Testing Information for Faculty

Confidentiality Notice:  Faculty and Staff have a responsibility to maintain confidentiality around student accommodations and any disabling conditions they may self-disclose.  Accommodation information is released on a need-to-know basis to ensure the student's equal access to the College and to assure compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Below you will find information organized for faculty regarding testing accommodations.  Testing accommodations are treated as a shared responsibility, meaning students may request these accommodations within the classroom environment but can also request to take the exam with SAS.  If you have additional questions, please contact tests@ithaca.edu. 

Information for Faculty

  • Students are responsible for scheduling tests at least five business days prior to the test date. Final exam scheduling requires at least ten business days.
  • Students must schedule exams using their SAS Student Accommodation Portal.
  • Faculty should not schedule exams with SAS for the student, as specific accommodation information is needed from the student.
  • Students receiving their accommodations in the classroom only need to communicate their testing needs with the professor, and do not need to schedule through SAS.
  • Once a request is submitted by a student, the professor and SAS will receive notification of the request.
  • Faculty need to approve or deny the requested date and time through our online system.
  • Faculty can add denial reasoning or special exam instructions on the request form.
  • SAS may follow up with faculty about denials depending on their nature and the nature of the student’s accommodations.

An Instructions for Exam Administration form must be submitted for each course section you teach. 

In the Instructions for Exam Administration page for each course section, you can:

  • Specify dates and times for each exam
  • Specify length of time students will have in class for each exam
    • This quantity will be used by the SAS portal as a basis to calculate the amount of extended time that a student will need and generate an end-time for their exam
  • Specify any other necessary instructions:
    • Type of exam: paper or online
    • Computer use : can student use their own laptop? Are no computers used at all?
    • Allowable materials : e.g., notes, textbook, internet, course material, calculator, scrap paper, other materials
    • Required materials for exam : e.g, Scantron (color specification), Blue Book, Calculator, Audio/Visual Files, Specialized Software (e.g, SPSS), Other (Specify)
    • Exam time constraints : consistent start/end time ? or allow small amount of extra time if available (in addition to any extended time granted by accommodation)?
    • Contact information: how should SAS contact you during the exam time if the student has questions or if SAS needs clarification on an aspect of your exam?
  • Upload exams for specific exam dates, for all students taking that exam for that section on that time/date
    • You can return to this area of your Instructor Portal throughout the semester to make changes, add dates, upload exams, etc.

For assistance, check out our illustrated Alternative Testing Faculty Guide, or contact our testing staff at tests@ithaca.edu for support.

SAS attempts to recreate the environment (including test procedures, allowable items, etc.) that the student would have in the classroom testing environment. Special instructions, not listed in the Instructions for Exam Administration, should be included in the Notes section of the AIM request form.  These include: 

  • Is the test broken up into multiple parts?
  • Are audio files included?
  • Any other information needed for exam administration 

Please send tests to SAS as soon as possible or at least 24 hours in advance of the exam date.  This enables us to process them based on accommodation needs such as alternate format, and to securely package your exam for the proctor.  

Uploading exams through your SAS Instructor Portal is the best and preferred method of sending a test to SAS. By doing so you ensure that the exam is inherently attached to the correct procedurally generated exam request eliminating exam administration errors. 

SAS Instructor Portal

  • This is the quickest and most secure way to submit your exam to SAS.  Upload the exam through the Alternative Testing page and SAS will print it for your student.
  • Exams submitted online are accessible only by SAS staff.
  • The Instructor Portal will allow you to upload individual exams for individual students, or to upload the same exam for all your students taking exams on that date/time for that section.

Manual Delivery 

  • Manual delivery of exams is discouraged for several reasons:
    • Certain accommodations, like alternate format, require a digital copy.
    • We cannot easily duplicate for multiple students.
    • Does not automatically connect test to request submitted by student.
  • If you must manually deliver an exam, please place it in a campus envelope and hand it to an SAS team member on the Garden Level of the Peggy Ryan Williams Center, between 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, during the regular semester or 7:30 AM and 5:00 PM during finals week.
  • To ensure the correct test is given to your student, please include the Instructions for Exam Administration form from your instructor portal. If you don't have the form, we will need the following information:
    • Student’s name
    • Course name
    • How long the class will have for the exam
    • Date and time of the exam
    • Any special instructions (e.g. what color scantron is needed) 

Email 

  • Email is discouraged because it does not connect the test to the student request.
  • If you must email, send the test to tests@ithaca.edu.
  • To ensure the correct test is given to your student, please include the Instructions for Exam Administration form from your instructor portal. If you don't have the form, we will need the following information:
    • Student’s name
    • Course name
    • How long the class will have for the exam
    • Date and time of the exam
    • Any special instructions (e.g. what color scantron is needed) 

If faculty are unable to provide accommodations for pop quizzes in the classroom, the following procedures should be followed: 

  • Five business days before the quiz faculty should email tests@ithaca.edu with the quiz, the student’s name, the date/time of the quiz, how long students in class will have for the quiz, and detailed instructions
  • Pop quizzes cannot be uploaded through AIM because the student will not be able to schedule them through the online portal
  • Faculty will need to tell SAS that the student should not be made aware of the quiz
  • On the day of the quiz the professor will send the student to SAS.
  • Please do so in a way that does not publicly identify the student as an individual with a disability.  Emailing the student shortly before the start of the pop quiz is an option.
  • Please note that some SAS students may prefer to take pop quizzes in the classroom
  • Exams taken online are submitted to faculty through the exam portal (Canvas, Connect, etc.).
  • Completed exams, not taken online, will be scanned by SAS staff and uploaded to the Alternative Testing area of the instructor's SAS Instructor Portal by 2:00 PM the following day.
  • Any remaining exams that are designated as “hold for professor” will be uploaded to the instructor's SAS Instructor Portal if not picked up by the end of the following day.
Alternative Testing Faculty Guide - alternative-testing-faculty-guide (pdf)

PDF that shows you, with screenshots, how to upload exams and how to specify exam instructions in your SAS Instructor Portal.

Faculty Guide - Downloading Completed Exams - faculty-guide-downloading-completed-exams (pdf)

PDF that shows you, with screenshots, how to download students' completed exams from your SAS Instructor Portal.