As of 3/16/20, all Student Disability Services (SDS, DSS or DS) offices will be operating during usual business hours and some will be moving to fully remote operations. Please review all pertinent details below and watch for emails/check local disability services websites for your school for more specific timelines and updates.

SDS Homewood Office (hours, staffing and appointments)

  • Student Disability Services (SDS) Homewood will be moving to fully remote operations as of Tuesday 3/17/20.
  • Starting immediately, the best way to reach SDS Homewood will be by emailing studentdisabilityservices@jhu.edu.
  • On Monday, 3/16, the SDS office phone 410-516-4720 will be answered from 8:30 am to 5 pm.
  • Starting Tuesday, 3/17 the SDS phone will be taking messages and staff will be checking it on the hour during business hours from 8:30 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday.
  • Appointments will be available by Zoom or phone and can be scheduled during business hours.
  • Even if you remain on campus, we encourage you to start using remote options for contact on Monday.
  • If an urgent need arises that may require direct interaction with the SDS Homewood office, please contact the office by both email and phone. A staff member will be available to come in to the office if the resolution of your concern cannot be done remotely.

Disability accommodations and services (for schools moving to remote classes)

  • SDS is continuing to work with students already registered to ensure that the transition to remote classes will be effective. This process will involve many changes in a short amount of time and there are some things you can do to make sure your needs are addressed:
    • Reach out to your faculty members to learn about how your courses will be delivered as well as how accommodations will work; faculty may elect to use different delivery methods and formats so it will be important to know these details as soon as possible.
    • Some accommodations may not be delivered in the same way in a remote setting, and it will be important to contact your faculty to get guidance from them about how things will work for a given course.
    • Contact SDS with any questions or concerns as soon as possible. SDS is available to support you and your faculty with this transition.
    • For those whose classes resume remotely on 3/23/20, this coming week will be a good time to touch base so there is time to address things before next Monday.
  • SDS has been collaborating with instructional design staff in providing guidance around accommodations to those assisting with setting up the remote courses as well as to all faculty who currently have students using accommodations.
  • With the move to remote course delivery, there may be a learning curve for new technologies as well as potential new challenges in delivering accommodations; please reach out to SDS to talk things through, report problems and let us know if you need additional accommodations or support.

New accommodation requests

Students may discover that accommodations are needed for the first time due to the change to remote classes. Please contact the SDS coordinator for your school to get started with the SDS registration process. Many aspects of the process are already online and meetings to discuss your needs, explain how things work, and finalize accommodations will happen remotely.

Students remaining in the residence halls on campus (Homewood and Peabody)

  • Please let SDS know you are here so that we can continue to communicate with you about any updates or changes that may impact you in a particular way.
  • SDS services will be delivered remotely including exam accommodations for all remote classes; this is to reduce contact and also provide consistency in the way we deliver accommodations.
  • If you need additional support during this time, please do not hesitate to reach out so that SDS can assist you in sorting out any disability related concerns and connecting to appropriate local resources.

This memo as well as future updates will be available on both the SDS Homewood website and also on Accessibility at John Hopkins University website under Student Accommodations.

You can also find resources and updated information on the university’s operations and response on our Hub COVID-19 information page.

We wish you all the best in the coming weeks!

– Student Disability Services (SDS) Staff

The office of Student Disability Services advises Johns Hopkins students with disabilities on available services, guides you as you register for and request accommodations and assistive technology, acts as a liaison with your instructors, and provides advice and mentoring throughout your matriculation. We work with the university’s central ADA Compliance Officer and comply with federal, state, and local disability regulations throughout our process.

Our office serves full-time graduate and undergraduate students in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering, visiting college students in the JHU Summer Programs, and visiting high school students in summer programs sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences or the School of Engineering.