Student’s Rights and Responsibilities

Rights:

• Access courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities offered through the University. 

• Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, policy modifications, and/or auxiliary aids determined on a case-by-case

• Confidentiality of all information about their disability except as disclosures are required or permitted by law.

• Have information be reasonably available in accessible formats.

Responsibilities:

• Meet the University’s qualifications and maintain the essential technical, academic, and institutional standards, including the Student Code of Conduct.

• Self-identify as a person with a disability to the Accessibility Resources Center (ARC), and to seek information, counsel, and assistance when necessary.

• Provide documentation of a disability from an appropriate licensed professional that is current and verifies the nature of the disability, functional limitations, and the need for specific accommodation(s).

• Joins in discussions with ARC Professional Staff to review how their disability affects their ability to demonstrate and assess learning outcomes.

• Adhere to the established procedures for acquiring suitable accommodations, academic modifications, or auxiliary aids, and make these requests promptly at the start of each semester for which they wish to receive accommodations.

• Notify their faculty member of their intention to utilize accommodation(s).

University’s Rights and Responsibilities 

Rights:

• Maintain the University’s academic, technical and institutional standards.

• Request current documentation from a student completed by an appropriate licensed professional to verify the need for reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids.

• Discuss the student’s need for reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids with the professional source of the student’s documentation with the student’s written consent.

• Meet with the student, become familiar with the student’s use of accommodations, review case notes about prior history and discuss any new situation presented by the student.

• Select among equally effective and appropriate accommodations, adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids in consultation with students with disabilities.

• Contact faculty member(s) teaching the course/program to discuss the specific needs/assessments for which the student is requesting an accommodation. The objective is to comprehend all the environmental factors at play, including curricular materials, facilities, tools, digital content, activities, procedural requirements, and the course or program objectives. The course syllabus and/or outline can provide valuable insight.

• Deny a request for accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids if the documentation does not identify a specific disability, fails to verify the need for the requested accommodation and/or services, or the documentation is not provided in a timely manner.

• Refuse to provide an accommodation, academic adjustment, and/or auxiliary aid that is inappropriate or unreasonable including any that:

o Poses a threat to the health and safety of others.

o Constitutes a substantial change or alteration to an essential element of a course or program; or

 o Poses an undue financial or administrative burden on the University.

Responsibilities:

• Ensure that University courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities, when viewed in their entirety, are offered in an integrated and appropriate manner so as to be inclusive of individuals with disabilities.

• Provide students with disabilities who self-identify and meet University criteria for eligibility with appropriate reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids as determined on a case-by-case basis.

• Evaluate students based on their abilities, not their disabilities.

• Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication concerning students with disabilities except where disclosure is required or permitted by law or is otherwise authorized.

• Ensure that information readily available to students, especially those regarding policies and procedures, is made available to students with disabilities in accessible formats upon request.

Faculty’s Rights and Responsibilities 

Rights:

• Hold all students to the same essential course requirements and behavior expectations.

• Receive information from the Accessibility Resources Center (ARC) regarding any student approved for accommodations in their course(s), along with information on how to assist with implementing approved accommodations. Information about student approved accommodations is communicated via AIM.  

• Give input into the means of implementing an approved accommodation by the Accessibility Resources Center (ARC); however, faculty may not refuse to provide an accommodation(s) approved by the ARC.

• Contact the Accessibility Resources Center (ARC) if they believe an approved accommodation constitutes a fundamental alteration of the class objectives or program technical standards. 

Responsibilities:

• Provide approved accommodations specific to the course

• Inform teaching professionals, such as Teaching Assistants, instructing all or part of a course, of ARC approved accommodations for the student as indicated and assist in the coordination of approved accommodations.

• Discuss with the ARC any concerns related to approved accommodation(s), academic adjustments, policy modifications, auxiliary aids and services, or arrangements that have been requested by the student. 

• Refer a student requesting accommodations to the ARC if formal notification has not been received regarding accommodations from the ARC.

• Ensure the confidentiality of student disability-related information by maintaining discretion and conducting private discussions with students regarding accommodations. Faculty and teaching professionals should avoid publicly referencing a student’s disability or accommodations in class or in front of others.

• A faculty member can clearly identify and articulate the essential skills and technical standards that are integral to this course or learning experience/assessment.

Procedure for Raising Concerns Regarding Academic Accommodations

Under the ADAAA, the University has granted the Accessibility Resources Center (ARC) the authority to make decisions about accommodations for students, and this process involves the collaborative and individualized approach required by the ADAAA. The ARC engages in an interactive process with each student to determine whether an accommodation is necessary for student access.  Faculty and teaching professionals may have input into the means of implementing an approved accommodation, but they may not refuse to provide accommodations approved by the ARC. 

If a faculty member or other teaching professional believes an approved accommodation constitutes a fundamental alternation of the course objectives or program technical standards:

• Faculty should promptly contact the student’s Accessibility Resources Center Advisor, as identified in the student’s accommodation letter. Additionally, faculty should be prepared to provide a clear and justifiable explanation for any concerns or objections they may have regarding the accommodation, specifically addressing how the accommodation would potentially alter the course’s learning objectives or technical standards.

• Prompt resolution is crucial in cases where faculty may object to an approved accommodation, as failure to provide it can potentially deny a student equal access to an educational program. To ensure this does not occur, the ARC-approved accommodation must be implemented while the objection is being addressed and resolved.

• If the Accessibility Resources Center (ARC) determines that the approved accommodation would compromise the course’s objectives or technical standards, the ARC Advisor will collaborate with the student and faculty member to develop an alternative accommodation that meets the student’s needs while maintaining the integrity of the educational program.