Rights and Responsibilities

University of Vermont (UVM) aspires to develop a campus environment that is genuinely accessible in all areas.   We strive for all UVM students to be healthy, successful, and engaged; therefore, it is important to remove physical, academic, programming, and attitudinal barriers students with disabilities face.

UVM has the right to

  • Identify and establish essential functions, abilities, skills, knowledge, requirements, and standards for courses, programs, services, and activities, and to evaluate students on these bases;
  • Request and receive current documentation that supports requests for accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services;
  • Deny a request for accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services if the documentation and the narrative demonstrates that the request is not warranted, or if student fails to provide appropriate documentation;
  • Select among equally effective accommodations, adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services;
  • Refuse an unreasonable accommodation, adjustment, and or auxiliary aid or service that imposes a fundamental alteration of a course, program, or activity of the University or imposes an undue hardship on the University.

UVM has the responsibility to

  • Provide information and educational materials to students with disabilities in accessible formats upon request;
  • Ensure that courses, programs, services, and activities are available in the most integrated and appropriate settings;
  • Provide or arrange for reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services for students with disabilities in courses, programs, services, and activities;
  • Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication except where permitted or required by law or when the student requests that such information be shared.

Students have the right to

  • Equal access to courses, programs, facilities, and activities offered through the University;
  • Reasonable accommodations and adjustments provided when needed to achieve equal access;
  • Determine who will receive student released disability-related materials and information within and outside the University;
  • All other rights and privileges available to other students at UVM.

Students have the responsibility to

  • Meet qualifications and maintain essential institutional standards for courses, programs, and activities;
  • Self-identify as an individual with a disability when an accommodation is needed and to seek information, counsel, and assistance as necessary in a timely fashion;
  • Provide documentation and a narrative as needed to comply with guidelines at the SAS website: http://www.uvm.edu/access/
  • Follow University procedures for obtaining reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services;
  • Arrange and pay for personal use devices and aids if needed.

Faculty members have the right to

  • Maintain academic standards for courses;
  • Determine course content and technical and academic standards for successful completion of a course;
  • Confirm a student’s request for accommodations and ask for clarification about a specific accommodation with Student Accessibility Services;
  • Identify and determine the abilities, skills, and knowledge that are essential and fundamental to academic courses and programs;
  • Expect the student with a disability to meet the same academic standards as peers in the course.

Faculty members have the responsibility to

  • Understand the University guidelines regarding students with disabilities;
  • Refer students to Student Accessibility Services when appropriate;
  • Engage in the interactive process with a student, academic support personnel and others as needed to determine reasonable and appropriate accommodations;
  • Provide requested accommodations and academic adjustments to students who have documented disabilities in a timely manner;
  • Maintain appropriate confidentiality of information and records concerning students with disabilities except when disclosure is required by law or authorized by the student.

Role of Student Accessibility Services

  • Establishing and disseminating criteria for disability services;
  • Determining eligibility for disability services through review of documentation and assessment of individual student need;
  • Facilitating academic and environmental accommodations and services through an interactive process with students, faculty, departments, agencies, and/or colleges, etc.