<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3Hn5OI_1H3g9hbe00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3Hn5OI_1H3g9hbe00" width="1200" height="800" ></figure>Boston University’s Disability and Access Services opened a new accommodated testing center late last month, providing students with accommodations an easier way to take exams on campus. The center opened on Oct. 26 after a year and a half of construction. The center is meant to provide all students with equitable opportunities to excel academically, BU spokesperson Jill Jess wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press.“Students with chronic, permanent, and temporary disabilities may require accommodations toaddress barriers that could otherwise impact their testing experience and academic performance,” Jess wrote.Students can receive different accommodations at the center including extended testing time, reduced-distraction testing environments, assistive technology and alternative testing formats, among other individualized supports.Previously, students who required accommodations during testing went to a makeshift facility on 930 Commonwealth Ave. which had 23 testing spaces. The new facility, located on the third floor of 25 Buick St., has 112 spaces. There are various types of spaces in the new facility: multi-student testing rooms, individual testing rooms and rooms with accommodations for hearing-impaired students.BU junior Jacqueline McCarthy, founder and president of the BU Disability Advocacy Club, has used the ATC since her freshman year. She said the new ATC is “a good change.” “The space is really clean, modern and spacious,” McCarthy said. “It’s a good deal overall, and I’m happy that BU is investing in the quality of life for its disabled students.”McCarthy said the increased capacity in the center made her experience better. “The fact that there’s more room for everybody is really a big boon, in my opinion,” she said. “If [someone is] scheduling an exam at the testing center and it’s full, they don’t really have a choice and they have to work it out with the professor. And sometimes the professor isn’t willing to be accommodating.”Before the new ATC opened, McCarthy said she often saw all the old ATC’s spaces booked. “Now I saw that almost every possible time slot, 9-to-5, has a lot of room, so I think that’s a lot easier than before,” she said. Typically students need to request an exam space three business days in advance. However students need to make appointments one week in advance during high demand periods like finals, according to the ATC website.Increasing capacity and extending hours were among the chief considerations the University and architects made when developing designs for the new ATC, Jess wrote. The ATC was first established in April 2024 as a pilot program. Jess wrote the University realized the original space was too small, and they would have to expand the ATC to provide resources for all students with accommodations.“After several years of operation, it became clear that the original 23 testing spaces were insufficient to support the more than 3,000 students registered with Disability and Access Services,” Jess wrote.The old ATC “was never intended to be the permanent location,” Jess wrote, but it gave “valuable insight” to what improvements were necessary to make an effective center in the future. Sophomore Leah Seche said she has used the ATC since her freshman year to access extended testing time and an environment with reduced distractions due to her diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder. “When I was first going to the [old] accommodation center, I found it very hard to find,” she said. “It was one of the most inaccessible places on campus for an accommodation center. It was very ironic in a sense.”Seche said the center’s new location is a big improvement.“I really like the new accommodation center. You can tell that it’s new and that BU invested their money into this,” Seche said. McCarthy expressed a similar sentiment toward the location of the previous center to Seche, but she said she wishes the new ATC was in a more central location on campus. “I’m someone who is mostly around Central to East Campus for most of my classes and also where I live, so having to go all the way to West Campus is a little inconvenient,” she said.Mia Zibly, a freshman studying human physiology, described her experience at the new ATC as “kind of the same,” compared to her experience at the previous center. “I like that they added that you can put a flag up if you need help. I don’t think that was there before,” she said.Seche said she wishes the flag system was more automated. She said she takes “matters in her own hands” and leaves her cubicle to talk to a proctor instead of waiting for someone to address her flag. “The flags are a great way to not disrupt anyone, but at the same time, you’re not getting the help you need,” she said.Students leaving their desks — particularly in the multi-student testing rooms — to receive proctor support can be distracting and disruptive, Seche said. Seche said the resources at ATC allow her to take a test at the same level as her peers.“Accommodations exist not as an advantage,” she said. “The difference I have specifically is extra time and a space that has the least distractions, which help me be able to be comfortable and do my absolute best on my exam, just like how other students are able to do their absolute best on their exams with the capabilities that they have.” </div></body>

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Boston University’s Disability and Access Services opened a new accommodated testing center late last month, providing students with accommodations an easier way to take exams on campus. The center opened on Oct. 26 after a year and a half of construction. The center is meant to provide all students...

‘A good change’: BU’s DAS opens a new accommodated testing center

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Boston University’s Disability and Access Services opened a new accommodated testing center late last month, providing students with accommodations an easi

‘A good change’: BU’s DAS opens a new accommodated testing center

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