The Center for Educational Access

E-Learning and Accommodations

Students who are taking classes at any of the distance education sites (Workforce Training Center, Sandpoint, Silver Valley, Bonner’s Ferry, Plummer, St. Maries , at High Schools, Hybrid, IVC or On-line) will receive accommodations comparable to and as effective as those that the students on the main campus.

All policies and procedures in place for students on the main campus apply. Please see Center for Educational Access WebPages for more information. www.nic.edu/dss.

However, students at a distance will need to use the phone, fax, scanner, e-mail or webcam rather than meet with CEA staff or instructors. Webcam meetings can be arranged from NIC outreach sites (Ponderay, Bonner’s Ferry, and Silver Valley) with a student’s request. 


The Center for Educational Access will assist instructors to forward tests, and materials to the site as requested.

Documentation may be submitted via mail, electronic format, faxed or campus mailed.
The student may request assistance with obtaining documentation if necessary as do students on the main campus via the Eligibility Specialist (665-4520).

Accommodation forms are posted on the CEA website for download and printing. Once the student completes the forms they can be mailed, faxed, or campus mailed (student’s may request this service at the outreach centers at Ponderay, Silver Valley or Bonner’s Ferry). Once Accommodation requests have been received in CEA on the main campus with the student’s signature, they will be processed per CEA procedure as they are for all students who request accommodation at NIC.

Phone appointments can be made for disability related advising (see CEA webpages) and other questions related to requesting accommodations or the eligibility process.

Students will need to contact their instructors even though off campus at outreach sites or in other cities or states. Student should let the instructor know where they are located off campus and discuss how accommodations can be provided.

Accommodations

Tests may be printed off and proctored at a local site. Please contact E-Learning or the Testing Center for more information (see NIC website, www.nic.edu). Students may contact CEA  as needed for assistance.

• Timed tests can be incrementally increased if extended time for testing has been approved per the Letter of Accommodation the instructor will receive from CEA. The amount of time should be negotiated between the student and instructor and the integrity of the test kept in mind. CEA staff are available to assist with this process as desired.
• Extended time for assignments may be approved IF the student’s documentation supports that their disability may interfere. For example if a student is suddenly hospitalized three days prior to the due date of an assignment and the student has a disability related issue that arises (to be verified through CEA) they will have the right to request to be given some additional days (the appropriate number of days should be ASAP depending upon the circumstances. CEA is available to instructors and students as needed to assist with this process.
• Video streaming and utube viewing may need to be closed captioned (instructor’s should contact CEA for more information about this if needed.
• Written information may need to be accessible to students who are blind or visually impaired (the font will need to be enlarged or compatible with a screen reader). Instructors can contact CEA for more information about this as needed.

CEA personnel will work with the Outreach site’s staff to arrange accommodations for classroom in those locations. Technology will be made available for study and testing if the student has been approved as is possible otherwise other arrangement will be made to ensure appropriate access. Interpreters / Cprint is also available in outreach sites for eligible students.

CEA Access Specialists are responsible to facilitate the accommodation of students at distance education sites as they are for all students receiving accommodation at NIC.

Instructors may contact CEA to verify which staff are working with their students.

The Accommodations listed here are not meant to be exhaustive. Accommodation decisions are made based on documentation and existing barriers to appropriate access.