Rights & Responsibilities
STUDENT DISABILITY SERVICES
Rights and Responsibilities
Students with disabilities have the right to:
- An equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from courses, programs, services and activities of the University
- Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids
- Confidentiality of information pertaining to their disability
- Information available in accessible formats
Students with disabilities have the responsibility to:
- Meet qualifications and maintain essential standards for courses, programs, services, and activities
- Identify as an individual with a disability when an accommodation is needed and to seek information, counsel, and assistance as necessary
- Demonstrate and/or document (from an appropriate professional) how the disability limits their participation in courses, programs, services and activities
- Follow established procedures for obtaining information, services, and reasonable accommodations
- Notify Student Disability Services of changes in disability status (i.e., worsening of condition), class/course changes, and challenges encountered
The University has the right to:
- Identify and establish essential skills, knowledge and standards for courses, programs, services, and activities and to evaluate students with disabilities on this basis.
- Confirm disability status and request and receive current, relevant documentation that supports requests for reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services
- Have staff interact with students to determine reasonable accommodations
- Deny a request for accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services if the documentation does not demonstrate that the request is warranted, or if the student fails to provide appropriate documentation
- Select among equally effective reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services
The University has the responsibility to:
- Ensure that courses, programs, services and activities are equally accessible to all students
- Respond to requests on a timely basis
- Provide or arrange reasonable accommodations
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication
Note: Adapted from Towson University, a USM Institution October 2015