Accommodation Requests (Instructors)

As an instructor, you’re required to provide academic accommodations upon official request from students registered with Student Accessibility Services. Read this page to find out how to review and confirm these requests to meet students’ needs in your course(s).

For a general overview of accommodation types you might encounter, visit the Common Accommodations page.

Need to find student accommodation requests?

Visit the Instructor Portal (ClockWork) to review and acknowledge accommodation requests from students in your course(s).

Instructor Portal

Receiving and reviewing accommodation requests (Instructor Portal)

Students registered with Student Accessibility Services may request accommodations to support their success in your course(s). Before doing so, students must activate their accommodations online through the Student Portal.

Note: This process is available only for undergraduate and continuing education (CCE) courses at this time.

The following information is very important for you, as an instructor, to be aware of in the student academic accommodation self-registering process.

  • If you receive a notification email from SAS stating that you have accommodations to review and can’t find the request on your Instructor Portal, please email Ron Schneidersmann (rschnei@mcmaster.ca) with “Blank Student List” as the subject line. There may be a technical issue with this notice, which could be caused by a delay in an instructor assignment to a specific course.
  • Given that student requests and new intakes are constant throughout the term, we strongly encourage that you continually check the Instructor Portal for accommodation lists throughout each term.
  • All the information in the SAS database, including course information such as instructor names and email addresses, comes directly from Mosaic.
  • For courses where there is a course coordinator or administrator who is actively overseeing or administering academic accommodations, our system can add another person for accommodation review and acknowledgement purposes.
  • If you need to add another person for accommodation review and acknowledgement purposes, please email Ron Schneidersmann (rschnei@mcmaster.ca) and provide the course, course code, section number (i.e., CO1, CO2), and alternate person’s name and email. You must submit a separate request for each individual course each term.
  • You shouldn’t request medical documentation from students to support their accommodations.
  • Any discussion related to academic accommodations between you and a student should only be about the implementation of accommodations.
  • The McMaster student absence form (MSAF) can’t be used to replace accommodations.

  • Notice of student accommodations are sent from SAS weekly via email for each course.
  • Any paper copy notice of academic accommodations should only be provided on SAS letterhead and signed by an SAS program coordinator. Any other form of print copy (or electronic copy such as PDF) isn’t considered valid.
  • At times, SAS may update a student’s accommodations during the term. This may be after an original notice of accommodations had been sent. In these situations, we would cancel the previous request, update the accommodations and send a new notice.
  • In situations where you receive a repeat request, which would typically be an update, you must review and acknowledge the update in the same way you would have acknowledged the original notice.

  1. Visit the Instructor Portal (ClockWork).
  2. Log in with your McMaster ID and password.
  3. On the “Instructor Information” page, select “Courses.”
    • A list of courses will appear in a table.
    • Select the appropriate course.
  4. Select “Accommodation Letters.”
    • A list of students who have requested accommodations for that course will appear.
  5. Select the student.
  6. Select “View Letter.”
  7. Select “Review PDF Letter” to download and review the letter.
  8. Select “Acknowledge” under “Step 2.”
  9. Submit.
    • After you click submit, the student will receive an auto-generated email inviting them to communicate with you directly regarding the details and implementation of their accommodations.
    • Then, you’ll be able to view the confirmation date.
  1. Visit the Instructor Portal (ClockWork).
  2. Log in with your McMaster ID and password.
  3. On the “Instructor Information” page, select “Accommodation Letters.”
    • A list of all the students in your courses will appear.
    • This list includes repeated names of students who may be enrolled in more than one of your courses.
    • You can filter the results by course, student name and date.
  4. Select “View Letter.”
  5. Select “Review PDF Letter” to download and review the letter.
  6. Select “Acknowledge” under “Step 2.”
  7. Submit.
    • After you click submit, the student will receive an auto-generated email inviting them to communicate with you directly regarding the details and implementation of their accommodations.
    • Then, you’ll be able to view the confirmation date.

We follow the guidelines and principles in the Ontario Human Rights Commission and McMaster Academic Accommodation Policy of Students for the requests for retroactive accommodations. Students may be eligible for retroactive accommodations if any of these scenarios caused them to fail to meet class, course or program requirements.

  • They experienced a disruption in their functioning but can’t follow the university’s accommodations process.
  • They had a need for accommodations without prior warning.
  • They experienced disability-related symptoms for the first time and didn’t receive accommodations.
  • They received accommodations, but the accommodations weren’t enough to meet their needs based on the circumstances.

Retroactive accommodations may be for permanent or temporary disabilities. Students can submit a retroactive accommodation request by registering with Student Accessibility Services and consulting a program coordinator.

Then, we’ll consult the Faculty to determine if the student is eligible for a retroactive accommodation. We’ll make a recommendation to the Faculty, who is then responsible to communicate and implement the outcome of the approved accommodations.

Mosaic integration (new as of September 2021)

We’re excited to announce that you can now view student accommodation plans in Mosaic, thanks to collaborative partnership with instructors, assistant deans, students and the Privacy Office. This feature provides a quick, customizable view of your students’ accommodations for your convenience. You’ll continue to receive individual accommodation letters from the Instructor Portal. 

After setting up the Mosaic integration for your students’ accommodations, you’ll have a “My Students With Accommodations” section. This section is updated each evening to ensure you have the most recent information. Additionally, you can download a list of all the accommodations in this section in an Excel, CSV or XML format.

How to set up the integration

  1. Log in to Mosaic using your regular sign-in credentials.
  2. Click on the “Faculty Centre” tile.
  3. Click on “My Students w/ Accommodations.”
  4. Click on the magnifying class for the term and select the current term.
  5. Click “View Results” to see the students in your classes with accommodations. They’ll be sorted by accommodation type. There may be several rows per student, one per accommodation. These may be in different areas of the file if a student has accommodations of different types.
  6. There is also an option on this screen to download the results to Excel. Then, you can sort the results as you wish.

The class accommodation report on Mosaic is dynamic and will be updated throughout the term as students activate their accommodation plans. Please always refer to Mosaic or download the most updated report to plan for student accommodations. You’ll continue to receive individual accommodation letters from the Instructor Portal.

Accommodation types

  • In-class accommodations: This group of accommodations relates to in-class teaching or accommodations that require discussions with the instructor. You’re responsible for the implementation of these accommodations.
  • Test accommodations: This group of accommodations relates to testing planning. Student Accessibility Services is responsible for the implementation of these accommodations. You must provide test dates and times to the SAS Testing Centre for implementation.
  • Alternate formats: This group of accommodations requires collaboration on implementing accommodations. SAS will connect students with the respective services. Assistive technology consultants will contact instructors for additional information as needed.
  • Placement or lab accommodations: This group of accommodations requires implementation from the program administrator or instructors.

Sorting a report

After you download the accommodation report from Mosaic, you can sort the data to find the information you’re searching for.

  • Sorting by accommodation types (i.e., in-class accommodations) will show you all the students who received in-class accommodations. There’ll be repeat names if students have more than one in-class accommodation. For example, a student may have in-class accommodations for assignment extensions and an alternative accommodation for class discussions.
  • Sorting by student number will show you all the accommodations students receive in that report. For example, student 001234567 receives in-class accommodations and test accommodations.
  • Sorting by specific accommodations shows you a list of students who receive that accommodation. For example, filtering by assignment extensions will show you a list of students receiving this accommodation.

Disability disclosure

Students who request accommodations may not wish to disclose their disability information, as this is personal and confidential. It’s important that you don’t ask students for their diagnosis or share their information with individuals who aren’t involved in the accommodations process.

  • If students wish to disclose information about their disability, then they will do so on their own.
  • You should never ask students to discuss anything related to their academic accommodations in the presence of others or in a classroom where other students may observe the conversation.
  • All discussions related to academic accommodations should always take place in your office during office hours or by appointment where conversations can remain confidential.
  • You should never discuss a student’s accommodations with colleagues who aren’t involved in the accommodation process.
  • It’s important to share student accommodation information with teaching assistants (TAs): for example, TAs leading a tutorial group or grading coursework, which may be associated with accommodations.
  • If you have any questions related to any academic accommodations or disability-related matters, then you should always contact us.