By SUSAN JONES

Beginning in the 2024-25 academic year, faculty will be required to complete an alternative testing agreement at the start of the term in order for Disability Resources and Services to proceed with any student’s request for exam accommodations.

Unlike previous years, students will not be able to request or schedule an accommodated exam until an alternative testing agreement is in place. The University Testing Center and disability office said this procedure is designed to create greater efficiencies in test management and improve communications between faculty, students and the two offices.

Over the past decade, the demand for testing accommodations has grown dramatically. In the spring, officials from Disability Resources and the Center for Teaching and Learning projected they would be providing such exams to 14,000 students by 2025-26.

Because of the increased numbers, faculty are encouraged to manage accommodated testing outside of the Testing Center whenever possible.

Today, nearly 85 percent of accommodations are for extra time, Leigh Culley, head of the disability office, told the Senate Council’s Educational Policies committee in March. This takes up a lot of spots for many hours in the teaching center’s testing space.

But there are more than 50 types of accommodations the Teaching Center offers — from longer breaks and larger fonts to audio exams, scribes, text-to-speech conversion, and many more.

If faculty want to utilize the Testing Center service, they should complete the alternative testing agreement as soon as possible and well in advance of the first exam.

At the beginning of the term, all faculty will receive an email asking them to select their exam management method in the Disability Resources instructor portal. There are three options:

1. All exams are online or the class section has no exams. (The Testing Center does not offer accommodated testing for online exams.)

2. I will proctor my own exams. (This indicates the faculty member will handle any alternative testing arrangements with students.)

3. The Testing Center will proctor my exams.

No agreement is needed for options 1 or 2.

If faculty select option 3, they will be required to complete an alternative testing agreement and specify details for exam administration, such as exam dates. A questionnaire also will ask information like how the instructor plans to deliver an exam to the testing center, what materials are allowed while testing, and how the instructor plans to collect the completed exam.

Additionally, Disability Resources and the Teaching Center strongly encourage faculty to be flexible when approving exam start times. Permitting flexible testing times allows the center to de-densify the seating area and increase space in between test takers, create a more even distribution of testing throughout the day, and create a distraction-free environment.

For more information, visit the Alternative Testing Request Instructions page. You also can contact Disability Resources at 412-648-7890 or email at alt.testing@pitt.edu or schedule a private 15-minute virtual consultation using the DRS online booking link. Select “Continue as Guest” when prompted. Preferred web browser: Chrome or Firefox.

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.

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