Below is a list of rights and responsibilities of students with disabilities and of University faculty and staff in regard to disclosure of disabilities and the provision of accommodations.
Rights and Responsibilities of Students
Students with disabilities have the right to:
- Full and equal participation in the services and activities of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
- Reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services.
- Privacy and to not have confidential information freely disseminated throughout the campus.
- Limit access to confidential records. In doing so, however, students recognize that implementing accommodations may become more difficult.
- Information readily available in accessible formats.
- Appeal accommodation decisions.
- File a complaint in the case of discrimination.
Students with disabilities have the responsibility to:
- Meet qualifications and maintain essential institutional standards for courses, programs, services, jobs and activities.
- Identify as an individual with a disability when an accommodation is needed and to seek information, counsel and assistance as necessary.
- Demonstrate and/or document (from an appropriate professional) how the disability limits their participation in courses, programs, services, jobs and activities.
- Submit an ARC Accommodation Plan/Faculty Notification Letter to Instructors in a timely manner.
- Agree to meet with their instructors to discuss their accommodations as soon as possible. Retroactive accommodations are not guaranteed. If the student does not have the conversation with their professor in advance about their accommodations, ARC cannot enforce the accommodation retroactively.
- Follow published procedures for obtaining reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services, or for requesting barrier removal (using the Facilities Services Request Form).
- Notify ARC immediately when discontinuing use of Assistive Technology or services provided by ARC (e.g. Captioning, Classroom Video Magnifiers, Interpreter) or dropping a class for which alternative text has been requested.
- Check their UWM email account for updates from their Access Specialist or the ARC Office.
Right and Responsibilities of University
The University, through faculty and staff, has the right to:
- Establish essential functions, abilities, skills, knowledge and standards for courses, programs, services, jobs and activities or facilities and to evaluate students on this basis.
- Determine the appropriate standards in developing, constructing, remodeling and maintaining facilities.
- Confirm disability status and request and receive current, relevant documentation that supports requests for accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services.
- Have appropriate staff to address students and their disabilities in order to implement requested accommodations (particularly instructional accommodations).
- Deny a request for accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services, and/or barrier removal in facilities if the documentation does not demonstrate that the request is warranted, or if the individual fails to provide appropriate documentation.
- Select among equally effective accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services.
- Refuse unreasonable accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services, and/or facility-related barrier removal requests that impose a fundamental alteration on a program or activity of the university.
The University has the responsibility to:
- Provide information to faculty, staff, students and guests with disabilities in accessible formats upon request.
- Ensure that courses, programs, services, jobs, activities and facilities, when viewed in their entirety, are available and usable in the most integrated and appropriate settings.
- Evaluate students on the basis of their abilities and not their disabilities
- Respond to requests on a timely basis.
- Provide or arrange reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services for students with disabilities in courses, programs, services, jobs, activities and facilities.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication except where permitted or required by law.