Office for Disability Services

Rights & Responsibilities for Current Students

Rights and Responsibilities of Students Seeking Services/Information from the Office for Disability Services (ODS) at Penn State University

Students who are seeking services / information from ODS at Penn State University have the right to:

Appropriate confidentiality of all information regarding the disability, except disclosures required or permitted by law.

Students who are seeking services / information from ODS at Penn State University have the responsibility to:

Meet qualifications and maintain essential institutional standards for courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities.
Self-disclose the need for academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services to ODS at University Park or to the Disability Contact Liaison, DCL, at other Penn State locations.
Demonstrate or document (from an appropriate professional) how the condition significantly impairs functioning in courses, programs, services, activities, and facilities. The cost of obtaining documentation is borne by the student. If the initial documentation is incomplete or inadequate to determine the current functional limitations of the disorder and/or the reasonable academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services; the ODS or DCL has the right to require additional documentation.
Follow the currently published policies, procedures and guidelines for obtaining services through the ODS or DCL. The current documentation guidelines are located on the ODS web site.

Rights and Responsibilities of Penn State University in relation to Students Seeking Services/Information from ODS:

Penn State University has the right to:

Request and receive through the ODS or DCL current documentation that confirms disability status and supports requests for academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services.
Deny a request for academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services if: the student fails to provide appropriate documentation that meets Penn State’s documentation guidelines, the documentation does not indicate the student’s current functional impairment (s), or the documentation does not support that the student has a disability as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 1973 or Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990.

Penn State University has the responsibility to:

Respond to requests in a timely manner.
Maintain appropriate confidentiality of all information regarding the disability, except disclosures required or permitted by law.