Rights and Responsibilities for Educational Access

Student Rights and Responsibilities
As a student with a disability you have, by law, certain rights as summarized below. You have the right to:

• Appropriate accommodations according to your disability.
• Equal access to an education.
• Confidentiality.
• Equal and fair treatment.

Along with these rights come responsibilities. To receive services from the Center for Disability Services, it is your responsibility to:

• Be your own advocate.
• Disclose pertinent information regarding your disability.
• Meet privately with faculty to discuss test or class accommodation.
• Initiate all services in a timely manner.
• Schedule space for exams at the Disability Office (L170) five days in advance.
• Meet regularly with staff from the Center for Disability Services.

Center for Disability Services Office Rights and Responsibilities
The Center for Disability Services Office has certain rights and responsibilities. It is the right of the center to:

• Ask students to meet with the director or counselors.
• Request appropriate documentation of a disability and need for accommodation.
• Deny immediate requests for accommodations if the student has not honored timelines or given adequate notification of need.
• Report to faculty any student caught cheating or strongly suspected of academic misconduct.

It is the responsibility of the center to:

• Provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations by working with the student and faculty to ensure equal access.
• Provide auxiliary aids and services as appropriate.
• Inform faculty of medical/safety concerns.
• Teach advocacy skills to students.
• Act as mediator or advocate for students when appropriate.

Faculty Rights and Responsibilities
The faculty has certain rights and responsibilities as well. The faculty has the right to:

• Ask for verification of disability/eligibility from the Center for Disability Services Office.
• Consult with the center staff as appropriate to assist in providing reasonable and appropriate accommodations.
• Expect students with disabilities to meet the same academic standards as their peers.
• Expect that the center will use appropriate test security measures to protect the integrity of exams given.

It is the responsibility of the faculty to:

• Meet with students confidentially to discuss disability-related needs.
• Provide classroom materials in alternative format when requested. (This may require consultation and/or coordination with the center staff.)
• Work collaboratively with the center staff in providing appropriate and timely academic accommodations for their courses.
• Provide accessible times that the student with a disability can meet to discuss academic needs, accommodations, and services.
• Indicate time-allotted (i.e., time and one half, double time) on tests sent to the Testing Center.