Students

Greetings from the Office of Accessibility at Winthrop University. The following video will show you how to request a Letter of Accommodation to be sent to your instructor(s).
A Letter of Accommodation, or as we like to call them, an LOA, informs an professor of a student's approved accommodations. The professor will not know if a student receives an accommodation(s) unless a student sends them an LOA. Accommodations are NOT retroactive, so it is best to submit your LOA requests at the beginning of each semester so you can take full advantage of your accommodations. LOA requests are completed in the AIM Portal.
Step 1 to sending your LOA is to log-in to the Student AIM Portal. Please see our video titled "How to Access the Student AIM Portal" to assist with this step.
Once you are logged in, we can begin the process of sending LOAs to your instructors. You should be directed to your Dashboard that provides an overview of your account. You can click on My Dashboard on the left side if you navigate away from the Dashboard and need to return to it.
Under Overview on your Dashboard, you will find a box labeled Accommodation Requests with the current semester listed. On my screen, you will notice that it says "Add Requests for 2 Classes." This is where you will click to send a LOA. This number will countdown as you send out your LOAs. The large number to the left of this link is how many LOAs have already been sent. 
On the next page, under Accommodation Requests you will select the classes for which you need to use your approved accommodation(s). If you intend to use the same accommodation(s) in multiple courses, you can choose more than one course in this step. You may also select the option to apply the same accommodations to all selected courses , if applicable. Then click "Continue to Next Step." 
For each class, you will select which accommodation(s) you intend to use during the semester. (Please note there is a Select All option.) Once you have selected your accommodations for each course, complete the Final Step by marking the checkbox agreeing to the statements listed in AIM. Once finished, select "Submit Request."
Then you can return to "My Dashboard" to verify your LOA request was sent. Under "Accommodation Requests," you will see "List of Accommodation Requests." This is where all sent accommodation letters for the semester will be listed. You should also receive a confirmation email to your Winthrop email account. Again, the large number on the left side of this box will count up as letters are sent, and the number under "Add Requests for 2 Classes" will count down. 
As always, if you have any questions or need assistance, please contact us. You can contact the OA via phone at 803-323-3290 or via email at accessibility@winthrop.edu.

Greetings from the Office of Accessibility at Winthrop University. The following video is to show students who have approved exam accommodations, how to scheduled an exam appointment with the Office of Accessibility's Test Center through the AIM Portal.
To submit appointment requests to the OA Test Center, you must first have already sent your Letters of Accommodation(s) to your professors. Please see the video for the step-by-step process of sending out these letters in our video titled, "How to Send Letters of Accommodation".
To begin, log-in to your Student AIM Portal, using the same credentials you use to access your Winthrop email and Wingspan accounts. Please see the video of "How to Access the Student AIM Portal" for step-by-step instructions to log-in.
Once you are logged in, you will need to navigate to the "Alternative Testing" page. You can do so by clicking on "Alternative Testing" in the left-hand menu, under "Accommodations." Once you are on the "Alternative Testing" page, you need to select the class for which you are trying to schedule an appointment. You can select your class from the drop-down menu and then click "Schedule an Exam."
On this page you will complete the Exam Detail information. 
If your instructor has not yet completed the Course Instruction Form: Your exam request will be a placeholder until the form is completed by your instructor. Please complete all fields in the Exam Detail box and submit the exam request. 
Once your instructor completes the Course Instruction Form, the OA Test Center will review your appointment request. You will receive an email to your Winthrop account when your exam request is approved by OA staff. 
If your instructor has completed the Course Instruction Form: You will select the exam you are scheduling from the drop-down menu. The options listed are the exam dates provided by your instructor in the Course Instruction Form.
Please be sure to complete the "Additional Note," if needed. Here you will include any additional information for your proctor which includes testing later than the class due to back-to-back classes or really any other information you think the OA Test Center staff needs. Once the form is completed, click "Add Exam Request."
Now, what do I do if my instructor has already completed the Course Instruction form, but I don't see the exam I need to take appear in the drop-down menu? If there was a date change by your instructor or you are taking a make-up exam, please select the original exam date and add an additional note explaining to the OA Test Center staff why you chose a different date. For all other reasons, please contact the OA Test Center at testcenter@winthrop.edu with details about what exam you are trying to schedule. 
Please keep in mind that exam must be scheduled one week, or 5 business days, in advance to the exam date. For example, 5 business days prior to a Monday is the previous Monday. Each student will receive one late exemption for the semester. You will be notified via email when that exemption is used. Lastly, remember that all requests submitted within 24 hours of an exam will be automatically denied.
If you submit a request within 5 business days of an exam, you will be directed to a second page while scheduling your exam, after clicking the "Add Exam Request" button. You must submit a reason as to why this is a late request. You will do so by selecting one of the options in the drop-down menu and adding any pertinent information to the text box. Your request will not go through if you do not complete this step, so please make sure you hit the "Submit" button. Again, students are allowed one late exemption per semester. If your exam request is denied, a notification email will be sent to your instructor and your Winthrop email account.
You can modify and cancel any appointment requests through the AIM Portal .If you need to reschedule, modify, or cancel an appointment, please go to the Alternative Testing page and under Upcoming Exams Scheduled , find the appointment request you are looking to change. Click on Modify or cancel request. Changes you are allowed request for an appointment include changing the date, time or accommodations selected.
As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or need assistance. The OA Test Center can be reached via phone at 803-323-3290 and select option 3, or email us at testcenter@winthrop.edu.