Expectations & Responsibilities

Expectations

Documentation

The OAE should receive professional documentation of a student’s disability in a timely manner prior to services being initiated.

Accommodations

• Students and faculty should work cooperatively with OAE to facilitate academic accommodations.
• The OAE does not support retroactive or unreasonable accommodations, modifications, and/or auxiliary aids and services.  For example, accommodations cannot impose undue hardship to, or fundamentally alter, a program or activity of the University

Responsibilities

Documentation

• Collect, evaluate, and securely store professional documentation of disability and determine eligibility for accommodations.

Confidentiality

• Respect and maintain a student’s privacy about disability information and accommodations.
• Meet with the student privately in an accessible location to discuss disability-related needs.

Accommodations

• Assure that qualified students with disabilities have optimally equal access to University programs and services.
• In collaboration with the student, take a leading role in arranging and facilitating accommodations in a timely manner.
  • Assume communications regarding accommodation logistics on behalf of the student when their disability impacts their ability to effectively do so (e.g. hospitalization).
  • Engage directly with faculty in reasonability determination processes.
  • Intervene, as needed, to ensure implementation of reasonable accommodations.
• Provide appropriate academic accommodations in collaboration with the instructor and the student.
• Provide print materials in accessible format once the faculty member and student identify the material to be converted.
• Recruit and hire appropriate service providers for academic accommodations including, but not limited to: laboratory or library assistants, exam readers and/or scribes, notetakers, sign language interpreters, and real-time captioners.
• Assist faculty in implementing accommodations (such as obtaining captioned media).

Technology

• Provide assistive technology applications, equipment loans, and training resources based on the OAE assessments of the student's need.

Note:  Faculty and staff may be eligible to receive assistive technology assessments by the OAE with a referral from the Diversity & Access Office (Phone, 723-0755; TTY, 723-1216).

Policy/Procedures

• Adhere to the academic and conduct standards and expectations of the University.
• Develop written policies and procedures that will facilitate the University’s responsibilities to students with disabilities.
• Disseminate information about needs and rights of students with disabilities to the campus community.

Communication

• Communicate policies/procedures clearly to the student and the faculty.
• Consult and/or provide training assistance to campus constituents.

Advocacy

• Advocate responsibly the needs of students with disabilities to the campus community.  Assist students in developing skills to become self-advocates.