Information for Faculty Regarding Testing Accommodations

* Note: Information on this page only pertains to Yale College students. For more information on testing accommodations for graduate and professional students, please contact the SAS staff for the respective school.

Students with disabilities enrolled in your classes may be approved for testing accommodations.

If students are approved for testing accommodations, they will forward you their electronic accommodation letter prior to requesting testing accommodations. If a student requests testing accommodations and does not provide you their current accommodation letter, you should require that they do prior to the assessment.

You can also find a list of your students and their approved accommodations in your Accommodate Faculty Portal.

Collaborate with your students regarding testing accommodations as soon as possible to determine if you can provide the accommodations or if the student should schedule their exams at SAS.

  • Whenever possible, it is always best when instructors can arrange testing accommodations for their students. Instructors can do this by reserving separate space near their classroom or within their department, utilizing TAs and or departmental staff as proctors.
  • If this is not possible, SAS can assist instructors with exam administration for accommodated exams held at the same time as the class in a few ways; our Proctor 2 Go program, or SAS Office Exam Administration.

Proctor 2 Go Information

SAS has a pool of trained graduate student proctors that can assist you with proctoring accommodated exams. Instructors need to arrange testing space, either through the Registrar or their department. To request a Proctor 2 Go, please reach out to sasexams@yale.edu at least 7 days in advance of the exam date and SAS will make every attempt to identify a proctor. You can submit your Proctor 2 Go requests for all of your exams at the start of the semester. Once scheduled, SAS will connect you with the proctors assigned to your exam so that you and the proctors can coordinate further information directly.

This is always the most equitable option as students can take the exam at the same time as the class, ideally in a location close by to where their peers are taking the exam.

Proctor 2 Go hours include regular business hours and extend into the evening and may also be available on the weekends.

SAS Office Exam Administration

If you are unable to coordinate your students’ accommodations or coordinate with the Proctor 2 Go program, please inform your students that they must schedule their exams at the SAS office at least 7 days in advance of the class exam date. Please note, SAS only proctors exams in our office 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday.

Instructors must provide information about the exam (materials allowed, contact information, pertinent instructions) and drop off the appropriate number of copies of the exam (and provide a digital copy when necessary for accommodation coordination), or upload a digital copy to their SAS Accommodate Portal at least 48 hours in advance of the scheduled exam. Please review our digital upload parameters in the portal. Exams can be dropped off and picked up at Watson Center, Room A62. A Graduate Student employee is typically there from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday to assist. Exams can also be slid under the door after business hours. If left after business hours, please email sasexams@yale.edu to confirm receipt of drop off and to let SAS know of any special instructions and appropriate contact information.

Instructors can view their students’ accommodations and test booking requests in their instructor SAS Accommodate Portal.

Please note the following important information:

  • SAS only proctors exams in our office 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday, except during finals when our hours are extended.
  • Exams scheduled at SAS must be taken at the same time as the class, or overlap the class start time in order to accommodate class scheduling conflicts.
  • Space at SAS is limited;
    • SAS does not proctor Quizzes. Arrangements for quizzes must be made with/by instructors/departments.
    • SAS does not proctor Make Up Exams. Instructors and their departments must make arrangements for their students’ make-up exams. If you need assistance with proctoring these exams, Proctor 2 Go services may be available. Please reach out to sasexams@yale.edu as soon as possible to inquire.
  • SAS does not proctor remote exams. The Poorvu Center may be able to assist you with online/remote exam proctoring. Please email them as soon as possible (at least 72 hours in advance is appreciated) with your request.
  • Exams must be picked up from our Watson Center office location by instructors, or department designee. Room A62 is open 8am to 5pm Monday though Friday.

Final Exam Administration Information

  • For final exams, the deadline to submit Test Room booking requests at SAS is the last day of the semester for all finals. Please discuss accommodations with your students and instruct them to submit Test Room booking requests at SAS as needed prior to the deadline if you are unable to provide accommodations.
  • Late requests will not be guaranteed.
  • SAS is open on Saturday and Sunday for final exams scheduled on those dates.
  • Final exams must be scheduled at the same time as the Official University time and date indicated for your class unless the exam is at 7pm. 7pm final exams must be scheduled to begin at 5:00pm at the SAS office. If students finish before 7pm, they must remain under testing conditions until then.
  • SAS does not proctor final exams before 9:00am or past 10:30pm.
  • SAS does not proctor exams during Reading Week unless the University has designated this as the final exam time for the course.

Contact Information

Emailing sasexams@yale.edu is the best way to reach a member of the exam team.

Jackie Moriarty, Associate Director for Accommodations, oversees Exam Administration at SAS. Qualified and trained Graduate Student Employees support the daily administrative and proctoring tasks.

Other Helpful Information

Tips for Proctoring Accommodated Exams

  • Space: Check to see if your regular classroom is being used at a time adjacent to your course as you may be able to use that space; reserve an additional classroom space using 25Live; check with departmental staff, administrators, or Registrars for available space; or arrange space as you would for make-up exams.
  • Proctors: You can utilize TFs or identify other graduate students. If you identify graduate students, SAS can train and pay them for proctoring. SAS cannot pay your own TF to proctor the exam, but we can pay TFs from other courses to do so.
  • Timing: For evening exams, SAS recommends starting early in order to avoid having extended time exams go past the point where students are able to perform at their best; for example, starting 7pm exams at 5:30pm and 8pm exams at 6:30pm.

Accommodation Descriptions & Tips

  • Private room as available means an individual room for a student. If a private room is not available, these students can be moved to a semi-private room. It is helpful to give them a little warning that this will happen.
  • Semi-private room as available typically means a room with no more than 5 testers in it. If this is not available, the students can be moved to a lower-distraction room.
  • Lower distraction room means a room with no more than 10 testers in it. This room should also be in a quiet space, not adjacent to a bathroom or entryway, whenever possible.
  • Laptop use: If a student has a laptop requirement and a laptop disconnected from the internet is required, SAS has laptops to lend. Please write to sasexams@yale.edu and SAS can make arrangements to loan a laptop to a student. Typically, the student picks up and returns the laptop to SAS. The exam should be saved on a flash drive.
  • Noise-reducing headphones: SAS has headphones for loan to students as needed. Generally, students pick up headphones themselves when needed. Many students will already have a set from a previous exam. Noise cancelling headphones are unable to connect to any electronics.
  • Breaks: Students that have breaks as an accommodation are allowed more frequent breaks that may last longer than other students’ restroom breaks. The time elapsed for these breaks is absorbed into their extra time. If a student has breaks as an accommodation, a brief conversation at the beginning of the exam about expectations regarding the exam itself would be useful. Some proctors ask that the student give the physical exam to the proctor when leaving the room. Others ask that they leave it on their desks, face down. Either is fine, just give clear expectations. Often students with breaks do not have a lot of warning for the needed break, so establishing protocols before the exam is helpful.

Departmental Proctors

SAS is happy to work with departments that want to create their own accommodated proctor pool. This is often the very best solution for a department. SAS will pay and train proctors that you select. You can then schedule proctors and rooms as needed. SAS can only pay for accommodated exams (not regular exams) and SAS cannot pay a TF to proctor for their own course. (Some departments work out reciprocity—TF’s for 101 proctor accommodated 201 exams and TF’s for 201 proctor 101 accommodated exams.)