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Post card says volunteer notetakes needed Accessibility Services
Photo: Michelle Gibson

Volunteer Note-taking

Become a volunteer note-taker through our Volunteer Note-taking program.

Note-taking is one of the most common academic resources given to students registered with Accessibility Services. Volunteer note-taking is not meant to replace students attending class, instead it acts as a complementary service. Notes are used by students registered with our services whose disability affects their ability to take notes.

All undergraduate and graduate students can register to become volunteer note-takers.

READ: Notetaking Program Volunteers’ Notetaking Portal Guide (PDF)

Become a volunteer note-taker in three steps

  1. Register as a volunteer note-taker on the Note-taking Portal.
  2. Attend your class regularly and take effective notes. If you drop the class, please inform us immediately by contacting as.notetaking@utoronto.ca.
  3. After each class, please upload your notes to the Note-taking Portal within 24-48 hours.

Drop-in hours for volunteer notetaking will resume the week of March 18, every Thursday from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Watch to learn more about how to become a volunteer note-taker:

At the end of term, request your Certificate of Appreciation and/or initiate the process for Co-Curricular Record (CCR) Validation.

Complete the volunteer Notetaking Appreciation form (you must be logged into your U of T email to access this link).

If you are having any issues, please email as.notetaking@utoronto.ca.

Please note: Requests for certificates are processed at the end of every academic term. Once your form is completed it will be reviewed for processing and you will be emailed with next steps.

Volunteer note-taking is a CCR eligible activity if you upload 80% of notes for one or more courses.

CCR activity cannot be backdated. It is important to know your deadlines. Co-Curricular Records are validated once per year in June.

The accommodations administrator has the right to revoke CCR credit for the following reasons:

  • The note-taker does not meet the 80% uploading criteria of at least two H credit/one Y credit courses during an academic year.
  • The notes were not consistently uploaded.
  • The notes have not been uploaded within the 24-48 hour time period.
  • The notes uploaded were poor quality.
  • The administrator suspects the notes were plagiarized.

If you’re wondering how to take effective notes as a volunteer note-taker, find more information in our guide: Taking Volunteer Notes (PDF).

For information on receiving peer notes as a resource, please visit our Note-taking support page.

Resources for Course Instructors

Download a digital slide and help promote volunteer note-taking in your classrooms.