Students approved for accommodations through the Office of Disability Services may require the services of a peer note-taker. If so, faculty members will receive a letter of accommodation from ODS stating the student has been approved for a peer note-taker. The faculty member receiving the letter is responsible for finding a student in the class to take notes and for following procedures to ensure those notes are distributed correctly.
While access to professor notes, Power Point slides or other materials is helpful to students, it does not replace a peer note-taker.
“Taking notes in class is of paramount importance to the learning process. Some students are unable to take their own notes due to disability-related reasons. Some have physical or sensory limitations while others have processing difficulties that interfere with the ability to take notes,” said Dr. Kevin Whitaker, interim provost, in a memo to faculty.
A peer note-taker is a student enrolled in the class, or a graduate teaching or research assistant attending the class, who takes notes and uploads them frequently to UA+Box. The University has created individual UA+Box accounts for all students, faculty and staff. Faculty should create a folder in UA+Box account for each course so that note-takers can upload notes for students with disabilities to retrieve. Specific instructions are provided with the accommodation letters.
For assistance with technical aspects of the note-taking system, contact the Faculty Resource Center.