Accommodation Letters

DASS Accommodation Letters are not delivered to you in hardcopy by DASS staff members or students. Instead, students request their letters from DASS, we review their requests, and upon approval, we make the letters available in your DASS Link account. DASS Link will alert you by email when a student requests accommodations in your class, but you can only access their Accommodation Letters via your DASS Link account. There, the letters can be viewed or printed, and are stored in two places: Accommodation Letters and Courses>Enrolled Students. We recommend using the Accommodation Letters page to sort and view your students' Accommodation Letters.

 

 

How to View Students' Accommodation Letters

  1. Once you're logged in to DASS Link, select Accommodation Letters from the menu on the left.

  2. On the Accommodation Letters page, you'll see a list of the students who have requested that accommodations be implemented in your class. You can sort the list by semester and/or course. Type the semester and course into the appropriate fields (on top of the list) and click the blue Apply Search button.

  3. Select any student's letter to view it. Letters can be labeled DASS Accommodation Letter, DASS Semester Request Letter, Supplemental Request Decision-Approved. Regardless of the label, these letters and the procedures around them are the same. Read "Accessing a Student's Accommodation Letter" below for more details.

  4. The letters are stored on DASS Link, but if you wish, you can use the buttons on this page (Accessibility Letter) to Save it directly to your device, Generate a PDF of the letter, or Print a hardcopy of it.

  5. Follow the instructions on the letter to contact DASS if you have any questions or concerns about the student's accommodations and how they should be implemented in your class.

  6. DASS recommends electronically signing the letter when you and the student have finalized arrangements to implement his/her accommodations in your class. For more details, please see "Signing the Accommodation Letter" and "Discussion with the Student" below.

The Accommodation Letters Page

Located in the menu on the left side of your DASS Link Homepage, the Accommodation Letters tab is the most convenient way to see and sort through the Accommodation Letters of students who are enrolled in the class or classes you're leading this semester. On the Accommodation Letters page, you will see a list of all of the students in your classes who have requested accommodations.

Simply click DASS Accommodation Letter or DASS Semester Request Letter to see that student's letter. 

 

You might be wondering why the letters are labelled in two different ways. New DASS students' letters are labelled DASS Accommodation Letter. This means that the student is new to DASS and using their accommodations for the first time at SMU. Continuing DASS students' letters are labelled DASS Semester Request Letter. This denotes a DASS student who has used accommodations at SMU before and renewed the accommodations for the current semester. Other than the label, these letters and the procedures around them are the same. Under the type of letter, you will see the DASS student's name, your course in which they're enrolled, and when the letter was posted to your DASS Link account. 

 

NOTE: From time to time, you may see a letter titled Supplemental Request Decision-Approved. In this case, a student with accommodations in your class has requested and been approved for a new accommodation. The new accommodation is listed in the letter and should be implemented along with the student's other accommodations (for which you've already received a letter).

To sort student accommodation letters by semester, type the semester into the Semester field, for example "Spring 2019," or "Summer 2020." The field will populate with a drop-down menu of semesters from which you can select. To sort them by course, type the course name into the Course field, for example, "Communication Law," or "Music Theory." The field will populate with a drop-down menu of courses from which you can select. When you're done, click the blue Apply Search button.
Once you select a student's letter, it appears on the Accessibility Letter page. The body of the letter contains the student's accommodation(s) authorized by DASS, a brief description of the accommodation, and the courses in which the student would like to implement the accommodation. The name and contact information of the student's DASS Coordinator is located at the bottom of the letter along with a place for you to electronically sign the letter (see "Signing the Accommodation Letter" below). The buttons on the top and bottom allow you to Save, Print, or Generate PDF of the letter, or Cancel to return to the previous page. 
Some accommodations are difficult to implement effectively. A good example is Flexible Attendance. Extra forms, beyond the Letter of Accommodation, may be needed to more fully explain the accommodation and guide the student and professor through its implementation. In such cases, the forms will be attached to the Accommodation Letter in DASS Link. Early access to these documents enables you to prepare in advance for these student meetings and ensure that complex classroom needs are being addressed fully and proactively by both you and the student.
There is a field for your electronic signature at the end of each of your students' Accommodation Letters. We urge you to sign this document not when you receive or read the letter, but instead after you've discussed with the student how their accommodations will be implemented in your class. DASS does not monitor whether or not you sign the letter, but it is a useful tool to help you to track the students with whom you've made arrangements, and those who have not yet communicated with you. 
DASS students are expected to discuss with you how their accommodations will be implemented in your class. DASS stresses this requirement in our suggested syllabus statement, to ensure that students take this important step.