Before you begin your registration with SAS, collect the following documents:

• Verification of Disability Form (PDF) to be filled out with a registered health professional.

Note: Students with documented learning disabilities are required to provide a copy of their most recent psycho-educational assessment.

• Student Accessibility Services Confidentiality and Exchange of Information Consent Form (PDF) to be filled out by the student.

In place of the Verification of Disability form, you may instead provide  medical documentation to SAS that includes the following information:

• A clinical diagnosis of your relevant medical condition(s)
• The name of the person who made the diagnosis and their credential(s)
• The date of the testing
• Indicators of how your condition(s) affect you day to day
• Recommendations for suggested accommodations
• Duration of your condition(s) (temporary or permanent), and length of time you’ll need accommodations

Please contact our office directly if you or your registered health professional are unsure about the type of information required.

While documentation from a registered health professional is required to confirm a disability diagnosis, the documentation alone does no determine whether recommended or preferred accommodations are reasonable. Medical information will be considered, but does not guarantee a specific accommodation will be implemented by SAS.

All personal health and medical information is kept confidential. Registration with SAS is not indicated on academic transcripts.

Are you waiting on documentation?

Please fill out the online intake form if you are still waiting on documentation from your registered health professional. An accessibility coordinator will meet with you for a consultation to discuss your needs, but accommodations will not be implemented until documentation is received.

Once you have all your documentation gathered, you must complete the online intake form.

Alternate format versions of the form and registration options for prospective students with no UM student email are available by contacting our office.

Using the Online Intake form

1. Select the Online intake link on the right of this page.
2. Log-in with your UMNetID and multi-factor authentication.
3. If you arrive at a menu screen, select the "Online Intake" module link which is third down on the left-hand side.
4. Please read through the initial information on the form and verify your First Name, Last Name, Student Number and Email address as provided by Aurora.
5. Proceed to provide the information requested in the form, paying specific attention to the Current Concerns section.

6. We encourage you to upload the SAS Confidentiality and Exchange of Information form and the Verification of Disability (or other medical documentation) when submitting. Please consolidate photo files into one document (.doc, .pdf) as there are limits to the number of files you may upload. 

   If you do not have documentation yet available or if your medical professional is sending a copy to our office, you may indicate this on the form. 

7. Submit the form and the intake team will be in touch to schedule an appointment. 

After completing your online intake form, an initial appointment with your assigned Accessibility Coordinator will be scheduled. During this meeting you will be invited to discuss:

• Your educational goals and program details
• Any barriers to equal access you are experiencing
• Your supporting documentation
• Potential accommodations
• SAS processes and deadlines for accommodations and supports
• Your role in implementing and managing your accommodations
• How your information is protected

Following the intake meeting, your Accessibility Coordinator will follow up by email to confirm your accommodation plan and provide additional details about processes, deadlines and your responsibilities. Save this email as it will contain important information you may need to refer to later.

Once your registration is complete and you have returned a signed Confidentiality and Exchange of Information form, you may activate your accommodations on the Student Portal. This process sends a letter of accommodations to your instructors. At this time you may choose to inform instructors of all approved accommodations or select specific ones to appear on each accommodation letter.

If you do not activate your accommodations on the Student Portal, your instructors will not be notified and your accommodations will not be available. While you can activate your accommodations at any point later in the term, they are not retroactive. It is best to activate accommodations early so you have the support in place right at the start of term.

What’s in a letter of accommodation?

Only your name, student number and the list of accommodations are shared with your instructor. Medical documentation and personal health information are kept confidentially within the SAS office.

Keep your Accessibility Coordinator informed of any health updates or program changes to ensure your accommodation plan remains current. If you have questions or encounter challenges while implementing your accommodations, please reach out. Notifying your Accessibility Coordinator of any issues helps increase the likelihood of a smooth resolution.

You can see your Accessibility Coordinator’s availability and schedule check-in appointments using the Schedule an Appointment link on the Student Portal.

After you log into the SAS Portal with multi-factor authentication:

1. Select "Note-takers" on the homepage or, if you automatically arrived at the Volunteer Note Sharing help screen, select the "Courses/notes" option in the top left corner.
2. You may be required to fill in some personal info or it will be auto-filled from Aurora. Note that the bottom portion of the page asking for your address is not required by our office.
3. On the next page, a list of your course codes will appear. For each class that you would like to volunteer, please click "upload sample notes".
4. Select the date that the notes are from in the calendar drop down. Click "browse" to upload the files from your computer. Once complete, select "Submit notes".
5. You may now view the notes you have submitted.
6. If have been selected to be a volunteer notetaker, you will receive an automatic email notification from the SAS office. In the portal you will see that you have been selected beside the course code. Continue to upload all of your notes in the same way, the only difference now is that the link says "Upload notes."

After you log into the SAS Portal with multi-factor authentication

1. If you arrive on the SAS Portal menu screen, select the "Note-takers" module link.

2. Select "Course / notes" in the upper left hand corner under the UM Logo. 

3. If you are a first time volunteer notetaker, you must complete a profile. 

   a. The top information should be pre-filled from Aurora. 

   b. The second half asks for your address and other unnecessary information. You are not required to complete this information. 

   c. Select "Next" to proceed.

4. a. Read through and agree to the terms and confidentiality agreement.

   b. Select "Next" to continue.

5. a. Add courses to your profile by selecting from the list of courses in which you are registered. 

   b. Click "Add selected course(s)" to continue.   

6. Uploading sample notes for each course helps students determine if your notes fit their learning style. 

   a. Select the lecture date and then "Browse" to select a file from your computer. Note: It is very helpful to consolidate documents related to one lecture into a single file for uploading.

   b. Select "Submit notes" to continue. 

   c. Sample notes already on file will be listed in the table at the bottom of this screen.

7. The Notetaker Courses table has headings, "My courses", "I have been selected" and "My lecture notes". 

   a. If you have not been chosen as a notetaker, you may continue to "Upload sample notes". 

   b. Once you have been selected as a notetaker, you will upload your notes per course by selecting "Upload lecture notes".

8. Once on the Lecture Notes screen,

   a. select the "Upload a lecture note" button.

8. b. Select the date of the lecture using the date selector.

   c. Select the "Browse" button to upload notes.

   d. You may add optional comments.

   e. Select "Submit" to complete the upload.

9. Other actions you may take on the Notetaker Courses page:

   a. To add another course to your list, select the "Add a new potential course" button.

   b. To remove yourself from a course, find the course in the dropdown.

   c. Select the "Remove this course" button.

10. You may provide us with information about why you are removing yourself from the course as a notetaker. Note: If you drop a course, this will automatically remove that course from the notetaker system.

To be considered for CSG programs, you must be eligible for Student Aid and complete a Student Aid application. The process of applying for the Canada Student Grant for Persons with Disabilities (CSG-PD) begins by indicating you are a student with a permanent, or prolonged or persistent disability on your Student Aid application.

There are two parts to the CSG program for students with disabilities – CSG-PD and CSG-DSE (Services and Equipment)

1. CSG-PD requires a disability verification form be filled out by your doctor. The grant money you receive can be used to cover tuition and other expenses at your discretion while you are in school.
2. CSG-DSE is an itemized grant that provides funds for specific services and equipment that students request. You and your accessibility coordinator fill out this form together each term in which you request funding. A disability-related rationale is required for each service or equipment request. Students are required to provide Student Aid with receipts and records of how CSG-DSE money was spent at the end of the study period.
   • Funding requests for services can include: exam proctoring, note taking support, subject tutoring, ASL interpreter, etc.
   • Funding requests for equipment can include: computers, software, assistive technologies, etc. There are cost and frequency of request limitations.  

Each provincial funding organization and national funding organization communicates with students in different formats. Make sure all your contact information, including mailing address, is up-to-date so you do not miss important information.

Students are encouraged to apply for scholarships and bursaries through UM Financial Aid and Awards. The SAS newsletter often includes information about specific awards available to SAS students.

More information about scholarships

Arun Sud Memorial Scholarship

This scholarship is awarded to an SAS-registered student based on academic achievement and extra-curricular participation at UM or in the community.