Disability Services will be providing more exam assistance services for students before the next round of midterms and finals.
In an email sent on Nov. 1, Disability Services notified students registered in Weingarten that they would be providing drop-in hours from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. every weekday for the rest of November, with the goal of “assisting [students] in having all exams, especially final exams scheduled before Thanksgiving break.”
Disability Services offers Penn students with self-identified disabilities exam accommodations and a range of professional support programs. Weingarten works closely with Disability Services, providing Penn students with academic guidance through tutoring services and counseling.
The service will be held in Weingarten Learning Resources Center’s Study Lounge, with an Accommodations Specialist in the room to provide assistance with navigating the MyWeingartenCenter online test-booking website. The email recommended that students bring their laptop and class syllabus as guidelines to schedule all remaining exams for the semester.
The deadline for Disability Services students to submit their exam accommodation requests will be Nov. 24, according to the email.
This new test-booking assistance service comes days after The Daily Pennsylvanian published an article on student backlash about Weingarten and Disability Services’s allegedly inadequate support to students who were setting up accommodations for midterms earlier last month.
In an email sent to the DP on Oct. 20, Executive Director of Weingarten Jane Holahan, acknowledged a spike in students reaching out to Weingarten for support this in-person semester. Holahan stated that Disability Services was taking steps to respond to all student inquiries in a timely manner, and that their recently revamped Weingarten website would provide better support for students looking to find quick answers to their questions.
Holahan did not respond to a recent request for comment on Disability Services' new drop-in hours.
A College sophomore, who previously told the DP that Weingarten’s poor communication when setting up exam accommodations for last month's midterms caused him much emotional stress, said he is grateful for Disability Services' new drop-in hours. He hopes Weingarten will continue the service in future semesters, and looks forward to other steps Weingarten will take to better provide support to their students.
“It’s really nice that they are having a time where you can talk to a person face-to-face,” he said. “Now that I have the ability to talk to a person for an extended period of time, it fixes all my issues of not being able to get in touch [with Weingarten].”
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate