Overview
Initiating a Request for Services
It is the student's responsibility to initiate the process through which services are provided by doing all the following:
- Self-identifying to Disability Services.
- Scheduling and attending an intake meeting with the director of Disability Services.
- Providing the Director with documentation that conforms to the Documentation Guidelines.
- Completing the Authorization to Release Information form provided by Disability Services (this form authorizes the Director to discuss your disability with other USD staff necessarily involved in determining your eligibility and deciding upon facilitating appropriate accommodations).
Responsibilities of Disability Services
After a student has properly initiated a request for services, the Disability Services staff shall be responsible to do all the following:
- Review the documentation provided by the student to determine the eligibility of the student services.
- Make an initial determination of the accommodations and services to be provided for the student (if eligible) based on an individualized review of the student's needs.
- Provide the student with a Verification of Disability memo for each instructor, as indicated on the Notification of Instructors form. This notification shall verify that the student has a documented disability and shall list accommodations that are appropriate for that student. The student is expected to retrieve copies of this memo from Disability Services before making requests for accommodations and services from individual faculty members.
- Assure that the student receives appropriate accommodations. In support of this responsibility, Disability Services may need to assist the student by arranging for auxiliary aids, off-campus agencies, negotiating the logistics of accommodations with faculty or staff, and addressing circumstances where appropriate accommodations were not provided in a satisfactory manner.
- Refer promptly any unresolved disputes concerning documentation, services or accommodations to the Vice-President & Provost in accordance with the Grievance Procedure.
Requesting Academic Accommodations from Faculty
Students should not request academic accommodations from faculty until they have completed the intake process with the Director of Disability Services. After a student has reviewed and agreed to the appropriate accommodations, it is his/her responsibility to secure individual memos to take to each faculty member and then to meet with the faculty members who teach the student's courses in order to discuss implementing the accommodations listed. IF the faculty member responsible for the course is unwilling to provide an accommodation that is specified in the notification, the student should not argue with the faculty member but should immediately advise Disability Services and/or the Assistant Dean of Arts and Sciences. If, through this intervention, it is not possible to resolve the dispute, the matter shall be referred to the Vice-President & Provost for resolution in accordance with the Grievance Procedure.
When meeting with a faculty member, you should:
- Be on time for a schedule appointment
- Confirm that he/she has received and reviewed the Verification of Disability. If not, you should present a copy and review it together.
- Discuss specific details about how the accommodations will be handled. For example, if extended time on an examination or a quiet room is an appropriate accommodation, be sure to negotiate when you will take the exam, and how you will receive your copy of the exam.
- Be flexible -- there is often more than one right way to provide an accommodation. If you cannot immediately identify a solution, participate in problem-solving with an open mind. You might also suggest that the faculty member contact Disability Services for technical assistance.
- Be calm and courteous. If you are unable to make arrangements for accommodations, the next step is to request the assistance of Disability Services.
- Request only those accommodations listed in the notification memo.
- Stay focused upon discussing the specific accommodations and avoid a discussion about what "the law says." It is neither your role, nor that of the faculty member, to analyze the law.
Abuse of Accommodation
Accommodations offered through Disability Services are not gifts to which you are automatically entitled. Access to accommodations are based on your documentation and what your present or current need happens to be for a specific course. Abuse of accommodations may, ultimately, result in your loss of that accommodation. For example, consistently ignoring the guidelines for arranging accommodated tests/exams; unexcused absences from classes for which a notetaker has been provided; not providing timely advance notice needed to cancel an interpreter (for the deaf/hearing impaired); belligerent/aggressive/abusive behavior directed toward notetakers and/or interpreters.
An Important word or Two (or more) About Cheating
Please know that cheating, under any circumstances,
WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.
If you are found cheating while taking a test/exam through Disability Services, your access to that accommodation will be revoked. Additionally, cheating will result in disciplinary action and may jeopardize your standing at USD. Our advice to you:
DON'T DO IT!
If you really feel so totally trapped and/or overwhelmed to the point where you believe that cheating is your only way out,
PLEASE
talk to someone in Disability Services first, and we will work with you and your instructor to come up with an alternative that is equitable.
