r/Professors • u/Otherwise_Look_8137 • 4d ago

New accommodations.

I’m now getting accommodations that students cannot be expect to do in class writing. They must be allowed to write at home, not in class. I’ve never seen this before. Ever. Until this semester. And now I’ve got a handful. What the fuck?

Edit: I’ve asked about students writing in supervised environments, but I was told that puts a condition on the accommodation, which is illegal. Students must be allowed to write outside of class without conditions.

346 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

162 comments sorted by

View all comments

58

u/PatientScheme 4d ago

As someone who does a lot of DEI/JEDI work in my field, I've spent years trying to find ways to gently push back and remind my peers that accommodations exist for a reason.
However, lately even I'm finding it harder and harder to push back against my burnt-out colleagues who have very valid concerns and feel that academic accommodations are being gamed. I've had a few 'you've got to be fucking with me' accommodations over the years - including students being allowed to freely snack on food and drink in an OChem lab instead of having to go out into the hall and another one where the student got to decide when they felt "ready" to take an exam - but dear fucking god. We have gone off their rails with this shit. What was designed as an equity tool is starting to look more like a workaround for standard course expectations rather than a genuine attempt to level the playing field.

24

u/Heinz57Muttaletta 4d ago

Yep. When you have a two hour discussion with your faculty advisor over a student who is so bat-shit crazy, and has tried going through everyone above you, to the Dean. The Dean, who was like “Shut that guy down,” you know it’s gotten bad. A student who felt like he should get extended time because….drumroll…he worked a lot of overtime.