Office of Student Life
Disability Services

Exam Accommodations

What qualifies as an "exam" for exam accommodations? 

Exam accommodations apply to timed quizzes, midterms, and finals. More specifically, exam accommodations apply to any timed written assessment that is designed to be completed in a single sitting and is graded for accuracy. 

Exam accommodations typically do not apply to lab work, homework/projects, untimed "take-home style" exams which students can complete over multiple days, OSCEs, dissertations, or Law school exams longer than 8 hours. If a student requests for their exam accommodations to apply to anything on this list, please refer the student to their Access Specialist to discuss. 

Please note: Students in Moritz College of Law will not follow the process below.

Take-at-Home (Online) Exams 

If your exam is designed for students to take at home utilizing Carmen or other virtual assessment methods, students are not permitted to schedule these exams at SLDS, and you do not need to complete a Course Instruction Template (CIT). Instead, you will adjust the student’s time allotted, availability window, and/or due dates accordingly. See the "Adding Extended Time in Carmen" section below for instructions. 

In-Person Exams

If your exams are designed to be administered in-person, students with accommodations should schedule their exams with SLDS. If you are willing to proctor the exam with accommodations yourself, that is also an alternative option. As a result of SLDS operational changes, students scheduling with SLDS can schedule exams on the class exam day or up to two business days after, based on the date specified in the Course Instruction Template (CIT).  

Policy Reminders for SLDS Exam Services (Columbus Campus Only)

To continue to meet growing demand with the available resources, we would like to remind you of the following operational procedures for exams:  

  1. Seating Cap for Scheduling: Historically, SLDS has not limited the number of exams that could be scheduled at the same time. Going forward, students will only be able to schedule an exam in our AIM database if there truly is a seat available.  

  2. 3-Day Scheduling Window: To implement the seat cap while meeting exam demand, SLDS will allow students to schedule their exams within a 3-day window (class exam day + 2 days after). Students are expected to schedule as close to their class time as possible, but due to the seat cap and scheduling conflicts this will not always be feasible. Faculty must be flexible in letting students test within this 3-day window. Instructors may choose to create different versions of their exam (of equivalent difficulty). This scheduling window DOES NOT apply to final exams during the university's finals week.   

Many instructors have developed new and innovative ways to assess student learning without using timed exams. SLDS strongly encourages instructors and departments to continue this practice, following the principles of Universal Design for Learning. While UDL does not eliminate the need for all accommodations, it can create a more accessible and inclusive educational experience for all students.  

Instructors or departments not amicable to these operations are welcome to proctor their own accommodated exams in-house. Instructors or departments are always welcome to consult with SLDS staff to discuss other assessment strategies or in-department proctoring options.  

Instructor Responsibilities (Columbus campus only) 

  • Complete a Course Instruction Template (CIT) for course(s) that have assessments designed to be taken in a proctored environment. The CIT is a series of questions that provides SLDS Exam Services with the necessary information to proctor your accommodated assessments. CITs are to be completed at the beginning of the semester for each course and section that accommodated assessments apply. CITs are not to be completed for courses without exams, courses with exams that are designed to be taken at home, or courses with accommodated exams that will be proctored within the department. 

  • For quizzes/midterms/finals NOT during finals week, submit exam materials to SLDS by 12:00pm the business day prior to the exam by uploading to the Instructor Portal. See instructions below. 

  • For final exams occurring during finals week, submit exam materials to SLDS as soon as possible – no later than 12:00pm two business days prior to the exam by uploading to the Instructor Portal. See instructions below. 

  • If the exam is delivered via Carmen/ExamSoft: Adjust the time allotted, availability windows, and due dates directly in Carmen/ExamSoft according to a student’s accommodations. See instructions below. 

  • While not always possible, we ask that you be available for student questions/troubleshooting while testing at SLDS. 

Completing a Course Instruction Template: 

  1. Login to the AIM Instructor Portal. 

  2. Select the “Continue to View Student Accommodations” button to continue to the “Overview” page. This page provides a comprehensive list of students who have requested accommodations in your classes. 

  3. Select the “Alternative Testing” link from the Home menu on the left side of the window. 

  4. Select Course Instruction Template from the ribbon across the top of the window. 

  5. Scroll down on the page that displays. A list of your courses will appear. Click on Specify Course Instruction Template for the desired course CIT. 

  6. Within the Exam Management Method drop-down, select one of the following options: I Will Proctor My Own Exams; My Course Has No Exams; or SLDS Will Proctor Exams.

    • Note: If you select "I Will Proctor My Own Exams" or "My Class Has No Exams," students will not be able to place scheduling requests for your course in AIM. Arrangements should be made within the department if you intend to proctor your own exams. 

  7. Select Yes from the Confirm Task drop-down and then select Submit Your Selection. 

  8. Enter a valid phone number in the Contact Information section. This number will only be used by SLDS Exam Services staff when troubleshooting or questions arise. This information will not be available to or viewable by students.  

  9. Respond to each of the prompts within the List of Questions box. All questions with a red asterisk require a response. Access codes can be entered in the corresponding box within the CIT, rather than uploading to AIM at a later date. Once complete, select Submit and Continue to Specify Exam Dates. 

  10. You will now be prompted to input your course assessments’ information for EACH quiz/midterm/final, including Type, Date, Time, and Standard Length of Time. Select Save Exam once required fields are satisfied. This step must be repeated for every quiz, midterm, and final exam. 

    • Materials for each quiz/midterm/final may also be uploaded for each specified date; however, this is not a requirement. Any file uploaded at this stage will apply to all students within this section of the course. 

  11. Select Save Exam Date to save assessment details. Repeat Step 10 to add each assessment to your Course Instruction Template. 

  12. Once completed, a list of all assessments for your course will display. Dates can be revised by selecting the blue Modify button. Assessments can also be deleted by selecting the blue Delete button. 

Note: A CIT must be completed every semester for each section of the course. Once a CIT is completed for a course, it will not automatically be carried forward to other sections; however, the copy feature within AIM will allow you to specify one CIT and seamlessly copy its contents to other sections without additional manual entries. If you would like to copy the CIT’s contents from one section to another, locate the course to copy and select the blue View/Modify Course Instruction Template hyperlink.  Next, select the blue Copy Course Instruction Template hyperlink from the ribbon across the top of the window. Select the course the CIT should be copied to from the Select Course drop-down menu and then select Continue from the Form Submission box to copy the CIT.  

Revising/Modifying a Course Instruction Template 

  1. Login to the Instructor Portal. 

  2. Select the Continue to View Student Accommodations button to continue to the Overview page. This page provides a comprehensive list of students who have requested accommodations in your course(s). 

  3. Select Alternative Testing from the Home menu on the lefthand side of the window. 

  4. When the Alternative Testing Module displays, select Course Instruction Template from the ribbon at the top of the window. 

  5. At this time, all courses with and without a CIT will display. Locate the course you would like to modify/revise and select the View/Modify Course Instruction Template hyperlink to modify the CIT. 

  6. Make the desired changes and then select Update and View Exam Dates. Make any necessary changes to the Exam Dates by selecting either the Modify or Delete hyperlinks for that assessment. 

  7. When modifications have been successfully saved, a green checkmark will display at the top of the window. 

Uploading Exam Materials to AIM 

AIM 5 provides two options to upload exam materials. The following option, will allow you to upload exam materials in bulk for an entire section of a course: 

  1. Login to the AIM Instructor Portal.  

  2. Select the Continue to View Student Accommodations button to continue to the Overview page.  

  3. Select Alternative Testing from the Home menu on the lefthand side of the window. 

  4. When the Alternative Testing Module displays, select Course Instruction Template from the ribbon at the top of the window. Once selected, your courses will display. 

  5. Scroll to locate the desired course and section and then select the blue View/Modify Course Instruction Template hyperlink. 

  6. Once the CIT displays, locate and click on the List Exam Dates hyperlink in the top toolbar and then select the blue Modify hyperlink for the assessment that is to be uploaded. 

  7. Within the Upload Additional Exam File box, enter a file title and select the file to upload. 

  8. To save your submission, select the black Update Exam Date button at the bottom of the page. A green checkmark will display at the top of the window to confirm your submission. 

The following upload option will allow you to upload materials for specified students only: 

  1. Login to the AIM Instructor Portal. 

  2. Select the Continue to View Student Accommodations button to continue to the Overview page.  

  3. Select Alternative Testing from the Home menu on the lefthand side of the window. 

  4. When the Alternative Testing Module displays, scroll down the page to the Upcoming Exams Scheduled section. All future exams scheduled with SLDS will display here. If nothing displays within this section, your students have not yet scheduled with our office. 

  5. Select the checkbox next to each student the exam materials should apply to. Be sure to verify you are uploading for the correct assessment type and date. 

  6. Once all desired checkboxes have been selected, navigate up the page to the Upcoming Exam File Upload box. Title the file appropriately and select the file to be uploaded. 

  7. Once complete, select the black Upload File button. A green checkmark will display at the top of the window to confirm your submission. 

Downloading Completed Exams

  1. Login to the AIM Instructor Portal. 

  2. Select the Continue to View Student Accommodations button to continue to the Overview page. 

  3. Select Alternative Testing from the Home menu on the lefthand side of the window. 

  4. When the Alternative Testing Module displays, navigate to and click the Completed Files in the ribbon at the top of the page. 

  5. All exams completed with SLDS for the current term that have been uploaded via the portal will now display. Locate the exams you would like to download and select the corresponding blue Download hyperlink. 

Adding Extended Time in Carmen   

First, confirm the student's extended time multiplier. You can view an individual student’s multiplier by checking their Course Accessibility Letter (sent via email). To view the extended time multipliers for all of your students, login to the Instructor Portal and click the yellow Export Data: Students drop-down and then click the black Export Accommodation Requests to export a list of students that have requested to utilize their accommodations in your course(s). 

Next, apply the student's extended time using the Moderate Quiz function (for Classic Quizzes) or (for New Quizzes):  

  1. Once your quiz is published, look at the quiz page (From the list of quizzes, click the link for the quiz, but don't click the button to edit it).    

  2. Along the right-hand side, you will see the option to Moderate this Quiz.  From here you can see quiz progress and, depending on your settings, give additional attempts or additional time. 

  3. If you have set your quiz to have a limited testing window, you must also adjust the availability window and/or due dates so that they do not conflict with your student's extended time.  

    • For example, if you have a 60-minute quiz only available to take from 2:00pm - 3:15pm, then for a student with 1.5x extended time you would need to both (1) change the time allotted to 90 minutes and (2) adjust the availability window and due date to end at 3:45pm. If the student has a scheduling conflict (e.g. their next synchronous class starts at 3:30pm), you would need to further adjust the availability window so that the student's accommodated exams do not conflict with their other classes.