Rights and Responsibilities
- Rights and Responsibilities of Students with Disabilities
- Rights and Responsibilities of the Office of Disability Services
- Rights and Responsibilities of the faculty and Staff
- Summary of Institutional and Office of Disability Services Responsibilities
Rights and Responsibilities of Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities have the right to:
- Access courses, programs, services, activities and facilities offered through Kenyon College.
- Work, learn, and receive reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services.
- Confidentiality of all information about their disability, except as disclosures are required or permitted by law.
- Appeal process to review decisions related to accommodations and access.
Students with disabilities have the responsibility to:
- Meet qualifications and maintain the essential College standard for courses, programs, services, and activities.
- Self-identify as an individual with a disability and seek information, counsel, and assistance when necessary.
- Document (from appropriate licensed professional) the current functional limitation of the disability.
- Follow college procedures for obtaining reasonable accommodations.
- Request specific accommodations in a timely fashion and ensure that the professor is aware of needed accommodations prior to each instance (ie., each exam).
Rights and Responsibilities of the Office of Disability Services
The Office of Disability Services has the right to:
- Identify and establish appropriate accommodations for course, programs, activities, and facilities.
- Request and receive current documentation that supports the need for accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services.
- Deny a request for accommodations, academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services if documentation demonstrates that the request is not warranted, if the request would alter the essential elements of the course/curriculum, or if the individual fails to provide the appropriate documentation.
The Office of Disability Services has the responsibility to:
- Provide or arrange reasonable accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids and services for students.
- Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication, except where permitted or required by law.
- Make referrals to the Counseling Center, Student Health Center, Career Center, and other departments or organizations.
Rights and Responsibilities of the faculty and Staff
The Faculty and Staff have the right to:
- Receive verification of a documented disability from the office of Disability Services in the form of an accommodation letter, which may or may not state the disability -- per student's request.
- Contact the Coordinator of Disability Services to discuss the appropriateness of the accommodations.
The Faculty and Staff have the responsibility to:
- Keep all disability-related information regarding a student confidential.
- Maintain the same standards for students with disabilities as are applied to all other students.
- Provide and arrange for reasonable classroom accommodations.
- Inform students of procedures for arranging accommodations at the beginning of each semester.
Summary of Institutional and Office of Disability Services Responsibilities
- To prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities.
- To reduce or eliminate physical, academic, and attitudinal barriers.
- To provide reasonable accommodations.
- To maintain the strictest of student confidentiality.
- To develop a shared responsibility and community for individuals with disabilities.
- To assist the student in self-advocacy.
- To assist the student in problem solving.
- To guide the student to possible resources that might assist him or her, whether it is on campus or networking in the community.
- To be sensitive to the individual personalities of students, whether it be in communicating their needs or an attempt to maintain dignity with a very difficult issue.
- To serve as a liaison with faculty when a medical emergency necessitates an extended absence.
