BYU-Idaho Online Knowledgebase

Assisting PathwayConnect Students with Disabilities

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This process outlines who is involved and what steps are taken to help PathwayConnect students whose disabilities interfere with their ability to complete the course effectively. Assistance is coordinated between the Pathway Support Center,  Curriculum Development, and Online Instruction departments.   

While BYU-Pathway Worldwide is not legally required to provide accommodations or assistance to students with disabilities, it endeavors to provide reasonable assistance to students who need it. Such assistance is provided voluntarily and in BYU-Pathway Worldwide’s sole discretion.

Process

Assisting PathwayConnect Students with Disabilities Assisting PathwayConnect Students with Disabilities Curriculum Development Curriculum Development Online Instruction Online Instruction Student Student BYU-PW Worldwide BYU-PW Worldwide Process Step Process Step Decision Decision Initiation/Termination Initiation/Termination Contacts Pathway Support Center (PSC) or online instructor wi... Contacts Pathway Support Center (PSC) or online instructor with concern PSC Provides instructions or resources to student PSC Provides instructions or resources to student Alterations to course or section required? Alterations to course or section required? Designer makes changes or creates alternatives Designer makes changes or creates alternatives Designer gathers team needed to provide solution Designer gathers team needed to provide solution PCS assesses need of the student PCS assesses need of the student Notifies OCR & Online Instructor Notifies OCR & Online Instructor Monitors student and course to ensure resolution Monitors student and course to ensure resolution PSC contacts Curriculum Development Director at BYU-I PSC contacts Curriculum Development Director at BYU-I Yes Yes Clickable Link Clickable Link Director discusses need with Designer Director discusses need with Designer No No A A B B C C D D Discusses concern with student Discusses concern with student Need help from PSC or CurrDev? Need help from PSC or CurrDev? Yes Yes No No Uses resources from Online Instruction Knowledgebase Uses resources from Online Instruction Knowledgebase
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Additional Information

Process Notes
  • (A) Pathway students are encouraged to contact the Pathway Support Center with questions regarding assistance related to disabilities. Pathway Support may contact the site Missionaries, Online Instructor, or local leaders as they feel is appropriate.
  • (B) BYU-Pathway Worldwide will provide, upon request, speech-to-text and text-to-speech software. 
  • (C) Designer gathers appropriate help from other departments to determine solution and implement fix in either the section, or master course, or both. This team may include Pathway Support, Disability Services, Technical Operations, the Course Lead, Review Team, other designers, IT, etc.
  • (D) Designer notifies online instructor (and council if necessary) of changes made in course and/or instructions to accommodate the student's need. This may include altered instructions, requirements, grading criteria, etc. See Best Practices below regarding documenting these changes. 
Associated Policies
  • Best practice #1
  • Best practice #2
  • Best practice #3
  • If student contacts instructor directly, instructor should direct them to the Pathway Support Center for assistance if the instructor is not able to answer questions or make needed course adjustments.
Best Practices

Responsible:

Accountable: 

Consulted:

Informed: 


  • The Curriculum Development Director is the point of contact for the Pathway Support Center. This ensures two things, 1) Large/emergency design efforts are accounted for with allocation of time and adjusted project schedules if needed and 2) feedback on design-related accommodations can be better distributed from that position instead of residing in a single designer.
  • Designer councils with Course Lead to ensure integrity and purpose of content/activity remains intact, but provides assistance where possible.
  • Needed changes in the master course that affect instructions for students or instructors should be documented within the course in appropriate locations for future similar situations.
  • Pathway Support should provide names of students approved for assistance and the section numbers that they are enrolled in to the designer working on the project . 
  • As solutions are developed to fulfill the student's needs, the OCR should keep all affected Online Instructors updated as sometimes the solution will take days or weeks to implement.  

About this Article

Responsible: Steven Willis (Planning & Coordination Manager)

Accountable: Lynne Anderson ( BYU-Pathway Worldwide)

Consulted: BYU-Pathway Worldwide, Curriculum Developmen

Informed: Online Learning, Curriculum Development, BYU-Pathway Worldwide

Sharing: Unrestricted


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