The Notetaking Program at UVM
This is the website for UVM students who need in-class backup notes. These are only in a select group of classes where a request for notes exists. This program is a function of the ACCESS office (Disability Services), as notetaking is a routine accommodation for certain types of Disabilities. We also get special requests from students who have broken a writing hand, or suffered some other similar predicament. (Caveat: This special request can only come from the professor of the class in which the student with the broken hand is enrolled.)
Once a request has been generated, either from the ACCESS student or otherwise, we then grant permissions for the student's netid to allow them into the notetaking area. We keep a repository of notes online in PDF format going back to Fall Semester, 2002 to the current semester. Some of these are in more accessible formats, such as Microsoft Word.
Your role in this system, as a student or professor
If the request is for the current semester, we coordinate the collection of notes, scanning them, and then hosting them. The professor and student collusion is crucial to the success of the program. The student making the request must meet with the professor, preferably during a professor's Office Hours, and work out a solution that works with them. They would also be well-advised to meet at other times in the semester, to check back on the request and verify expectations, check progress, etc. As soon as a request is made known to the professor and the student, the professor or the student solicits a volunteer in the class, and then sends the volunteer to us.
The Volunteer's Role
The volunteer should be sent to this website as soon as possible, so that notes can begin in earnest. We collect the full semester's worth of notes from a volunteer. The physical location of the notetaking drop off place on campus is in the Bailey-Howe Library. We are on the second floor, directly to your right off the staircase. Volunteers are expected to drop off a set of notes once per week, at the very minimum. If the volunteer chooses to type up their notes and email them to us, then they should do so at least once a week. (Although many send them after each class, which is fine with us) At the conclusion of the semester, the volunteer receives a gift certificate to the campus bookstore. Currently, the gift card is worth $25. Sometimes a bonus is given, when we can get them. In the past, that has been Ben and Jerry's ice cream certificates. We recognize that the volunteers are critical cog in the program, and we have been working diligently to discover more benefits and bonuses for them.
The Notetaking Program's Role
The notetaking team consists of workstudy students working with the Adaptive Technology Lab's Manager, Nick Ogrizovich. In Fall semester 2006, we processed over 380 requests for notes. We had a notetaker in place for about 75% of those requests. Oftentimes during the semester, a request's status will change, usually because of the class being dropped, other arrangements being made, or the student and professor agree that notes aren't a component of the class. (as with Physical Education courses, for example)
If the notes are not available after a week worth of time, starting from when the professor makes the announcement and securing a volunteer, then the student and professor some need to discuss this problem, and involve us in the resolution. The bottom line, at least from a legal standpoint, is to guarantee equal access in the classroom. If a notetaker is slow to be found, and the class drags on, the student may be in danger of falling behind the rest of the class, and that would make it much more difficult to keep up, especially given the current nature of fast-paced courses.
For more information on any of these roles, please check out the following pages.
Students trying to obtain notes
Professors in a class where a request exists
Last modified January 31 2007 11:52 AM
