STUDENT DISABILITY SERVICES
Student Rights and Responsibilities
Students with disabilities have the right to:
- An equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from all courses, programs, services, and activities at UMBC;
- Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids that allow for access, inclusion, and participation;
- Confidentiality of personal information pertaining to their disability diagnosis and challenges; and
- Educational materials and University information available in accessible and alternate 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, advising, and assistance from campus support offices;
- Demonstrate and/or document (from an appropriate professional) how the disability limits their participation in courses, programs, services, and activities;
- Follow established University procedures for obtaining information, services, and reasonable accommodations related to disability support; and
- Notify Student Disability Services (SDS) of changes in their disability status (i.e., worsening of conditions, new diagnoses), class/course changes, and challenges encountered.
The University has the right to:
- 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 designated disability support staff interact with students to determine reasonable accommodations;
- Identify and establish essential skills, knowledge, and standards for courses, programs, services, and activities and to evaluate students with disabilities on this basis;
- Select and provide equally effective alternative reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services to create access; and
- Deny a request for accommodations, academic adjustments, or auxiliary aids and services if the documentation and interactive intake meetings do not demonstrate that the request is reasonable, appropriate, and warranted for access, or if the student fails to provide appropriate documentation of disability presence and functional limitations.
The University has the responsibility to:
- Ensure that courses, programs, services, and activities are equally accessible and inclusive to all students;
- Respond to requests on a timely basis;
- Provide or arrange reasonable and appropriate accommodations based on disability access needs; and
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication.
*Adapted from Towson University, a USM Institution