Rights and Responsibilities
The information below is designed to help students gain a better understanding of the parameters by which students with disabilities are served by Skidmore College and specifically to identify the rights and responsibilities of each party.
Skidmore College | Students | Coordinator | Faculty
Skidmore College has the right to:
- request professional documentation verifying the nature of a student's disability, the academic or physical limitations the disability presents and the need for specific accommodations;
- consult with college officials in attempt to determine the student's qualifications for a degree program or course;
- discuss the documentation submitted by a student with the party who produced the documentation and/or professional sources or additional experts (omitting identifying information) as needed to determine eligibility for Accessibility Services under the ADA or section 504;
- deny a request for accommodation if a student's documentation does not verify the need for the request; and
- deny a request for accommodation if it is deemed unreasonable, compromises the essential elements of the course or program, or poses an undue financial or administrative burden on the college.
Students with disabilities have the right to:
- equal access to Skidmore's courses, programs, activities, and facilities;
- individual assessment of disability and skills;
- reasonable accommodations or auxiliary aids as appropriate;
- confidentiality of disability related information;
- control the release of disability related information except as otherwise required by law; and
- appeal the Coordinator's decisions concerning reasonable accommodations by following the grievance procedures outlined in this document.
Students with disabilities have the responsibility to:
- meet the qualifications essential for participation in academic courses and programs;
- if seeking accommodation, identify him/herself as a student with a disability and follow the procedures for applying for academic accommodations outlined in this document;
- engage in an interactive process to establish and implement reasonable accommodations;
- provide professional documentation verifying the nature of a disability, the academic or the physical limitations a disability presents and the need for specific accommodations; and
- notify their instructors that they will be using accommodations by submitting an accommodation letter to each faculty member each semester.
The coordinator of student access services has the responsibility to:
- ensure that, with or without accommodations, students with disabilities can obtain equal access to the college's programs, activities, service and facilities;
- inform students with disabilities about the availability and range of accommodations and provide the policies and procedures necessary to obtain accommodations upon request;
- determine each student's eligibility for accommodation;
- provide individualized assessments and evaluate students based on their abilities;
- protect and maintain the integrity of the academic standards of individual courses or programs;
- ensure that eligible students are provided with approved accommodations in a fair and timely manner;
- establish through appropriate faculty members, the abilities, skills and knowledge fundamental to academic programs and courses and to evaluate each student's requested accommodations on this basis; and
- maintain confidentiality of documentation and communication concerning students with disabilities, except when otherwise specified by law or consent to release disability related information is provided by the student.
Skidmore faculty members have the right to:
- Establish abilities, skills, and knowledge fundamental to academic programs and courses;
- Verify a student's eligibility for accommodations with the Coordinator of Student Access Services;
- Expect students to participate actively in the process of establishing and acquiring accommodations;
- Expect students to abide by all College policies and procedures related to obtaining reasonable accommodations.
Skidmore faculty members have the responsibility to:
- Work in cooperation with the Coordinator of Student Access Services to ensure that eligible students are provided with approved accommodations in a timely manner;
- Consider equal access issues for students with disabilities when establishing academic courses, course requirements and teaching methods;
- Discuss any concerns related to the provision of accommodations with the Coordinator of Student Access Services as necessary;
- Assure the confidentiality of all disability related information;
- Refer students who identify themselves as, or those suspected as, having a disability to the Coordinator of Student Access Services.