At The University of The District of Columbia, both students and the university have accessibility rights and responsibilities.
Students Have the Right To
- An equal opportunity to access courses, programs, services and activities at UDC.
- Request reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services.
- Appropriate confidentiality of information regarding their disability, except when disclosures are required or permitted by law.
Students Have the Responsibility To
- Maintain institutional standards for academic performance and conduct.
- Register with Accessibility Services, and request an accommodation.
- Provide appropriate documentation of a disability, including the functional limitation(s) of the disability and its impact on the access to and participation in courses, programs, services and activities at UDC.
- Follow procedures for requesting accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services.
- Request academic accommodations for each term in which the student is registered.
UDC Has the Right To
- Request and receive, through Accessibility Services, current documentation that identifies the existence of a disability and explains the functional limitations of the disability.
- Suggest appropriate and reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services based on documentation submitted to the office.
- Establish essential requirements and standards for courses, programs, services or activities at UDC.
- Select equally effective accommodations, adjustments or auxiliary aids and services.
- Deny an accommodation, adjustment or auxiliary aid that fundamentally alters a course, program or activity.
UDC Has the Responsibility To
- Review submitted documentation without bias and seek appropriate relevant professional expertise when necessary.
- Confer with the student and other relevant parties when determining accommodations, academic adjustments or auxiliary aids and services.
- Provide information in accessible formats, upon request.
- Respond to requests in a timely manner.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality of documentation and information.
Self Advocacy and Accessibility
Advocacy skills are needed in many areas of our lives, including school, work and home. Becoming an effective self-advocate means having the ability to effectively communicate your needs to others.
Here are a few tips to assist you in reaching the goals you have set to accomplish at the University of the District of Columbia.
- Know your rights so that you may ask for what is available to you.
- Know your strengths and challenges and how they affect you.
- Plan to make your semester a success.
- Work to find solutions to overcome barriers to reaching your goals.
- Identify your needs and come up with a plan to support those needs.
- Identify your support system.
- Get to know the instructors and administrators in your program.
- Know how to communicate about your disability and how it impacts your academic performance.
- Know how to ask for help and seek out resources when difficulties arise.
- Recognize that long-term goals are reached by meeting many short-term goals.
- Recognize and celebrate your successes.
