A student who requests disability-related accommodations for a particular course should provide the faculty member with a memo from Student Disability Services (SDS). The memo verifies that the student is registered with SDS, is regarded as a person with a disability and that the listed accommodations are considered appropriate considering the functional limitations of the disability. Students who provide accommodation memos to faculty have already provided appropriate disability documentation to the SDS office, so faculty members should not ask students for documentation other than the memo from SDS.  Students may submit memos to faculty at any time during the semester; however, faculty members are not required to provide retroactive accommodations.  If the student is not registered with SDS or does not have an accommodations memo, the faculty member should refer the student to SDS. (110 Wilder Tower; phone: 678-2880)

Confidentiality

Generally, all information relating to a student’s disability is confidential. Students are not required to name or list the disability on the memo to faculty about accommodations, but may choose to do so. Faculty members should treat disability-related information shared by a student or an SDS staff member as confidential. Faculty members are cautioned about making statements in front of other students which might cause a student with a disability to be singled out for reasons related to his/her disability. At times, disability-related information will need to be shared with other faculty or staff members on a need-to-know basis. If you have questions about confidentiality related to a student with a disability, feel free to contact Susan Te Paske, Director of Student Disability Services (678-2880).

Syllabus Disability Statement

A statement placed on a course syllabus inviting students with disabilities to discuss their disability-related needs helps to open the lines of communication between the faculty member and the student. A statement on the syllabus and an announcement in class often make students more comfortable about disclosing their disability and need for accommodations. A sample syllabus disability statement: