• Upload notes within 24 hours after each class
• Upload notes for at least 80% of the semester’s classes
• Upload detailed notes and not just slides

• Visit the SAS notetaker portal [1].
• Fill out the “Personal Information” section. Please ensure the email in the “Contact Information” section is your University of Guelph email. 
• Once you have created an account, the portal will display information related to the current term by default. (To ensure you are viewing the correct term, please double check in the yellow banner that says “Term: _____”.)  
• In the “Find a Course” section, type in the course subject(s) and course number(s) for the classes you want to be a notetaker for. Please remember that you can only volunteer to provide notes for an in-person class and you should be currently enrolled in it. 
  • The course subject is the starting letters in the course code. e.g. In BIOL1080, it is BIOL 
  • The course number is the string of digits that follow the letters. e.g. In BIOL1080, it is 1080 
• Click “Search Courses” and choose the course that matches your course code. 
  • There may be variations in numbers at the end of the course code. These specify course sections. If you do not see your section, please email the notetaking office at sas.notes@uoguelph.ca [2] with your section, name, ID, and lecture time so that you can be matched to a notetaking opportunity for that course. 
  • Once chosen, a code will populate itself in the section labelled with the current term. This code is the “CRN”.  
• After you have selected all the courses you would like to volunteer for, click “Add Courses” for the current term. 
• You have now registered as a notetaker and can begin uploading notes. 

• Once you have access to the portal following the steps above, click the pencil and paper icon in the sidebar. 
• Scroll down to the section “File Information”. 
• Input the course, week, and days for the course you are volunteering to upload notes for. 
• Upload the file containing your notes. Make sure to indicate the week number/date of the lecture in the file name.  
• Click “Form Submission” - if successful, a confirmation pop-up will appear at the top of your page. 

• Notes can be written or typed. Acceptable notes also include slide sets with notes on the slides or in the note section of the slide set. 
• If your notes are written, please ensure they are legible. You can scan and upload your written notes to the portal. If you need assistance with scanning your notes, please email sas.notes@uoguelph.ca [2]  
• Uploaded notes should contain notes from your instructor’s lecture which are not already available on the slides/online course content. In other words, the notes should benefit an SAS student who was unable to attend class due to disability related reasons, to ensure they are not missing any course content.  
• Please upload the course outline, prior to uploading your first notes. 
• Notes from the textbook and/or slides with no additional notes are not acceptable forms of notes for the notetaking program. 

• When signing up to be a notetaker, if you are having trouble searching for courses using the “Find a Course” section, please switch to using Google Chrome as your browser.  
• If you use Microsoft OneNote to take notes, you can download your OneNote file as a PDF (Almost all notetaking software have this option). 
• If you are attempting to upload your notes and you are receiving a response that your file is too large, make sure you convert your file to a PDF. You can then use any free PDF compressor online to shrink your file size to be able to upload it to the portal.  

Please contact sas.notes@uoguelph.ca [2] for a reference letter to confirm your involvement and valued contribution in the program as a volunteer notetaker. The Notetaking Office can act as a verifier for volunteers if needed. We can only verify your notetaker status along with the number of hours dedicated throughout the semester which is calculated based on the class duration. We cannot provide a reference for a notetaker.  
 
Please note that a volunteer is eligible for a reference letter if they meet the volunteering commitment as mentioned in the section above.

If you have any additional questions, please contact: sas.notes@uoguelph.ca [2]  

Notetaking does not replace class participation. Attending lectures is essential for fully engaging in course material. This service is meant to enhance your learning, not replace the classroom experience.

Not all courses are eligible for a volunteer notetaker. Courses that may not require this service include:

• Distance Education (DE) courses
• Pre-recorded lectures
• Labs and other hands-on learning experiences (can vary by course)
• Courses where instructors provide comprehensive notes

Notes accessed through the Notetaking Portal are for personal use only. Unauthorized sharing or distribution may be considered academic misconduct under the University of Guelph policies [4].

1. Check whether the accommodation has been requested in the SAS Student Portal  
2. You will not be able to access the notes if your request has not been confirmed yet. Please confirm for the courses in which you require notes, so that notes are made available in a timely manner. You can find the “Confirm” button by following the steps below – 

• Log in to the SAS Student Portal [5] and click on Notetaking Services from the left side-menu 
• Click on “Requests” in the top right corner of the page displayed 
• Hit “Confirm” for the courses you require notes for! 

Visit our walkthrough videos and guides [6] for more support with confirming your notes. 

• One of the most common questions are based on downloading notes – You will not be able to download the notes if you haven’t confirmed the request at your end! Please follow the steps mentioned in Accessing your Notes section to be able to download the notes 
• If you have concerns about the legibility of the notes being uploaded – handwritten notes, typed notes or if the notes aren’t being uploaded consistently, please let the Notetaking Office know as soon as possible.

If you have any additional questions, please contact: sas.notes@uoguelph.ca [2]