Accessibility Services

• Accommodations

  Students in higher education are entitled to “reasonable accommodations” if they have a disability. Accommodations are modifications or adjustments to the tasks, to the environment, or to the way things are usually done so that students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in an academic program and campus life.

  The exact accommodations you may be granted depend on your disability and individual needs. Academic adjustments may include extended time for testing; acquiring your textbooks in an alternate form; arranging for priority registration; reducing a course load; substituting one course for another; providing note takers, sign language interpreters, and adaptive software or hardware. The purpose of meeting with the OAS Director after initiating services is to create an accommodation plan tailored to you.

  Please note that accommodations must be “reasonable.” For example, we may not change the substantive content of a test, reduce the requirements of a course, or make adjustments that would fundamentally alter the nature of a service, program, or activity. Nor may we provide an accommodation that would result in an undue financial or administrative burden.

Confidentiality

• View Policy

  The Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) at Barry University treats all student information with the strictest confidentiality. The information we have about students are mostly educational records and are thus governed by The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) guidelines. However, documentation of a disability often includes psychological or medical reports that fall under the category of health information. The OAS does not meet criteria as a “covered entity” under the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), but we will nevertheless protect student information by following both FERPA and HIPAA guidelines. Specifically:

  • All records are maintained in a secure electronic medical records program. Documents that have been scanned and saved to the secure program are shredded.
    
    
  • All paper records containing student information are kept in locked file cabinets. The rooms containing the file cabinets are locked when the office is closed.
    
    
  • Routine communication about a student with faculty or other members of the Barry University community will not reveal information about a student aside from acknowledgment that the student is receiving services through the OAS and the nature of the accommodations that the student is entitled to.
    
    
  • When a staff member of the OAS needs to communicate with a third party beyond routine communication (as described in item three above), we will obtain a Release of Information (ROI) by which the student grants permission for information about them to be shared.
    
    
  • All OAS Staff receive training about confidentiality and are required to sign a Confidentiality Agreement.
    
    
  • Records are maintained for seven years, after which time they are deleted and/or shredded.

Emotional Support Animals (ESA) Policy

• View ESA Policy

  In general, pets and animals are not allowed on the Barry University campus or in the residence halls. An exception to this rule is if an animal is an Emotional Support Animal (ESA).

  An ESA is a pet that provides therapeutic support or comfort to an individual who has a documented disability. The animal does not have to have specialized training, but must be able to alleviate one or more symptoms of a disabling condition. The Fair Housing Act (FHA) sets the regulations related to ESAs. The FHA stipulates that an animal kept in residence is a reasonable accommodation if: 

  • the student has a disability;
  • the animal is necessary to afford the student an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling;
  • there is an identifiable relationship or nexus between the disability and the assistance the animal provides.

  Following are the Barry University Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) policies for students who require an ESA:

  • The student must be registered for services with the OAS at Barry.
    
    
  • The student must provide to the OAS documentation from a healthcare provider explaining that there is a connection between the student’s disability and the use of an ESA, and that the student will not be able to use and enjoy the residences at Barry if the animal is not permitted. A form to facilitate this documentation is provided, and must be updated at the beginning of each academic year during which the student plans to have an ESA in his/her dormitory.
    
    
  • ESAs are only allowed in the residence halls.
    
    
  • Policies related to ESAs in the residence halls are stipulated and strictly enforced by Housing and Residence Life. After the accommodation to have an ESA is granted by the OAS, students must check with Housing and Residence Life to be apprised of their policies.

How Do I Document My Disability?

• Documentation Requirements

  Documentation requirements vary according to each student’s disability and situation. If documentation of a student’s disability is needed, it should be provided by a licensed professional who has relevant experience and has no personal relationship with the individual being evaluated. In general, that professional should provide information to establish the existence of the student’s disability, describe the nature of the disability, explain the limitations of the student, and offer accommodation recommendations.

  Please note that a letter from your healthcare provider stating your diagnosis and that you are entitled to accommodations is not sufficient. It is also important to keep in mind that while your healthcare provider should make accommodation recommendations, his/her recommendations are suggestions. The appropriateness of those recommended accommodations will be determined by the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) Director. Therefore, you may not be granted the accommodations that your healthcare provider specifies.

  Documentation should be current (no more than three years old), but in some cases older documentation may be accepted. The OAS has established documentation guidelines for various disabilities, and in most cases has a form to help a healthcare provider easily communicate the information needed. Students may access the various forms for healthcare providers on this website. See below:

  AD/HD Documentation

  Emotional Support Animal Documentation

  Medical or Physical Condition Documentation

  Psychological Disorder Documentation

  Specialized Housing Accommodation Documentation

  Specific Learning Disability

Rights of Students With Disabilities in Higher Education

• As a student with a disability leaving high school and entering postsecondary education, will I see differences in my rights and how they are addressed?

  Yes. Section 504 and Title II protect elementary, secondary, and postsecondary students from discrimination. Nevertheless, several of the requirements that apply through high school are different from the requirements that apply beyond high school. For instance, Section 504 requires a school district to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to each child with a disability in the district’s jurisdiction. Whatever the disability, a school district must identify an individual’s educational needs and provide any regular or special education and related aids and services necessary to meet those needs as well as it is meeting the needs of students without disabilities.

  Unlike your high school, however, your postsecondary school is not required to provide FAPE. Rather, your postsecondary school is required to provide appropriate academic adjustments as necessary to ensure that it does not discriminate on the basis of disability. In addition, if your postsecondary school provides housing to nondisabled students, it must provide comparable, convenient, and accessible housing to students with disabilities at the same cost.

  Other important differences that you need to know, even before you arrive at your postsecondary school, are addressed in the remaining questions.

• May a postsecondary school deny my admission because I have a disability?

  No. If you meet the essential requirements for admission, a postsecondary school may not deny your admission simply because you have a disability.

• Do I have to inform a postsecondary school that I have a disability?

  No. But if you want the school to provide an academic adjustment, you must identify yourself as having a disability. Likewise, you should let the school know about your disability if you want to ensure that you are assigned to accessible facilities. In any event, your disclosure of a disability is always voluntary.

• What academic adjustments must a postsecondary school provide?

  The appropriate academic adjustment must be determined based on your disability and individual needs. Academic adjustments may include auxiliary aids and services, as well as modifications to academic requirements as necessary to ensure equal educational opportunity. Examples of adjustments are: arranging for priority registration; reducing a course load; substituting one course for another; providing note takers, recording devices, sign language interpreters, extended time for testing, and, if telephones are provided in dorm rooms, a TTY in your dorm room; and equipping school computers with screen-reading, voice recognition, or other adaptive software or hardware.

  In providing an academic adjustment, your postsecondary school is not required to lower or substantially modify essential requirements. For example, although your school may be required to provide extended testing time, it is not required to change the substantive content of the test. In addition, your postsecondary school does not have to make adjustments that would fundamentally alter the nature of a service, program, or activity, or that would result in an undue financial or administrative burden. Finally, your postsecondary school does not have to provide personal attendants, individually prescribed devices, readers for personal use or study, or other devices or services of a personal nature, such as tutoring and typing.

• If I want an academic adjustment, what must I do?

  You must inform the school that you have a disability and need an academic adjustment. Unlike your school district, your postsecondary school is not required to identify you as having a disability or to assess your needs.

  Your postsecondary school may require you to follow reasonable procedures to request an academic adjustment. You are responsible for knowing and following those procedures. In their publications providing general information, postsecondary schools usually include information on the procedures and contacts for requesting an academic adjustment. Such publications include recruitment materials, catalogs, and student handbooks, and are often available on school websites. Many schools also have staff whose purpose is to assist students with disabilities. If you are unable to locate the procedures, ask a school official, such as an admissions officer or counselor.

• When should I request an academic adjustment?

  Although you may request an academic adjustment from your postsecondary school at any time, you should request it as early as possible. Some academic adjustments may take more time to provide than others. You should follow your school’s procedures to ensure that the school has enough time to review your request and provide an appropriate academic adjustment.

• Do I have to prove that I have a disability to obtain an academic adjustment?

  Generally, yes. Your school will probably require you to provide documentation showing that you have a current disability and need an academic adjustment.

• What documentation should I provide?

  Schools may set reasonable standards for documentation. Some schools require more documentation than others. They may require you to provide documentation prepared by an appropriate professional, such as a medical doctor, psychologist, or other qualified diagnostician. The required documentation may include one or more of the following: a diagnosis of your current disability, as well as supporting information, such as the date of the diagnosis, how that diagnosis was reached, and the credentials of the diagnosing professional; information on how your disability affects a major life activity; and information on how the disability affects your academic performance. The documentation should provide enough information for you and your school to decide what is an appropriate academic adjustment.

  An individualized education program (IEP) or Section 504 plan, if you have one, may help identify services that have been effective for you. This is generally not sufficient documentation, however, because of the differences between postsecondary education and high school education. What you need to meet the new demands of postsecondary education may be different from what worked for you in high school. Also, in some cases, the nature of a disability may change.

  If the documentation that you have does not meet the postsecondary school’s requirements, a school official should tell you in a timely manner what additional documentation you need to provide. You may need a new evaluation in order to provide the required documentation.

• Who has to pay for a new evaluation?

  Neither your high school nor your postsecondary school is required to conduct or pay for a new evaluation to document your disability and need for an academic adjustment. You may, therefore, have to pay or find funding to pay an appropriate professional for an evaluation. If you are eligible for services through your state vocational rehabilitation agency, you may qualify for an evaluation at no cost to you. You may locate your state vocational rehabilitation agency at http://rsa.ed.gov by clicking on “Info about RSA,” then “People and Offices,” and then “State Agencies/ Contacts.”

• Once the school has received the necessary documentation from me, what should I expect?

  To determine an appropriate academic adjustment, the school will review your request in light of the essential requirements for the relevant program. It is important to remember that the school is not required to lower or waive essential requirements. If you have requested a specific academic adjustment, the school may offer that academic adjustment, or it may offer an effective alternative. The school may also conduct its own evaluation of your disability and needs at its own expense.

  You should expect your school to work with you in an interactive process to identify an appropriate academic adjustment. Unlike the experience you may have had in high school, however, do not expect your postsecondary school to invite your parents to participate in the process or to develop an IEP for you.

• What if the academic adjustment we identified is not working?

  Let the school know as soon as you become aware that the results are not what you expected. It may be too late to correct the problem if you wait until the course or activity is completed. You and your school should work together to resolve the problem.

• May a postsecondary school charge me for providing an academic adjustment?

  No. Nor may it charge students with disabilities more for participating in its programs or activities than it charges students who do not have disabilities.

   

• What can I do if I believe the school is discriminating against me?

  Practically every postsecondary school must have a person—frequently called the Section 504 Coordinator, ADA Coordinator, or Disability Services Coordinator—who coordinates the school’s compliance with Section 504,Title II, or both laws. You may contact that person for information about how to address your concerns.

  The school must also have grievance procedures. These procedures are not the same as the due process procedures with which you may be familiar from high school. But the postsecondary school’s grievance procedures must include steps to ensure that you may raise your concerns fully and fairly, and must provide for the prompt and equitable resolution of complaints.

  School publications, such as student handbooks and catalogs, usually describe the steps that you must take to start the grievance process. Often, schools have both formal and informal processes. If you decide to use a grievance process, you should be prepared to present all the reasons that support your request.

  If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the school’s grievance procedures or wish to pursue an alternative to using those procedures, you may file a complaint against the school with OCR or in a court. You may learn more about the OCR complaint process from the brochure How to File a Discrimination Complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, which you may obtain by contacting us at the addresses and phone numbers below, or at http://www.ed.gov/ocr/docs/howto.html.

  If you would like more information about the responsibilities of postsecondary schools to students with disabilities, read the OCR brochure Auxiliary Aids and Services for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities: Higher Education’s Obligations Under Section 504 and Title II of the ADA. You may obtain a copy by contacting us at the address and phone numbers below, or at http://www.ed.gov/ocr/docs/auxaids.html.

  Students with disabilities who know their rights and responsibilities are much better equipped to succeed in postsecondary school. We encourage you to work with the staff at your school because they, too, want you to succeed. Seek the support of family, friends, and fellow students, including those with disabilities. Know your talents and capitalize on them, and believe in yourself as you embrace new challenges in your education.

• To receive more information about the civil rights of students with disabilities in education institutions, you may contact us at:

  Customer Service Team
  Office for Civil Rights
  U.S. Department of Education
  Washington, D.C. 20202-1100

  Phone: 1-800-421-3481
  TDD: 1- 877-521-2172
  Email: ocr@ed.gov
  Web site: www.ed.gov/ocr

  */ You may be familiar with another federal law that applies to the education of students with disabilities—the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). That law is administered by the Office of Special Education Programs in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the U.S. Department of Education. The IDEA and its individualized education program (IEP) provisions do not apply to postsecondary schools. This pamphlet does not discuss the IDEA or state and local laws that may apply.

  This publication is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. The publication’s citation should be: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Students With Disabilities Preparing for Postsecondary Education: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities, Washington, D.C., 2011.

  To order copies of this publication,

  Write to: ED Pubs Education Publications Center, U.S. Department of Education, P.O. Box 22207, Alexandria, VA 22304.

  or fax your order to: 703-605-6794;

  or e-mail your request to: edpubs@inet.ed.gov;

  or call in your request toll-free: 1-877-433-7827 (1-877-4-ED-PUBS). Those who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a teletypewriter (TTY), should call 1-877-576-7734. If 877 service is not yet available in your area, you may call 1-800-872-5327 (1-800-USA-LEARN).

  or order online at https://www.ed.gov/edpubs/.

  This publication is also available on the Department's Web site at http://www.ed.gov/ocr/transition.html. Any updates to this publication will be available on this website.

  On request, this publication can be made available in alternate formats, such as Braille, large print. or computer diskette. For more information, you may contact the Department’s Alternate Format Center at 202-260-0852 or 202-260-0818. If you use TDD, call 1-800-877-8339.

What Every Student With Disabilities Should Know Transitioning From High School to College

• How is Getting Accommodations in College Different From High School?

  The laws referenced above prohibit discrimination of students with disabilities at any level of their educational pursuits. However, the laws require some actions on the part of elementary and secondary schools that are not mandatory for post-secondary institutions. Most notably:

  • Public elementary and secondary schools are required to identify the educational needs of all students. Post-secondary institutions are not required to recognize the needs of students. It is the responsibility of the student to inform the college or university that s/he has a disability. You are not required to disclose your disability, but if you want to have accommodations for that disability you have to reveal information about your condition.
    
    
  • In elementary and secondary school, school personnel often do testing and make observations to substantiate the existence of a student’s disability. This information is typically reflected in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). When requesting accommodations at the post-secondary level, IEP’s are not sufficient evidence of a disability. Post-secondary students may be required to obtain additional testing (at their own expense), and are likely to be required to have documentation from a healthcare provider who can make a formal diagnosis and provide other helpful information.
    
    
  • Elementary and secondary schools often make substantial adjustments to their curriculum for students with disabilities. For example, they may reduce class workload for a student with a disability or give him/her a different version of a test. Post-secondary institutions cannot make changes to course requirements or examinations. They cannot fundamentally alter the nature of an academic program or activity.
    
    
  • In elementary and secondary school, teachers and school administrators are responsible for arranging everything a student with a disability needs. When attending a post-secondary institution, a student who wants accommodations has to follow procedures to initiate and maintain accommodations. For example, at Barry University, students who have the accommodation of extra time for testing have to inform the Office of Accessibility Services and their professor whenever they want to take a test with extra time.
    
    
  • In elementary and secondary school, parents of students with disabilities are usually the people who meet with educators and administrators to talk about accommodations. At the post-secondary level, the student (not his/her parent) is responsible for engaging in the interactive process necessary to arrange for accommodations.