Accommodations

Disability accommodations

Students with documented disabilities should work with the Office of Disability Support Services (DSS) at The Catholic University of America to request accommodations. Once DSS approves accommodations and provides the professor with the standard accommodation letter, the professor implements them without further documentation required from the student.

Common accommodations the course supports without friction:

Timing. Please contact DSS and forward the accommodation letter to the professor by the end of the second week of the semester. Accommodations are not retroactive; an accommodation letter that arrives a week before the final exam cannot apply to MCQ windows that already closed.

Religious accommodations

Students whose religious observance conflicts with a class meeting, an in-class exercise date, an MCQ window, or the final exam should notify the professor by the end of the second week of the semester. The course schedule already accommodates major Jewish Orthodox and Roman Catholic observances (see the Calendar), but the calendar cannot anticipate every individual’s observance practice. Students do not need to justify or document the religious basis of the request.

Pregnancy and parenting

Title IX requires CUA to accommodate pregnancy-related conditions, recovery from childbirth, and parental status to the same degree as other temporary medical conditions. Pregnant and parenting students should contact the Title IX Coordinator and the Office of the Dean of Students to set up accommodations. The professor will work with the Dean of Students office to implement them.

Athletic, military, and other formal-conflict accommodations

Students with formal CUA affiliations that produce predictable conflicts (intercollegiate athletics, ROTC, military reserve, etc.) should provide the sponsoring office’s schedule by the end of the second week. The professor will work with the sponsoring office on conflict-by-conflict resolution.

The standard

The professor’s default is generous accommodation within the limits of fair treatment of the class. Where an accommodation would materially advantage one student against the class (for example, a request for the final exam questions in advance), the professor will not grant it; that is not what accommodation means. Where an accommodation merely equalizes access (extended time, separate room, accessible format), the professor implements it without negotiation.

How to ask

Email the professor with a one-paragraph description of the conflict and what accommodation you are requesting. If DSS has issued a letter, attach it. If the request requires Dean of Students involvement, copy the Dean of Students office. Do not wait until the last week of a semester; early notice is what makes accommodation work.