Meet the team—Caitlin Warwood

In this edition of ‘Meet the team’, Accessible Assessment Coordinator Caitlin talks to us about how Te Amaru—Disability Services can help you during assessment period.

Assessment periods are stressful enough—we want to make sure everything is as streamlined as possible for students.

The shift away from exams to more varied and online assessments has made things much more accessible for students. Te Amaru—Disability Services has introduced inclusive learning software to help students prepare for their assessments and this has been really popular. We can also help make sure assessments are accessible for a wide range of disability needs. Times have changed and most students don’t handwrite in everyday life now, so even being able to use a computer makes a big difference.

I’ll work with your disability and inclusion adviser and course coordinator to find the best way for your assessment to take place.

 We can support requests for remote testing, organise a reader/writer to assist you, and sort out ergonomic furniture. We can also book alternative rooms for you to take your test with fewer people in the room to help with anxiety, or reschedule them to a time when you can concentrate better… There’s so much we can do! We want to make sure that it’s your knowledge being assessed, not how you complete the assessment.

It’s all about making you feel empowered and comfortable.

You might find that after one trimester you understand your needs better, and you know that you might need assistance for some things but not for others. We’ll always work with you and listen to what you need—there’s no blanket solution for everything. It’s great getting to see students grow in confidence and seeing them succeed in areas they didn’t think possible.

I love creating the space and environment that enables someone to succeed.

I used to work in the faculty of engineering as a postgraduate administrator, so I’ve worked at the University for a few years now. I was curious to see how other areas operated and how they connect with students, so I jumped over to Disability Services. I get to connect with all the schools, and I get to engage with a lot more students now. My favourite part of my job is when someone comes back to me and says, ‘oh I’ve completed my thesis’, or ‘I’ve aced this paper’—seeing them maximise their potential and do really well motivates me so much.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions—we can work it out together!

Sometimes we know exactly how to help a student and sometimes we need to do some problem solving. We see a whole range of diverse requests come through, so don’t hold back on asking, ‘actually can I have this arrangement’. If I don’t know the answer, I probably know who does! We always love getting emails from students so do get in touch.  

Caitlin is an accessible assessment coordinator at Te Amaru—Disability services. You can get in touch with her by emailing disabilityassess@vuw.ac.nz.

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