The University of Minnesota requires that students who seek academic accommodations related to a disability provide documentation from an appropriate specialist in order to arrange for accommodations. Ideally, that documentation will include a diagnostic assessment, a statement of how the disability impacts functioning, and what accommodations are recommended. Often times, a high school will include a copy of the student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) as well. Disability documentation must be directed to the campus disability services office at UMC, Owen 270F. It should not be retained in other offices or duplicated for storage in other areas. It is regarded in the same way as confidential medical information.

The Disability Services Office uses the documentation to establish appropriate accommodations in consultation with each student, and accommodations must be directly related to the specific disability. Requests for accommodations may be initiated at any time during the semester, or any time during the period of the student’s enrollment in college, but generally the earlier that accommodations are initiated, the greater their effectiveness for the student. It has not been our practice, for example, to begin accommodations during final exam week since it generally takes longer than four days to get all of the information processed and notifications delivered. Accommodations will vary from one student to the next depending upon the diagnostic information provided by the student. Faculty will receive notice of approved accommodations from the campus disability services office, and are not required to provide accommodations until those arrangements are completed. UMC serves students across all disability groups, but identified lower ability alone, while challenging for the student, is not a specific disability. Those students are best served by careful advising, allowing “extra” time to move through a program of study, appropriate use of developmental coursework, tutoring and good time management.

Students with disabilities are identified in a variety of ways. Many will first report a disability on a survey sent out by Student Health during New Student Registration in the spring. Others identify on a fall survey of new students, and many others initiate discussions while visiting campuses during their high school years. Older students are often referred by Vocational Rehabilitation, Veterans’ Services or other agencies, and still others are referred by faculty or self-refer.

Students with disabilities are subject to the same academic and conduct expectations of any other student. If there is a concern, it is helpful to find out about it as early as possible so that an appropriate problem solving process can take place. Students with disabilities have access to the same rights and grievance procedures as other students, and also have the right to grieve a decision by the campus disability services office. On our campus, grievances would be directed to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Dr. Robert Nelson. Students with disabilities have the same responsibilities as other students along with a few extras mentioned in this information.

A student with a disability is not required to report or document a disability unless the student is seeking to arrange for accommodations of some sort. There are many students each year who choose not to disclose for a variety of reasons. It is imperative that disclosure of a disability to a faculty or staff member be respectfully and professionally used, and that no additional casual disclosure is made without specific consent of the student. Before letters of accommodation are sent to faculty, for example, this office must have the student’s consent to do that.

UMC faculty and staff have consistently provided a high level of valuable support and assistance to students with disabilities on our campus.

--Laurie Wilson, UMC Counseling and Disability Services
lwilson2@umn.edu