SAS Students with approved accommodations from their SAS Specialist qualify to receive the Note Taking accommodation.

SAS Students must:

• Provide instructors with a copy of their accommodation letters at the beginning of each semester.
• Submit requests for Note Taking via the myACCESS student web portal.
• Check quality, consistency and timeliness of notes early and often! We don’t always know if there is an issue or concern with notes in a particular class unless YOU let us know. Don't wait until you need notes to check on their upload status – at that point it may be too late to work through your concern in time for an upcoming test or exam.

Students with a temporary disability which hinders their ability to take notes, or have been absent from class(es) due to an extended illness may be eligible to receive temporary Note Taking accommodations.

Temporary Students must:

• Contact the SAS Office to verify your temporary disability and obtain appropriate permissions to use our services.
  • Call (802) 656-7753
  • Visit Living/Learning A170
• If eligible, students may then submit requests for Note Taking accommodations for each of their courses via the myACCESS student web portal.

Attend class (unless your accommodation states otherwise). Your accommodation for Note Taking services does NOT replace your attendance in class. This accommodation is meant to supplement your own notes, fill in any gaps that you miss during a class lecture and provide you with equal access in the classroom.

Students with documented disabilities work with an Student Accessibility Specialist to determine reasonable and appropriate accommodations.  At the University of Vermont, one of the largest accommodations is Note Taking.  UVM’s Note Taking Program works to match students’ requests for notes with the appropriate level of note taking services.

SAS Students may be matched with either a Peer Note Taker (a student in the same course/section as the student requesting services), a professional quality Note Taker (may also be a peer in the same course/section), or a TypeWell transcriber who provides a transcript of each class lecture.  Teaching Assistants in a course may also be utilized as Note Takers.

SAS students are encouraged to send their instructor(s) a copy of their accommodation letter as early as possible in the semester.  Accommodation letters will list each of a student’s accommodations pertaining to that course.  SAS students and faculty are encouraged to meet one-on-one to review the student’s accommodation letters.  We encourage faculty members to discuss any questions or concerns with the student.  If the faculty member has any questions related to the Note Taking Program, we encourage them to email us at notes@uvm.edu.  If the faculty member has a question about the accommodation(s) and how they impact the integrity of the course, please contact the SAS specialist listed on the accommodation letter at 802-656-7753 as soon as possible.

SAS students submit requests for Note Taking services via their myACCESS web portal.  Students, faculty and the Note Taking Program will receive an automated email indicating that a request for notes has been submitted. Upon receipt of this email, faculty should follow the instructions detailed in the email to help facilitate the process of securing a Peer Note Taker in the course/section.

A student’s accommodation for Note Taking services does NOT replace their attendance in class (unless specifically stated in their accommodation letter).  This accommodation is meant to supplement a student’s own notes, fill in any gaps that they may miss during a class lecture and provide a student with equal access to lecture(s).

If a faculty member becomes concerned about a student’s attendance and the student is not responding to the faculty member, please contact the student’s SAS Specialist and/or the Note Taking Program as soon as possible.  We will work to help facilitate communication between the appropriate parties.

Notes are submitted by Note Takers via the myACCESS web portal and notes are housed on a secure database.  Students are only granted access to the notes for classes in which they are enrolled.

On the first day of class, it is helpful if the faculty member provides a general reminder to the entire class regarding the need to release accommodation letters as soon as possible in the semester.  In addition, it is often helpful for the faculty member to explain the importance of discussing with the student how the accommodations apply to the course.  Many professors choose to list their expectations concerning SAS accommodations on their syllabus and provide a verbal reminder during the first class session/syllabus review.  Faculty members are encouraged to use the SAS statement in the syllabus.

• It is important to the success in your role as a Peer Note Taker that you maintain open communication with the Note Taking Program.  Please check your email at least once per day and respond to any communication from the Note Taking Program.
   
• Attendance is a must!  You are required to attend every scheduled class session for the course in which you are registered to take notes.  If you miss a class, it is your role as a Peer Note Taker to get the notes, of the same or better quality, from someone else in the class (i.e. friend, peer, TA) for the missed class session and submit them as you normally would.
  • If you will need to miss class for an extended period of time, please inform the Note Taking Program in advance of your absence, or as soon as possible, so that a substitute Note Taker may be put in place prior to your leave.
  • We also ask that you attend any review sessions and take notes, whenever your schedule allows.  If there is a review session scheduled and you are unable to attend, please let the Note Taking Program know ahead of time, so that we may find another Note Taker to provide notes for that session.
• Peer Note Takers must take clear, accurate, detailed/thorough and legible notes.  Some guidelines of what the Note Taking Program expects:
  • Notes should be typed, if possible.  You may receive a specific request to type notes, in which case this is required.  (Some classes, i.e. math or chemistry, may be formula/drawing intensive and may not allow for typed notes; this is okay!)
  • Notes should include: key points, descriptions of concepts in your own words, diligent notation of anything the professor writes on the board, and any other pertinent information presented.  This includes any homework assignments, upcoming exam reminders and/or review sessions, etc.
  • If symbols and/or abbreviations are used, they must be described in a key.
• Notes are expected to be submitted in a timely manner, ideally following each class session; at minimum once per week.
  • On days when there are no notes (i.e. class was cancelled, exam, etc.) the Note Taker is expected to email notes@uvm.edu to inform the Note Taking Program of the missing notes.
• Login to the myACCESS Student Portal and follow online instructions to submit notes. For handwritten notes, please visit the Universal Design Technology Lab (UDTL) located in Bailey-Howe Library, room 200 to manually scan notes to yourself for upload.
  • Photos of individual notes pages are not acceptable, therefore handwritten must be scanned and submitted as one document per lecture date, not as individual uploads with the same date – please type notes or stop by to scan! This aids in ease-of-access as it creates one concise document corresponding with the lecture date. It also cuts down on the amount of time you will spend uploading documents!
  • If you would like to scan notes from home, please ensure that your personal system has a "Continuous Scan" feature to allow you to scan multiple pages into one document for each lecture date. There are many (free!) apps available, such as Genius Scan - PDF Scanner, which allow you to scan multiple pages into one straight from your device!
• In the event that a Peer Note Taker drops or withdraws from a class, for any reason, it is expected that the Note Taker inform the Note Taking Program, as soon as possible, so that a replacement Note Taker may be put in place.

Peer Note Takers are current UVM students who volunteer to provide their class notes for courses in which they are already enrolled, and in which a request for Note Taking services has been made.  Notes provide support to SAS students with documented disabilities and supplement their own course notes.

Becoming a Peer Note Taker is a rewarding way to become more involved in the UVM community.  Not only do a Peer Note Taker’s services provide support to their classmates, but it enriches the Peer Note Taker’s experience in the classroom by encouraging more thorough, quality notes.  Volunteering as a Peer Note Taker is also a great resume builder and provides the opportunity to gain invaluable transferrable skills.

If you’re interested in becoming a Peer Note Taker, please visit the myACCESS Student Login and select the icon for Note Takers to submit your enrolled courses each semester and upload sample notes.  SAS students may view your sample notes and select you as their Peer Note Taker for a course, at which time you will be notified via automated email and may then begin submitting your course notes following each lecture.

• It is important to the success in your role as a Peer Note Taker that you maintain open communication with the Note Taking Program.  Please check your email at least once per day and respond to any communication from the Note Taking Program.
• Attendance is a must!  You are required to attend every scheduled class session for the course in which you are registered to take notes.  If you miss a class, it is your role as a Peer Note Taker to get the notes, of the same or better quality, from someone else in the class (i.e. friend, peer, TA) for the missed class session and submit them as you normally would.
  • If you will need to miss class for an extended period of time, please inform the Note Taking Program in advance of your absence, or as soon as possible, so that a substitute Note Taker may be put in place prior to your leave.
  • We also ask that you attend any review sessions and take notes, whenever your schedule allows.  If there is a review session scheduled and you are unable to attend, please let the Note Taking Program know ahead of time, so that we may find another Note Taker to provide notes for that session.
• Peer Note Takers must take clear, accurate, detailed/thorough and legible notes.  Some guidelines of what the Note Taking Program expects:
  • Notes should be typed, if possible.  You may receive a specific request to type notes, in which case this is required.  (Some classes, i.e. math or chemistry, may be formula/drawing intensive and may not allow for typed notes; this is okay!)
  • Notes should include: key points, descriptions of concepts in your own words, diligent notation of anything the professor writes on the board, and any other pertinent information presented.  This includes any homework assignments, upcoming exam reminders and/or review sessions, etc.
  • If symbols and/or abbreviations are used, they must be described in a key.
• Notes are expected to be submitted in a timely manner, ideally following each class session; at minimum once per week.
  • On days when there are no notes (i.e. class was cancelled, exam, etc.) the Note Taker is expected to email notes@uvm.edu to inform the Note Taking Program of the missing notes.
• Login to the myACCESS Student Portal and follow online instructions to submit notes. For handwritten notes, please visit the Universal Design Technology Lab (UDTL) located in Bailey-Howe Library, room 200 to manually scan notes to yourself for upload.
  • Photos of individual notes pages are not acceptable, therefore handwritten must be scanned and submitted as one document per lecture date, not as individual uploads with the same date – please type notes or stop by to scan! This aids in ease-of-access as it creates one concise document corresponding with the lecture date. It also cuts down on the amount of time you will spend uploading documents!
  • If you would like to scan notes from home, please ensure that your personal system has a "Continuous Scan" feature to allow you to scan multiple pages into one document for each lecture date. There are many (free!) apps available, such as Genius Scan - PDF Scanner, which allow you to scan multiple pages into one straight from your device!
• In the event that a Peer Note Taker drops or withdraws from a class, for any reason, it is expected that the Note Taker inform the Note Taking Program, as soon as possible, so that a replacement Note Taker may be put in place.
   

For questions regarding myACCESS, our services and/or for troubleshooting concerns with your myACCESS web portal, please contact us!

University of Vermont
Academic Success Programs

Email: myACCESS@uvm.edu

Contact information for individual services can be found by visiting the service-specific site, accessible via the navigation menu (left).