DRC COVID-19 FAQs

The DRC is open and available to provide assistance throughout FIU's campus repopulation.  Students, faculty, and staff can receive direct one-on-one support during DRC hours of operation 9:00am-5:00pm.

Need assistance with accommodations? Contact the DRC by phone (305-348-3532) or email (DRC@fiu.edu) to schedule an appointment via Zoom/phone. Please keep in mind that in-person assistance is only scheduled when remote appointments cannot be provided.

For walk-in assistance, please visit us during our daily Virtual Drop-In Hours Monday – Friday from 10am – 12pm.

These Zoom sessions are open to students, faculty, and staff to help answer quick questions, discuss accommodations, and strategies that can help students be successful in 10 minutes or less.

• Join by computer using Meeting ID:  953 849 7368
• Join by phone: Dial +1(646) 876-9923; Enter meeting ID: 953 8497 368 #

Monday:  Stephen Loynaz (General Access Consultant Questions)
Tuesday:  Geneva Munoz (General Access Consultant Questions)
Wednesday:  Joanna Lindsay (General Access Consultant Questions)
Thursday:  Stephanie Bello (General Access Consultant Questions)
Friday: 

• 10am – 11am: Reynaldo Castilla (Adaptive Technology Questions)
• 11am – 12pm: Kimberly Hunter (Accommodated Testing Questions)

The process for coordinating testing accommodations with the DRC has been adjusted in order to appropriately address each student case during remote learning and campus repopulation.

Please note that as per specific disability support guidelines and best practices that we have been reviewing, the DRC encourages faculty to facilitate testing accommodations remotely whenever possible.

If you have any questions or need assistance with testing accommodations, please use the Testing Accommodation Webform to provide the information that we need to assist with next steps.

After the form is submitted, please allow 2-3 business days for a follow-up email with information on how to best proceed with testing accommodations. If you have any issues with accessing or completing this form, please contact khunter@fiu.edu

Please note that the DRC is NOT accepting Exam Proctor Forms at this time- The Testing Accommodation Webform will be used in place of the Exam Proctor Form.

The DRC will be working directly with students who rely on readers and scribes to address the implementation of this accommodation. We will collaboratively develop options so that you will receive your accommodations. If the accommodation is not implemented in a timely manner, the DRC will coordinate with your faculty to mitigate gaps in the coursework and identify alternative options for the provision of your accommodations.

We recognize this may be a challenge, however, it is important that you take some time to plan accordingly. In the remote learning environment, it is the responsibility of the student to identify an adequate, quiet, and distraction-limited setting.

If you need clarification on how academic accommodations can be implemented remotely, including, but not limited to, adaptive technology and accessible materials, contact us via the methods below and we will guide you through the process.

• MMC: 305-348-3532
• MMC: drc@fiu.edu
• BBC: 305-919-5345
• BBC: drcbbc@fiu.edu

Additionally, you may contact your Access Consultant directly via email at any time.

Your Access Consultant is assigned based on your academic level and the list is below for your reference:

• Freshmen (0-30 credits): Joanna Lindsay – lindsayj@fiu.edu
• Sophomores (31-60 credits): Geneva Munoz – gnmunoz@fiu.edu
• Juniors (61-90 credits): Please contact Access Consultant manager Stephen Loynaz loynazs@fiu.edu for the delegation of your case.
• Seniors (91-120+), Graduate Students, College of Law, College of Medicine: Stephen Loynaz – loynazs@fiu.edu
• BBC: Stephanie Bello – smbello@fiu.edu

While the DRC will not be continuing in-person walk-in hours remotely, we are offering Virtual Drop-In Hours through Zoom every day of the week. You can find more information about our Virtual Drop-in hours under the Contact page. Please note that the DRC strives in providing the best customer services to our students, faculty, staff, and community stakeholders so all emergency situations will be addressed as soon as possible. Please contact your assigned Access Consultant directly via email so they may assist you in a timely manner. Please note that all students who leave voicemails and emails to our general DRC contact will have a delay in response due to the high volume of calls and emails.

Your Access Consultant is assigned based on your academic level and the list is below for your reference:

• Freshmen (0-30 credits): Joanna Lindsay – lindsayj@fiu.edu
• Sophomores (31-60 credits): Geneva Munoz – gnmunoz@fiu.edu
• Juniors (61-90 credits): Please contact Access Consultant manager Stephen Loynaz loynazs@fiu.edu for the delegation of your case.
• Seniors (91-120+), Graduate Students, College of Law, College of Medicine: Stephen Loynaz – loynazs@fiu.edu
• BBC: Stephanie Bello – smbello@fiu.edu

Yes, the DRC will be providing clear face masks alternatives as needed to students who are deaf and hard of hearing taking a hybrid or F2F course as well as faculty members providing in-person services to students who are deaf and hard of hearing in their class this term. The clear face mask alternative will allow lip reading for students who depend on this type of communication and due to the limited volume of masks, will only be provided in the above-mentioned cases.

When adding extended time on exams through Canvas, there are two critical considerations: First, the test duration must be extended to include the ADA accommodated time parameters.

Second, the allotted window which is made available must be open long enough to facilitate the extended time and/or date accommodations.

Click here for detailed instructions on how to edit the length of the test and the allotted time in which the exam can be accessed.

Due to the transition to remote learning, students with disabilities should not be required to come to campus in order to receive their ADA accommodations. We, therefore, suggest utilizing platforms such as Zoom in special cases such as these to oversee the facilitation of these accommodations. If you have a TA or Graduate Assistant, they can serve as a proctor to ensure that students are able to process the test questions and record their answers. Additionally, the DRC team is always available to coordinate and serve students throughout this process in an effort to ensure their accommodations are fully implemented.

Stressful situations and abrupt changes to a routine may exacerbate an underlying disability. If a student contacts you with a disability-related question, promptly refer them to the DRC, even if they are not affiliated with the DRC, and we will assist them.

To fully include students with disabilities such as those who are low vision, blind, hard of hearing, or Deaf, you can refer to canvas.fiu.edu to find tools that are in place to guide you in making images accessible by adding text to images and captions to videos.

FIU’s DRC staff and FIU Online staff (canvas.fiu.edu) serve as a go-to resource for quick guidance on implementation.

Specific tools available to you immediately:

• As the University encourages faculty to use Zoom to conduct lectures online, we would like to share with you the accessibility features built-in within zoom.
  • Automatic recording and automatic transcripts. You can record all sessions automatically and receive transcripts of the recordings and the sessions to share with the class. Instructions to follow are below:
    • Set settings to record zoom sessions automatically before the start of the meeting.
    • Once the meeting ends, you will receive links to the recording via email which includes transcripts to the recordings and the chat conversations.
    • These transcripts can be shared with individual students or the entire class.
  • Keyboard accessibility available. Zoom supports keyboard shortcuts for easy navigation.
  • Screen Reader support. Zoom is fully compatible with the latest screen readers.
  • Closed captioning. Zoom integrates seamlessly with FIU’s 3^rd party closed captioning providers when live captions are required for heavy discussion-based meetings.
    • If a student in your class requires live captions based on their disability, please contact the DRC so that we can discuss the implementation of this accommodation and coordinate with our FIU vendor.

• Additionally, there is a file format conversion tool, Sensus Access, available university-wide which requires an @fiu.edu email address. This tool enables you to upload a document and convert it into an accessible format with a few simple clicks. Sensus Access is available to all students, faculty, and staff, and can be accessed while on or off-campus. This self-service conversion tool works with a range of alternate formats, including PDFs, JPEGs, e-books, and word/text files and it will email you the accessible converted file within a few minutes.
  • You can access this tool and read more information and instructions.

A multi-disciplinary team – FIU Online, Media Technology Services, and Center for the Advancement of Teaching – are working together to assist and guide those who need additional support in utilizing the technological tools that will support as you adapt to remote instruction. 

• FIU has the resources in place to assist with modifying your course delivery method. Resources are available at canvas.fiu.edu/coronavirus. 
• For support with Canvas please visit the FIU Canvas Help Center at canvas.fiu.edu/support or call 305-348-3630 for 24/7 phone support. You may also contact the Academic Continuity workgroup by emailing acadcont@fiu.edu.
• The Faculty Resource Centers at both MMC (GL 150) and BBC (ACI – 148) are available for walk-in support. The BBC center is open Monday – Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The MMC center has extended hours Monday – Friday, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Training opportunities for faculty in Canvas, Zoom and other technology tools can be found canvas.fiu.edu/training/faculty.

Yes, the DRC will be providing clear face masks alternatives as needed to students who are deaf and hard of hearing taking a hybrid or F2F course as well as faculty members providing in-person services to students who are deaf and hard of hearing in their class this term. The clear face mask alternative will allow lip reading for students who depend on this type of communication and due to the limited volume of masks, will only be provided in the above-mentioned cases.