UCLA
Center for Accessible Education

The Adjusted Assignment Accommodation

What is the purpose of this accommodation and how is it determined?

The accommodation is meant to adjust when or if there is an unexpected, uncontrolled and/or exacerbation of disability-related symptom(s) that prohibit a student’s ability to submit an assignment by an established due date. For the purposes of this accommodation, adjusted deadlines refer to in-class assignments, papers/essays, lab reports, and other take-home course assignments. This accommodation is determined by an individual assessment of, but not limited to: a) the student’s functional limitations listed in the medical documentation, b) the student’s narrative in relation to their functional limitation, and c) the course requirements.

What is the procedure for implementing the accommodation?

It is the student’s responsibility to initiate a conversation with their CAE Disability Specialist prior to an assignment’s due date (or soon as possible thereafter) when requesting an adjusted deadline. It is understood that such requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

CAE Students will:

    1. Contact their CAE Disability Specialist when the need for a disability-related adjusted deadline occurs.
    2. Make their letter of accommodation viewable to their faculty member through the online portal.
    3. Let their professors know that they are requesting a disability-related extension, which will be confirmed by their CAE Disability Specialist.

CAE Disability Specialist will:

  1. Conduct "an individualized inquiry" with respect to the request for an adjusted deadline. The student may be required to provide documentation that independently supports the requested extended time on an assignment as an academic adjustment.
  2. Communicate directly with the faculty member(s) regarding the approved timeframe for the adjusted assignment deadline.

UCLA Faculty will:

  1. Notify the CAE of receipt of the suggested timeframe for the adjusted deadline.
  2. If there are concerns regarding the timeline (e.g., assignment is chunked into parts, scaffolding of assignments, pacing of assignments, group projects, grades submissions due dates for the course, etc), faculty is to communicate with the CAE in a timely manner and identify, in good faith, a reasonable timeframe for the adjusted assignment.
  3. Faculty will notify the CAE if the adjusted deadline is believed to fundamentally alter the nature of the course.
  4. Contact the CAE if a request for an adjusted deadline is made directly from the student. This ensures that the CAE is able to engage the student in the interactive process and take into account the student’s limitations when determining an adjusted assignment deadline.