Purpose

This page provides accessibility information regarding the Sweetland Center for Writing's spaces and services. It is our hope that these details will help students with disabilities to better plan their visits and navigate all Sweetland has to offer. Below you can find information about how to request accommodations for your appointment and information about resources already available to you. You will also find photos of our consulting spaces and descriptions of their physical elements, sensory environment, and navigability.

About Our Consultants

Writing Workshop consultants are dedicated faculty with years of experience both in the classroom and in Sweetland. They undergo continuous professional development training to improve their cultural sensitivity and consulting practice. Our Peer Writing Consultants have undergone rigorous training over the course of two semesters, including dedicated training on the pedagogical needs of learners with different cultural identities, disability statuses, and English fluencies. 

Many of our consultants have particular expertise in specific areas of writing. If such a consultant would be most helpful to you given the work you are interested in bringing to us, we encourage you to browse the consultant bios available on our People page.

Accommodations

Service and emotional support animals, interpreters, and other accommodations are very welcome in Sweetland appointments! (If you are planning to bring a service or support animal, please email sweetlandinfo@umich.edu so that we can pair you with a consultant without allergies.) Fidget toys are available at all Sweetland locations, and we would be very happy to adjust lighting or make other arrangements as far as possible to serve your unique needs. We are actively working to increase the flexibility we can offer, so please inform us of any accessibility shortcomings you face in using our spaces and services by emailing sweetlandinfo@umich.edu.

If you have extended-time accommodations through SSD, you can perhaps be best served by Writing Workshop! Undergraduate students who inform us of this accommodation are able to make 60-minute appointments at Writing Workshop, twice the length that undergraduates generally receive. Graduate students are generally allowed 60 minutes of appointment time per week, but students with extended time accommodations are able to book an additional 60 minutes. This results in a total of 120 minutes per week, broken down into 30- or 60-minute increments as the student prefers, in order to meet their accommodation. Unfortunately, at this time Peer Writing Center appointments are not eligible for extended time.

You can let us know that you have an extended-time accommodation in your WCOnline profile (directions in next section).

How to Indicate Your Disability Status in WCOnline

Indicating your disability status in your profile can help ensure that every consultation meets your access needs. You can let us know about your disability status and accommodation preferences either when signing up for a new WCOnline account or by editing your existing profile information. When signing up for a new WCOnline account, mention your disability or access needs when answering the question regarding your accessibility needs. If you have already created an account, log into your account, click “Welcome, YOURNAME,” then click “Profile and Communication Options.” You can add information about your disability status or access needs to your profile there.

When signing up for an appointment, you will be invited again to indicate any access needs for the session. Please feel free to use this to reflect any needs specific to this assignment, consultation, or period of time.

All disclosures are voluntary and confidential, and are solicited only in order to provide the best possible experience to all users of Sweetland services.

Access in Sweetland Spaces

This webpage was generated by the 2022-2023 Sweetland Student Advisory Board.