Rights and Responsibilities

Ohio University is committed to insuring equal opportunity for students with disabilities. This process is a collaborative effort between the Disability Services Office, students and faculty members. All three participants have a role to play in making education accessible. Understanding your rights as well as your responsibilities are essential to the process of accommodation. 

Students with disabilities have the right to:

• equal access to services, programs, facilities and employment available at Ohio University.
• reasonable and appropriate accommodations, auxiliary aids, and academic adjustments determined on an individual basis.
• confidentiality of information relating to disability issues.
• pursue accommodation requests that have not been met through an appeal procedure at the Office for Institutional Equity.

Students with disabilities have the responsibility to:

• self-identify disability status to Disability Services by providing disability documentation which meets the eligibility guidelines.
• request necessary accommodations in advance of need.
• meet the University's academic and institutional standards.
• follow the specific guidelines established for obtaining reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids.

Disability Services has the right to:

• maintain the University's academic standards.
• request current documentation that meets eligibility guidelines to verify the need for reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids.
• select effective accommodations, academic adjustments, and or auxiliary aids in consultation with the student on an individual basis.
• refuse a request for accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids if the documentation fails to verify the need for the requested service, or if the documentation is not provided in advance of need.
• refuse to provide an accommodation, academic adjustment, and or auxiliary aid that is inappropriate or unreasonable in such a manner as to:
  • pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others;
  • constitute an alteration to an essential element of a course program; or
  • pose an undue financial or administrative burden on the University.

Disability Services has the responsibility to:

• provide reasonable accommodations for a student's known disability so that the student has an equal opportunity to participate in courses, activities and programs.
• provide information regarding policies and procedures to students with disabilities.
• discuss with students on an individual basis the need for accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids.
• maintain confidentiality of disability issues.

Faculty members have the right to:

• request in writing from Disability Services notification of a student's need for accommodation. (Faculty and staff do not have the right to access disability documentation.)
• decide if an accommodation request meets the academic requirements of the course.
• contact Disability Services to clarify student requests for accommodation, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids.

Faculty members have the responsibility to:

• provide reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids in a timely manner.
• meet with students who have provided written notification of their disability via Disability Services and have made a direct request for accommodation to establish the means of providing accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids.
• maintain the confidentiality of information regarding disability issues.
• alter the form of a testing procedure to measure proficiency in course knowledge based on the ability of the student, not the disability. (There may be an exception when the purpose of the test is to measure a particular skill.)
• refer students who have requested accommodations but have not registered with Disability Services with information on registration procedures for students with disabilities.
• upon request, provide handouts in alternate formats (such as enlarged print for visually impaired students).
• upon request, make course material on reserve in the library available in alternate formats for students with disabilities.