FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

(October, 2010)

How many deaf/hard of hearing students are registered with your program?

The UWM Deaf/Hard of Hearing (D/HH) Program has approximately 35 students registered with the program during the current year, (2011-2012). Of those 35 students, 25 use interpreting services and 10 use speech-to-text services.

How does a student who is deaf/hard of hearing get services/accommodations through the UWM Deaf/ Hard of Hearing Program?

As soon as a deaf/hard of hearing student has been accepted to UWM, the student should contact the D/HH Student Advisor, Jason Altmann (414-937-5875 VP, or email at altmannj@uwm.edu) to set-up an appointment. To register with the D/HH Program, the student will need to submit documentation of disability (usually a complete audiogram) to the D/HH Advisor. Students should register with the program several months before they plan on entering UWM so that the D/HH Program has ample time to arrange accommodation services.

If you do not have access to a TTY, you can call the Wisconsin Telecommunications Relay Service at 711. Your call will then be relayed.

How do students get accommodations for residential hall (dorm) rooms?

The UWM Sandburg Residential Halls have a long history of providing videophones, doorbell and fire alarm lights and other dorm room accommodations to UWM student who are deaf or hard of hearing. When a student has been notified that they have been assigned a residential hall room, along with their room deposit, the student should send a memo to the residential halls stating requested reasonable room accommodations.

http://www4.uwm.edu/housing/

Suppose a deaf/hard of hearing student wants to join an organization or attend a campus event. Can the student get accommodations (interpreters/captioners) for events outside of classes?

UWM works very hard to be an accessible campus and adheres to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 504 Rehabilitation Act. Students should be sure that they understand the processes and policies for requesting and getting accommodations for all campus-sponsored events. The D/HH advisor’s role is to explain and answer questions about these processes and polices with any student registered with the program.

Will interpreters and/or captionists tutor deaf/hard of hearing students?

No. UWM interpreters’ and captioners’ role is to facilitate communication. UWM has a tutoring center (The Tutoring Academic Resource Center [TARC]) that provides free tutoring for 100, 200 or 300 level classes in addition to the Peer Mentoring Program. The Writing Center is another good resource for our students. The UWM Deaf/Hard of Hearing Program will provide an interpreter or captioner for any students attending the tutoring or writing center sessions.

Do students get assigned to one interpreter/captioner or notetaker for their whole schedule of classes?

No. The UWM D/HH Program has a large staff and a variety of staff interpreters/captioners are assigned to each student’s schedule each semester. The Deaf/Hard of Hearing students ask instructors to assist them in recruiting a note taker from among the other students in the D/HH student’s class. The D/HH Program provides free carbonless paper for note takers and also pays each notetaker a stipend (a small amount of money) for each class.

If a student uses captioning services, does the D/HH Program give the student a laptop to keep or does the student have to provide their own laptop?

Students do not have to provide their own laptops for captioning. UWM captionists bring laptops to each class session for student use.

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Last updated: October 8, 2010