The Dean of Students is the designated office at St. Mary's University to coordinate accommodations for all students with identified and documented disabilities. The Coordinator of Disabled Student Services assists the Dean of Students in matters related to disability issues, and is the person with whom initial contact should be made. Decisions regarding reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations are made on an individual case basis. The process for arriving at decisions concerning reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations involves the Dean of Students, the Coordinator for Disabled Student Services, and the involved students themselves, and consists of the following procedures.

1. Students with disabilities must seek assistance for reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations specific to their disabilities from the Dean of Students in a timely manner. This should occur prior to the student's arrival on campus or as soon as the disability becomes known.
2. Students must provide relevant, timely documentation of their disability from an appropriate licensed professional source to the Dean of Students that gives a diagnosis of the disability and how it impacts on their participation in courses, programs, jobs, activities and facilities at St. Mary's. This documentation and any assessment instruments administered in the formation of a diagnosis must not be older than three years before the date at which time the student applied for status as a disabled student. The Dean of Students will decide if the source is appropriate and qualified to diagnose the disability and to make recommendations. Further guidelines for acceptable documentation can be found in the Appendix of this document. This documentation will be kept confidential and shared with University personnel on a need-to-know basis only with the consent of the student. All disability documentation will be maintained in a locked file in the Dean of Students Office.
   
   Professional evaluation of learning disabilities or psychological concerns is done on a limited basis at the St. Mary's University Student Psychological and Testing Services. As this testing is done on a first-come, first-served basis and is dependent on the resources available at the time testing is requested, students who feel they may be in need of testing are advised to avoid delay in requesting it.
   
   In addition, students that plan to attend graduate school at other institutions or intend to take professional licensing examinations should consider that the reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations granted at St. Mary's University or at other prior institutions may not apply. Thus, the need to continue to develop appropriate documentation that will more fully support the need for accommodations in future endeavors should be understood and given priority.
3. A representative of the Dean of Students and the student will discuss the student's disability and how it will impact on the requirements of the student's courses. A decision on reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations will then be made by the Dean of Students, taking into consideration the reasonable documentation, the preferences of the student, available resources and the requirements of each class being taken by the student. The Dean of Students reserves the right to consult with other faculty, staff or outside professionals or agencies with the consent of the student regarding essential elements and reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations in situations that are new, complex or sensitive.
4. The Dean of Students will describe the process for the provision of reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations both verbally and in writing to the student. Issues to be considered in the accommodations decision-making process include the rights and responsibilities of the individual and of the institution, what specific accommodations will be provided, the basis for such accommodations, the time frame in which they will be provided, and the person who is responsible for providing them. Disability-specific policies and procedures addressing auxiliary aids, services, and accommodations will be included in the process.
5. When reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations have been identified, the Dean of Students will then compose and send a letter to each of the student's instructors, with the consent of the student, that verifies that the student has a documented disability and includes a listing of the accommodations that have been determined effective, appropriate and reasonable.

As the responsibility for the provision of reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations is often shared among faculty, students and the Dean of Students, the Dean of Students strongly encourages students to contact their instructors personally to discuss their disabilities, course expectations and accommodations early in the semester. The letter communicating with the faculty members outlines the specific reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations to which students are entitled. It also invites faculty members to contact the Dean of Students if there are concerns or questions about the accommodations. If an initial accommodations decision has been found to be unworkable for legitimate reasons, or if another type of reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodation is brought to light that would be more effective for a particular course, the Dean of Students will reconsider the accommodation decision. Instructors should not compromise essential elements of their courses or evaluation standards.

Often, other reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations are necessary that fall outside of the scope of classroom-related measures. In providing reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations pertaining to access to the non-academic aspects of the campus community, such as early advising, early registration for classes, housing, recreation, safety, counseling, financial aid, transportation, health services, employment, insurance and other co-curricular activities, the Dean of Students will similarly work with students and appropriate University administrators and staff in making these arrangements.

Students with disabilities are responsible for contacting the Dean of Students if agreed-upon reasonable, effective and appropriate accommodations are not implemented in an effective or timely way, or if they are experiencing difficulties in other facets of University life. The Dean of Students will work with University personnel and students to resolve disagreements or problems regarding recommended accommodations or other disability-related issues.

If students are experiencing academic difficulty, they can seek assistance from the St. Mary's University Learning Assistance Center (LAC) which provides tutoring, study skills help, time management skills and test preparation tips. Students may be referred by the Dean of Students to the St. Mary's University Counseling and Testing Center or to other appropriate agencies and professionals to determine if they should be tested for a disability that has not been previously identified or verified according to the procedures stated above.