation and personal statement as to why you need this accommodation.
Please note that final decisions on substitute courses are made by the advising dean or appropriate academic officials from the student’s school.
Students: DS works with students to determine their documented needs, communication skills, and preferred accommodation.
Support for a University Event: Email DS at [email protected] at least two weeks in advance and include name and contact info of the person requesting services along with the event info (including date, start and end times, location, name, promotional materials, and the Columbia contact person if available).
Once registered with Disability Services, your Case Manager will work with you on the accommodations available. These may include different types of software, alternate formats of materials, or devices. The software available may support:
- Reading and writing
- Note-taking or audio recording
- Screen-reading or magnification
- Voice recognition
- Braille translation
The Assistive Technology Manager can answer questions about how to borrow and use the devices.
Learning specialists work with students on an individual basis to meet each student’s specific needs. They help students develop strategies and skills to help them compensate for some of their challenges. They are not tutors and cannot help with content-based work.
If you’re registered with Disability Services, schedule an appointment with a Learning Specialist. They are not available during drop-in hours.
You can also explore the various workshops exclusive to DS-registered students held by Learning Specialists throughout the semester.
If you are registered with Disability Services but are not approved for specific accommodations that you believe you need, you can submit the Request for Supplemental Accommodations. Your Case Manager will then review your eligibility.
How much will it cost?
Disability Services accommodations require no additional fee.
What else do I need to know?
Disability Services accommodation requests require time to be reviewed and processed. Please allow the following time when submitting requests:
- Registering with Disability Services: At least three weeks. If you’re an incoming student who has accommodations needs, please reach out immediately.
- Submitting a supplemental accommodation request: please speak with your DS case manager.
- Submitting testing accommodations: About one week for exams and quizzes and at least four weeks for final exams. However, deadlines can vary so please review the section on testing accommodations requests.
- Submitting a request for foreign language substitution: At least four to six weeks.
- Submitting a note-taking request: About two weeks.
- Requests for sign-language interpreting: Two weeks.
- Speech-to-text services: Three weeks.
- Alternate format materials (e-text): At least 3 weeks prior to the new semester.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re an undergraduate student, email [email protected]. If you’re a graduate student, please contact your school liaison directly.
Contact us as soon as possible to address any issues.
Please email [email protected] to make changes to your accommodations.
If you have a conflict, use the subject line “Exam conflict.”
If you have a last-minute request, use the subject line “Last-Minute Testing Accommodation Request.”
Columbia’s DS will coordinate accommodations for your Barnard courses as well.