Educational Adjustments - Faculty Support and General Information

Students registered with the ELS will receive an Equitable Learning Plan (ELP) co-created with an Equitable Learning Facilitator (ELF) and the student, which is then distributed distributed to teaching staff. The ELP includes educational adjustments that are determined based on the student’s medical documentation and the educational impact of their condition/s. Students that require adjustments include but are not limited to:

• Students living with a disability or are primary carers for someone with a disability.
• Students undergoing adverse physical or mental health conditions.
• Students living with chronic illness.
• Neurodivergent students.

Academic staff should expect an email notification of ELS students with their required adjustments at the beginning of each study period. Further instructions will be provided in the email to acknowledge the receipt of adjustment information.

Adjustments are outlined in each student’s Equitable Learning Plan and can include any of the following:

• Adjustments to exam or assessment conditions.
• Provision of course materials in alternative formats.
• Provision of enabling assistance staff (e.g. sign language interpreters, notetakers, participation or lab assistants and external support workers).
• Provision of captioning or assistive technology.

Any exams that are run by the UNSW Central Exams team does not fall under the responsibility of faculty staff members. All School-run exams (e.g. mid-terms and internal final exams) are the responsibility of the course convenor and/or relevant staff.

All UNSW staff and schools are required to implement educational adjustments in classrooms or for assessments, learning activities and other accessibility needs. These requirements help to create a safe learning environment which provides equal opportunities for all students and are informed by the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and Disability Standards for Education 2005.

Keep course contacts up to date

• Confirm that your school has listed you as the course convenor, the contact for your course in myUNSW term planning.
• You can allocate a second contact.
• Both will then receive ELP notifications.

Receive ELP notifications

• Expect system-generated email notifications for Equitable Learning Plans (ELPs) for each ELS student in your course throughout the term.
• Make sure you ‘acknowledge’/sign off on these ELPs via the staff portal.
• Contact your faculty’s Academic Disability Advisor (ADA) (contacts available in 'Who should I contact?' menu below) or email [email protected] for concerns or clarifications regarding adjustments conflicting with course requirements.
• If an adjustment’s appropriateness is questioned, an Equitable Learning Facilitator (ELF) will follow up with faculty and the student to explore feasible alternatives. ELS and faculty must participate in this process to remain in compliance with disability legislation.

Term and assessment preparation

• Before each quiz/exam/assessment, generate a list of students with ELPs to:

1. Check for updates for new ELS students.
2. Streamline the implementation of adjustments for timed assessments.
3. Instructions for how to generate a student’s ELP can be found here.

Applying adjustments

• View current exam adjustments here.
• Faculty may respond to student’s ELPs via email to discuss and confirm adjustments if necessary. Contact [email protected] if any further guidance is needed.
• For attendance adjustments, discuss alternatives with the student in the case of relevant absences. Contact [email protected] if any further guidance is needed.

Adjustment categories and responsible parties

Automatically applied by teaching staff

• Audio recordings.
• Extra time on exams or tests/quizzes.
• Alternate rooms in courses with campus-based assessments.
• Assessment extensions (only available on request by students with 24 hours notice).

To be negotiated between teaching staff/student

• Alternative assessment.
• Attendance requirements.
• Class participation alternatives.
• Group work alternatives.
• Class presentation alternatives.

No action needed/not applicable

• Any time extension for exams in a course with no timed assessments.
• Lab assistant or participation assistant (automatically provided by ELS).
• Claroread or any assistive software (automatically provided by ELS).

Any further queries or concerns regarding educational adjustments should be directed towards the Equitable Learning Service via email: [email protected].

If you have concerns about a student and think they could benefit from being registered with ELS, you can direct them to the UNSW Equitable Learning Service site and they can submit an online application for ELS support here.

Students will need to provide either current medical documentation regarding their condition or a completed Health Practitioner Report Form.

Students are encouraged to register with the ELS as soon as possible to ensure that they receive the necessary adjustments to complete their academic term.

ELS also recommends that you include in the first few weeks of term a slide that outlines all of the main student support services (Please scroll to bottom of page for all staff resources).

• Sydney staff resources, including slide (UNSW staff only).
• Canberra staff resources, including slide (UNSW staff only).

Equitable Learning Facilitators (ELFs) are the first point of contact for all queries regarding Equitable Learning Plans, disability inclusion updates and educational adjustment information. Faculty are encouraged to connect with the Equitable Learning Service via the official ELS email address to ensure prompt response times.

Each faculty also has an appointed Academic Disability Advisor (ADA) tasked with providing specialised support for any further faculty-specific concerns regarding the implementation of educational adjustments. Please see below for a list of the current ADAs of each faculty:

For further staff resources, click here. ‘Resources for staff’ is included as a drop-down menu at the bottom of the page and includes slides that can be inserted into lecture decks for the first weeks of class.

For more information and resources for inclusive teaching strategies, please visit the Inclusive Teaching Gateway SharePoint. This is designed as a ‘one-stop shop’ for teaching staff to develop their inclusive teaching pedagogy. It links to existing resources across UNSW and provides a range of tips and tricks for implementing new strategies in the classroom.

Any student who is living with a disability, long-term medical condition and/or mental health condition or who is a carer of a person with a disability. This includes students with:

• Physical disability
• Sensory impairment
• Learning disability
• Neurological condition
• Mental health condition
• Mobility impairment
• Chronic medical conditions.

Register:

Once registered, students receive an email to either provide more information or book an appointment with an Equitable Learning Facilitator (ELF).

Meet and identify:

Students meet with their ELF, and educational adjustments will be determined based on the educational impacts of their condition. An Equitable Learning Plan (ELP) is designed to suit student needs.

Launch:

Students distribute their ELP to their teaching staff and respective faculty members.

ELP Renewal:

The ELP is monitored and reviewed only as needed.