diff --git a/lib/WeBWorK/DB.pm b/lib/WeBWorK/DB.pm
index 5ccf5e0eba..2aa588e0d9 100644
--- a/lib/WeBWorK/DB.pm
+++ b/lib/WeBWorK/DB.pm
@@ -436,13 +436,19 @@ sub abort_transaction {
 
 BEGIN {
 	*User            = gen_schema_accessor("user");
-	*newUser         = gen_new("user");
 	*countUsersWhere = gen_count_where("user");
 	*existsUserWhere = gen_exists_where("user");
 	*listUsersWhere  = gen_list_where("user");
 	*getUsersWhere   = gen_get_records_where("user");
 }
 
+sub newUser {
+	my ($self, @data) = @_;
+	my $user = $self->{user}{record}->new(@data);
+	$user->accommodation_time_factor(1) unless defined $user->accommodation_time_factor;
+	return $user;
+}
+
 sub countUsers { return scalar shift->listUsers(@_) }
 
 # Note: This returns a list of user_ids for all users except set level proctors.