Any eligible individual (student, employee, or visitor), who may or may not use American Sign Language as a primary source of communication, may request, as an alternative, transcribing services from University Disability Support Services (UDSS). UDSS hires, supervises, and schedules qualified transcribers for a variety of venues including class lectures; laboratory and class discussion sections; meetings with instructors, advisors, Student Affairs professionals, etc. Transcribing services for non-academic settings will be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
To ensure that arrangements for transcribing services can be made appropriately, requests for services for classes and other academic settings must be arranged through the Communication Access Coordinator in a timely manner. The Coordinator will consult with the consumer to discuss communication needs for the semester (and/or situations that may arise) and delivery of edited notes following classes. After a transcriber has been assigned, the Coordinator will contact the instructor informing them of the student enrolling in their class. Instructors will be given information on working with students who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing, as well as, information regarding working with transcribers. For other transcribing situations, the Coordinator will communicate with the person responsible for the event to plan logistics.
Students or other consumers are responsible for contacting the Communication Access Coordinator if they do not plan to attend class or other scheduled events for which services have been arranged. This is for timely notification and cancellation of services. If transcribers are not notified in advance of a cancellation, they are paid for the entire class period or event as well as for mileage and/or travel if not notified in time to avoid travel. For this reason, failure of a student to show up for three classes-without notifying designated staff- may result in suspension of transcribing services. Services may be reinstated once the student has met with the Communication Access Coordinator to review UDSS policies and procedures for transcribing services.
For Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing individuals interested in American Sign Language interpreting services, please refer to Interpreting Services.
