This section has been designed to provide GTU MA, PhD, and Certificate students with disabilities with ready access to the information and forms you may need. For further information, contact the Dean's Office.
Accommodations for Students With Disabilities
Downloadable Forms:
- Request for Accommodations form
- Permission for Faculty Notification form
- Permission to Release Documentation form
The GTU strives for consistent and equitable student access to educational opportunities. In particular, it addresses a student’s ability to fulfill degree and certificate course and program requirements. The policy covers GTU library use, student advising, classroom activities and requirements, program exams, and capstone experiences such as theses and dissertations. It does not address extracurricular events sponsored by GTU member institutions, student housing, and administrative activities (e.g. registration, access to facilities, etc.).
The Senior Director for Student Success serves as the Disabilities Resource Officer (DRO) for GTU MA, PhD and Certificate students. As needed, the DRO may consult with the Students With Disabilities Program staff at UCB to verify accommodation eligibility and recommend accommodation options. While eligibility verification and recommendations for accommodations are centralized, implementation of accommodations reflects individual institutional resources and cultures.
Student Request: The student is responsible for fully participating in the process and exercising due diligence to ensure that the provision of accommodations is successfully accomplished. The student who wishes to request accommodations with their academic work submits a request form to the GTU DRO (the form is available on the GTU website). The student needs to include official written documentation with the form from a professional who has the credentials and expertise to diagnosis the student’s condition (a form for this step is available on the GTU website). The student is responsible for incurring any cost associated with the documentation.
Accommodations are not intended to give students an unfair advantage, but to remove barriers that prevent students with disabilities from learning and from demonstrating what they have learned, in the context of their formal degree or certificate program.
The Timing of a Student Request: The student should request accommodations early in the semester, well in advance of when the accommodation is needed. The student needs to factor in the amount of time required to secure written documentation from an appropriate professional. It can take time for the coordination of the case review process as we collaborate on the verification and recommended accommodations process.
Students eligible for academic accommodations will normally have their request reviewed and, if appropriate, approved no more than three weeks after submitting the request.
Decision: The DRO will finalize accommodation options in the context of institutional resources and culture and to assure consistency and equity across the consortium. An accommodation is not “reasonable” if it will necessitate modifications of the essential nature of a program or activity or would place undue financial or administrative burdens on the institution.
The DRO conveys the official decision and, if appropriate, recommended accommodations to the student by email, who then uses written confirmation to work with appropriate staff and faculty on the implementation of accommodations. The DRO also sends a communication to the faculty on the list of enrolled courses the student provides. This list needs to be provided each semester accommodations are needed.
Implementation: Accommodations will apply to all educational events described in the DRO’s email for up to three years. Students should use the DRO’s email to work with faculty and staff to arrange accommodations as needed.
Appeal: The student and/or faculty involved with the student may not agree with the DRO’s decision for accommodations. If a faculty member disagrees with and/or refuses to provide the recommended accommodations, the DRO and institutional contact should work with the faculty member to resolve her/his concerns. The DRO can consult with UCB’s Students With Disabilities Program and their section 504 compliance officer for advice on ways to resolve the conflict with the faculty member. If a resolution is impossible, the student can seek remedy from the faculty member’s school’s academic grievance policy.
If a student disagrees with the DRO’s decision and/or recommended accommodations, they can appeal the decision through the school’s academic grievance policy.