Audio Recording Agreement

Audio Recording Agreement 

According to 844.4 Section of 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-112, amended P.L. 93-516), institutions of higher education must provide auxiliary aids and services to students with documented disabilities and cannot deny equal access to the institution’s programs, courses, and activities. Audio recording is a legitimate auxiliary aid to supplement or substitute note taking for some students with disabilities. Students with disabilities approved for this accommodation have the right to audio record course instruction for their personal study only. Recordings should refer only to content required for evaluation and permission to allow the recording is not a transfer of any copyrights of the recording.

To Student:

Please read and sign this agreement as acknowledgement that you have read and understand the guidelines and intend to comply. A copy of this signed agreement will be maintained in your Accessibility Resources file.

Student Do’s:

• Request to utilize “audio record course lectures” as an accommodation each semester, as needed.
• Discuss the implementation of the audio recording accommodation with your faculty.
• Destroy recordings at the end of the semester.

Student Don’ts (without prior consent from faculty member):

• Do not share recording with others.
• Do not exchange or distribute recordings for commercial purposes, for compensation, or for any other purpose other than personal study. Public distribution of recordings may constitute copyright infringement in violation of federal or state law (17 U.S.C. sec. 101 et seq.), or College policy. Violation of this agreement may subject a student to disciplinary action.
• Do not publish or quote the content of audio recordings. Recordings may not be reproduced or uploaded to publicly accessible web environments.
• Do not record classes or portions of classes which involve personal discussion and self-disclosure unless that content is being evaluated in the course.

Classes that involve self-disclosure for students:

In some cases, faculty may object to the use of an audio-recording device in class (or portions of the class) that involve personal discussion and self-disclosure by students, fearing that audio recorders will inhibit free exchange of information and potentially violate a student’s right to privacy. As an alternative in such cases, the accommodated student may need to be provided copies of the notes made by a designated note taker (identified by faculty/staff).

If you are concerned about the implementation of this accommodation in any course; please contact Accessibility Resources staff at accessibility@rmc.edu.

I have read and understand the above guidelines and intend to comply with them. I understand that any audio recordings of course instruction are solely for my personal study and will destroy recordings at the end of the semester. I will not copy or distribute any such recordings and understand that doing so may constitute copyright infringement in violation of federal or state law (17 U.S.C. sec. 101 et seq.), or College policy.