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For more information:

Disability Services for Students

330 Memorial Union

University of Rhode Island

Kingston, RI 02881

Email: dss@etal.uri.edu

Phone: 401 874-2098

Fax: 401 874-5574

TTY - via RI Relay at 1-800-745-5555

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Disability Services for Students

Policies and Procedures

General Policies

Appeal Procedures

  1. A University member or a student may request a review of an accommodation decision.
  2. The request for review is to be submitted to the Assistant Director of Student Life, Disability Services for Students.
  3. The DSS staff will attempt to facilitate a mutually acceptable accommodation agreement.
  4. If no acceptable agreement can be reached, the request for reconsideration will be forwarded to the Vice-Provost for Academic Affairs.
  5. The Vice Provost will review the information received, request additional information if necessary, and make a final decision. The Vice Provost will transmit a decision to the student, the University member and the Assistant Director of Student Life, Disability Services for Students.

Rights and Responsibilities

Every student with a documented disability has the following rights:

  1. Reasonable access to courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities available through the University.
  2. Reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids determined on a case-by-case basis.
  3. Appropriate confidentiality pertaining to his/her disability.

Every student with a disability has the responsibility to:

  1. Meet the University's qualifications and essential technical, academic, and institutional standards.
  2. Identify in advance the need for accommodation.
  3. Provide complete and appropriate documentation as described in the DOCUMENTATION section, page 3.
  4. Follow specific procedures for obtaining reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids.

Emergencies and Crisis Management: Non-Traditional Circumstances

Disabilities Services for Students relies heavily on the concept of thorough and adequate documentation that is prepared by a qualified, appropriate, and licensed professional.

In addition, the recent date of the documentation and the rationale to support the need for accommodations are key components in establishing adequacy of the documentation.

However, in emergency and crisis-management situations and in non-traditional circumstances the professional staff of Disability Services for Students will use their discretion in allowing flexibility in the standard protocol described in this working document.

All such decisions made under these conditions are reviewed as soon as possible after the emergency situation subsides.

Employment of Consumer Students

The University of Rhode Island Office of Student Life, Disability Services for Students supports the initiatives of federal and state governments, and the private sector in providing employment opportunities to students with disabilities.

We encourage our consumer base of students to seek employment within our own office and we will provide for them the reasonable accommodations that may be necessary to provide equal access.

Additionally, we make serious efforts to inform and encourage students with disabilities in their pre-graduation job searches.

This is done by promoting the professional assistance that is available through URI Office of Career Services and by developing our own listings of appropriate networking channels.

Inconsistencies with other Institutions of Higher Education

The Americans with Disabilities Act provides the premise upon which equal access to education is based.

The document does not attempt to provide specific guidance for equal access. It is the policy of the University of Rhode Island, in discussion with students regarding accommodations, to take into consideration the accommodations provided by the student's previous institution.

However, the professional staff in Disability Services for Students is under no obligation to provide the same or similar accommodations.

Accommodations are made in accordance with official documentation, taking into consideration both reasonableness and appropriateness.

When accommodations previously provided by another institution conflict with those provided by the University of Rhode Island, the latter will take precedence.