Office of Disability Accommodation

You must first drop off a current copy of your documentation (see http://disability.unt.edu/services/apply) and an ODA application for services in Sage Hall Room 167. New documentation will be reviewed every Friday. The Documentation Review Committee will determine if you are eligible for reasonable accommodations. After approval, you will be contacted to arrange anode orientation or to meet with a counselor if more information is required. For more information, see Apply for Services.

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Students

You will receive a copy for your personal records and copies for all of your classes.

This letter should be given to your course instructor as soon as you wish to begin receiving services. Requests for modification letters are not retroactive. Thus, if you do not provide the instructor with the request, you may not receive reasonable accommodations in the learning environment. Until you provide a copy of the request. Or, you may not be allowed to apply modifications to previous course work.

Notice that the letter does not specify your condition. It only specifies the recommended reasonable accommodations. When you discuss your condition or services with the instructor, we recommend that you set up an appointment with the instructor during office hours for a private discussion.

Professors

1. First, read it carefully. It is a formal notice, signifying that the student has furnished the university with documentation of a disability, which he or she feels will impact the learning situation.
2. Second, discuss the request with the student. The letter lists the reasonable accommodations which have been recommended by the physician, diagnostician, or counselor as compensation methods. If you do not understand why the specific adjustment was requested, ask the student to talk with you. You may want to call the Office of Disability Accommodation at (940) 565-4323 to request more details. You may want to talk to your department's ADA liaison or other appropriate departmental official.
3. Third, regardless of disability, all students must be able to meet the essential competencies for your course. Naturally, if the student cannot meet them without reasonable accommodations, he/she must be given an opportunity to meet them with reasonable accommodations.

   If you are unable to fulfill the student's request, ask yourself the following questions. Will the student's request affect an "essential competency?" Is there a better way to make the class/requirement accessible? Is the request reasonable? Do I have an alternative suggestion? Discuss the request with the student and try to find a compromise. Tell the student why you cannot meet the original request and what reasonable accommodations you can make. But please, never deny reasonable accommodations without first discussing the matter with the ODA.

4. Fourth, if you cannot work out an alternative that is agreeable to both you and the student, involve your department's ADA liaison or other appropriate department official in the process. If there is still no way that you and your department can reasonably accommodate the student and have him/her meet the essential competencies of the course even after discussing the matter with the ODA, the student should be so informed. Your department should maintain a record of all efforts to provide reasonable accommodations.

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