Rights and Responsibilities

Student Responsibilities

• He/she is responsible for identifying him/herself to the Disability Support Service Office as a student with a disability.
• He/she is responsible for documenting and demonstrating how his/her disability significantly impacts a particular delivery system, instructional method or evaluation criteria when requesting accommodations.
• He/she is responsible for meeting and maintaining the institution's academic and technical standards the same as any student.
• He/she is responsible for meeting his/her individual responsibilities as delineated in the Letter of Accommodation issued by Disability Support Services.

Student Rights

• Have the right to be evaluated based on his/her ability, not his/her disability.
• He/she has the right to an equal opportunity to learn. If location, delivery system or instructional methodology limits his/her access, participation in, or ability to benefit from, he/she has the right to reasonable accommodations in those aspects of the course or program
• He/she has the right to an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from the academic community. This includes access to services, extracurricular activities and housing at a comparable level as that provided any student.
• He/she has the right to appeal the institution's decisions concerning qualification for services and/or accommodations.

Faculty Rights

• Faculty have the right to establish the academic requirements that are essential to their programs of study. Academic requirements that are essential to programs of study (e.g., required grade point averages, specific prerequisite courses and deadlines) are not considered discriminatory and may not be waived.
• Faculty have the right to question a prescribed accommodation if it interferes with the academic requirements essential to their programs of study.
• Faculty have the right to suggest accommodation(s) that do not fundamentally alter the course's academic requirements but does provide the access necessary for the student with a disability.

Faculty Responsibilities

• Faculty are not responsible for providing accommodations until a Letter of Accommodation (from Disability Support Services) has been delivered to them by the student with the disability.
• Faculty have the responsibility to make reasonable adjustments to the instructional and evaluation method(s) for a course when these have a negative impact on a disability.
• Faculty are responsible for providing accommodations prescribed by the
  St. Mary's University Coordinator of Disability Support Services (DSS).
• Faculty are responsible for delineating the academic requirements that are essential to their programs of study in the course syllabus.