Rights & Responsibilities
Students, employees, and campus guests who have disabilities have rights and responsibilities in the timely receipt of auxiliary aids, accommodations, and services at Drexel University. For additional information regarding rights and responsibilities, choose one of the links below:
- Students, Employees, and Campus Guests Rights & Responsibilities
- Office of Disability Services Rights & Responsibilities
- Faculty Rights & Responsibilities
- Drexel University Rights & Responsibilities
Students, Employees, and Campus Guests Rights & Responsibilities
Students, Employees, and Campus Guests with Disabilities Have the Right to:
- An equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from courses, programs, services, activities, and facilities offered at Drexel University.
- Be evaluated based on one's ability, rather than on one's disability.
- The best and most up-to-date information and services Drexel University can provide.
- Appropriate confidentiality regarding one's disability and related information. No documentation will be released without the individual's written consent.
- Have access to housing and transportation at a comparable level as that provided to any student.
- Receive reasonable accommodations, academic/work adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids without lowering or altering the standards of a program or course or changing the essential functions of a position.
- Information available in alternative formats, upon request.
- Provide feedback to ODS regarding its operations.
Students, Employees, and Campus Guests with Disabilities Have a Responsibility to:
- Meet institutional qualifications and maintain the institution's essential academic and technical standards/essential job functions for courses, programs, services, campus jobs, and activities.
- Self-identify as an individual with a disability when an accommodation is needed and to seek information, counsel, and assistance as necessary.
- Provide appropriate documentation from a qualified medical or psychological professional regarding his/her disability when requesting auxiliary aids, academic adjustments, or services, including how the disability affects a particular activity, location, living environment, instructional method, evaluation criteria, or job function.
- Provide timely requests for accommodations. Delays in requests will affect Drexel's promptness in providing accommodations. Some services may require as much as four to six weeks notice (interpreters, alternative formats) prior to the beginning of a term or position start date.
- Obtain an accommodation verification letter (AVL) and contact professors or supervisors to request and/or activate accommodations for each course or job function.
- Follow published policies and procedures of ODS at Drexel University.
- Actively participate in the interactive process with ODS.
- Arrange for and obtain personal care attendants, personal tutoring (beyond university services), and personal adaptive technology.
- Abide by all applicable University code of conduct, academic standards, and employment regulations.
- Provide feedback to ODS regarding its operations.
Office of Disability Services Rights & Responsibilities
The Office of Disability Services Has a Responsibility to:
- Establish written policies and procedures concerning auxiliary aid, academic adjustment, and service delivery for students and employees with disabilities.
- Evaluate all documentation for students and employees who disclose a disability and request accommodations.
- Provide reasonable accommodations in a timely manner, once appropriate documentation of disability has been received and accommodations have been requested.
- Provide information or clarification regarding ODS policies and procedures to students, faculty, and staff.
- Inform students how to submit a grievance for a disability related matter.
The Office of Disability Services Has the Right to:
- Have documentation requirements for students and employees requesting auxiliary aids, academic adjustments, and services.
- Consult with appropriate professionals in regard to disability service operations.
- Request additional documentation from a student or employee for the support of accommodations in a Drexel University program activity, or job position.
- Establish written policies and procedures concerning the delivery of services to students, employees, and campus guests with disabilities.
- Discuss the feasibility or logistics of a requested accommodation with appropriate university personnel, if applicable.
- Assist faculty in maintaining appropriate academic integrity of courses and programs while providing academic adjustments for students.
Faculty Rights & Responsibilities
Faculty Members at DrexelUniversity Have the Right to:
- Request an accommodation verification letter (AVL), issued by ODS, before providing any form of disability accommodations.
- Not to accept disability documentation. The only office on campus designated to determine eligibility for appropriate accommodations through disability documentation is ODS.
- Expect the student to submit their AVL when accommodations are being requested.
- Expect ODS to administer exams in a secure and monitored environment, if this is a requested accommodation.
Faculty Members at Drexel University Have the Responsibility to:
- Implement appropriate accommodations in the classroom only to students registered with ODS and in possession of an AVL. Faculty do not need to provide accommodations to students who have not submitted verification of their needs to ODS.
- Discuss with ODS any concerns related to the accommodation(s) or arrangements that have been requested by the student during their initial communications.
- Assure the confidentiality and privacy of information regarding students with disabilities.
- Allow the use of appropriate and approved auxiliary aids in the classroom (e.g., tape recorders, note takers, interpreters, captionists, etc).
- Provide ODS with the title, author, and identifying information regarding visual and auditory information (e.g. videos, DVD’s, podcasts, etc.)
- To provide ODS with syllabi, textbooks, course packets, etc. well before classes begin (6 weeks prior to the start of the term is recommended) in order for students with disabilities to use alternative media when all other students have course materials, such as Braille, audiotape, scanning onto discs, enlargements.
- Assure the timely delivery of an exam/quiz, along with all necessary instructions and materials for proper administration, if a student's exam/quiz is to be administered by ODS.
- Make required reading lists, including ISBN numbers, available to students who are eligible for alternative formats of textbooks and online materials. Students will seek required reading lists up to 6 weeks prior to a term beginning.
Drexel University Rights & Responsibilities
Drexel University Has the Right to:
- Identify and establish essential functions, abilities, skills, knowledge, and standards for courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities and to evaluate all students and employees with disabilities on this basis.
- Request and receive, through the Office of Disability Services (ODS), current documentation that supports a person's eligibility for auxiliary aids, academic adjustments, and services, as well as the person with a disability’s request for accommodations, academic/work adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services.
- Deny requests for accommodations, academic adjustments, or auxiliary aids if the documentation does not substantiate a person's eligibility for services, if the documentation does not substantiate the request, or if the individual fails to provide adequate documentation.
- Deny requests for accommodations or facility-related barrier removal that would fundamentally alter a university program, or pose an undo financial or administrative burden on the University.
- Select among equally effective accommodations, academic/work adjustments, auxiliary aids, and services.
Drexel University Has the Responsibility to:
- Ensure an equal opportunity to participate and benefit from all university programs.
- Evaluate individuals based on ability rather than on disability.
- Identify skills, knowledge, or technical components that are essential to its programs and job positions.
- Provide information to faculty, staff, students, and campus guests in accessible formats, upon request.
- Reasonably modify instructional and/or evaluation systems.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication, except where permitted or required by law.
- Respond to requests in a timely manner.
- Ensure that courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities, when viewed in their entirety, are available and usable in the most integrated and appropriate settings.