Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) Policy
Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) is the campus entity responsible for working with students seeking academic accommodations or policy modification on the basis of a disability (i.e., medical, mental, or physical conditions). This includes, but is not limited to, a student’s capacity to fully attend classes or complete work/exams as assigned.
SSD works with students and instructors to identify reasonable accommodations specific to the student and the design of the course.
Students seeking accommodations should connect with SSD to review their individual disability related impact to further explore and approve appropriate accommodations.
Students are encouraged to connect with SSD early in their academic career as it may take time to establish appropriate accommodations.
Faculty are encouraged to reach out to SSD at any point in time to inquire about the status of a student’s accommodation request.
Course accommodations are communicated to the instructor(s) via a course specific Accommodation Letter.
Accommodate is used by students to request the Accommodation Letter for each course and by instructors to access the letters.
Students should submit the Accommodation Letter request as early as possible to provide reasonable time for accommodations to be implemented.
Accommodations are not retroactive so students should submit an accommodation letter in advance of potential need in order to utilize the accommodation. For example, the modified attendance plan should be worked through prior to missing classes due to disability.
Instructor(s) and student should ensure that there is a clear understanding of how accommodations apply to the course.
SSD Coordinators are available to respond to questions and work through situations as necessary. If an accommodation is believed to not be appropriate and/or fundamentally alter the course, it is the responsibility of faculty to have a conversation with the SSD Coordinator prior to communicating with the student.