Rights and Responsibilities
Creating equitable educational opportunities is a collaborative effort between the student, faculty and instructional staff, academic units, and Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD). We encourage you to review SSD’s Guidelines for Ensuring Equitable Academic Access which outlines the following:
- The individual roles of students, faculty and instructional staff, which includes course coordinators, and SSD as it relates to academic accommodations to ensure accessible environments.
- Expectations around notification, communication, and implementation of accommodations.
- How SSD can support students and academic units, and how students and faculty and instructional staff should proactively communicate their disability-related needs, questions or concerns.
- The importance of maintaining privacy when discussing disability-related information and implementing accommodations.
Confidentiality
Accommodations are a part of the student's record and therefore protected under FERPA. Instructors should forward Accommodation Letters on a need-to-know basis to anyone responsible for arranging student accommodation who is not listed as an instructor for the course.
Disability information, including third party documentation submitted to our office, is maintained securely within SSD, separate from other university records. SSD shares only what is necessary to support accommodation implementation and accessibility.
Students may choose to self-disclose details of their disability with other institutional faculty, staff, and/or students at their own discretion.
Accommodation Appeals
If you would like to addressing an accommodation concern, please engage in the following process:
Step One: Discuss your concerns with your accommodations coordinator
Email your coordinator to schedule an in-person or virtual meeting. At the meeting, explain the accommodations that you would like to request. These accommodations must address your disability-related barriers. If, after this meeting, you still have questions or concerns, proceed to the following step.
Step Two: Discuss your concerns with SSD Leadership
Email an appeal to the SSD office within 15 business days of completing step one. In your email, please detail your questions and concerns. The SSD leadership will review your appeal, which may include a request to meet with you to discuss it, and email a written response within 15 business days of your submission.
Step Three: Discuss your concerns with an ADA coordinator
After step two is complete, you have 15 business days to email an appeal to the ADA Coordinator in the Disability Equity Office via their ADA Contact Form or email at ADACoordinator@umich.edu. DEO will consult with the student, SSD, and any other relevant stakeholders or entities in order to address the student's concerns.
504/ADA Compliance
Effective May 1, 2021
The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The University of Michigan is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, height, weight, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, no qualified person will be denied access to, participation in, or the benefits of, any program or activity operated by the University because of disability. The University will not discriminate against a qualified individual because of the known disability of another individual with whom the qualified individual is known to have a relationship or association. To ensure the University is in compliance with the ADA the University engages in an interactive process to explore reasonable accommodations. This includes evaluating the unique attributes and requirements of the course, program, or activity. A reasonable accommodation is a course modification, auxiliary aid, or service that removes a disability-related barrier without fundamentally altering an essential component of a course, university program, or activity.
The Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office provides reasonable academic accommodations to undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities. Questions and concerns related to a student’s disability-related academic accommodation should be immediately brought to the attention of SSD staff. The SSD office serves as the university’s primary point of contact in initially reviewing students’ disability-related academic accommodations, and will consult with other offices across campus during the exploration process and when addressing students’ concerns regarding the decision made about accommodation requests.