Accommodations requests
All requests for an exam deferral, assignment extension, or other accommodation must be directed to the Common Law Student Centre at [email protected] (FTX237). Your request should include the Accommodation Request Form as well as supporting documentation.
Circumstances that may warrant accommodation include but are not restricted to:
- a permanent state of affairs (e.g., a disability, a permanent medical condition),
- an ongoing situation (e.g., a personal crisis, pregnancy),
- reasons related to equity concerns (e.g., religious belief, sole parenthood),
- a one-time event or circumstance (e.g., a short-term illness, a medical emergency, a temporary injury, a day surgery), or
- compassionate grounds (e.g., a death in the immediate family, a sick child or dependant).
Travel, employment, misreading the examination schedule, or failure to appropriately manage one’s time are NOT acceptable reasons for requesting accommodation.
The onus is on the student to provide the necessary supporting documentation to complement their request for accommodation.
Students who intend to request an exam deferral or assignment extension because of illness or other medical condition must consult a physician and obtain a medical certificate, and where possible, do so within twenty-four hours of the examination to be deferred or assignment deadline in question. Documentation may be submitted by e-mail or in person at the Common Law Student Centre, FTX 237.
Students may find it convenient to consult one of the physicians at the Student Health and Wellness Centre, currently located at 801 King Edward, Room N203 (2nd floor) (613-562-5498).
IMPORTANT: We recommend that all students familiarize themselves with the Academic Regulations around Deferral of Examination (Academic Regulation 7) and Extension of Deadline for Submitting a Written Assignment (Academic Regulation 13).
If circumstances are foreseen, every effort should be made to submit your request for an assignment extension or examination deferral by the 5th working day after the end of the add/drop period or the earliest opportunity thereafter.
Return to campus – academic accommodations update
If you are sick, stay home!
If you think you were exposed to COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms, please stay home! We encourage you to do the Ontario self-assessment, and to get advice on what to do if you have symptoms. As soon as possible, you should contact the Equity and Student Success Counsellor at [email protected] to be excused from classes and to discuss what accommodations may be available.
Because of the transition to online learning due to the pandemic, there has been an increase in student requests for accommodation that provide an option to attend in-person classes in an online format, either synchronously (e.g. with a Zoom or Teams link) or asynchronously (i.e. recording).
Accommodation needs cannot govern course modality – i.e. in-person, bimodal, online synchronous, or online asynchronous. The accommodation measure must take into account the student’s individual circumstances, but also the course content, teaching methods, and methods of evaluation to determine if providing asynchronous recordings or a virtual attendance option are appropriate accommodation measure when a student cannot attend class in person. When those measures are not appropriate, we will generally arrange for a volunteer note-taker and provide access to course notes when an absence has been approved.
As set out in the University of Ottawa’s COVID-19 Update, students are strongly encouraged to wear a mask to help reduce the spread of COVID-19, especially in high-density spaces like classrooms, labs, elevators and meeting areas, and are strongly encouraged to receive every vaccine dose for which they are eligible.
