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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