Eligibility for Students as
Students with a Disability

Referral of a
Student to the Office
of Disability Services

Syllabus Statements

Confidentiality and
Disability - Guidelines
for Faculty

Web Construction and ADA Guidelines

Project and Paper Extension Policies

Language of Disability

Reasonable Accommodations
by Disability

Project Success Workshops

Students with disabilities are protected from discrimination under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Recognizing that discrimination often occurs as a result of attitudinal barriers and misconceptions regarding the potential of persons with disabilities, these mandates presume the U.S. Constitutional right to privacy, whether articulated in the form of guidance or specific regulations as applied to the treatment of disability related information.

Best Practices Regarding Confidentiality:

• The college must treat disability-related information the same way as medical information. The new Health Insurance Portability & Privacy Act (HIPPA) Law was designed to protect the privacy of medical records and the patients they pertain to. The information includes documentation required to provide proof of disability and to request accommodations. Faculty cannot demand access to the actual documentation, test scores, counseling records, dates, or the names of the professionals who provided such information.
• The disclosure of unnecessary, specific disability-related information to those without a legal right to know may have the unintended consequence of increasing the institution’s and/or individual faculty member’s or administrator’s vulnerability to charges of retaliation, harassment, or animus (hostility).
• Under the Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA, or the Buckley Amendment), faculty may have access to students’ educational records, but treatment and disability records are exempt from that requirement.

What if there is a real need to know about a disability?

The need and the extent of the disclosure of the disability may need to be evaluated when issues related to safety of the student or the impact of the disability on others’ safety is at issue. Faculty concerns can be addressed by the Disability Services Office and, when necessary, accommodations made to meet the standards of the program so that the student can proceed with the degree. If that is not possible because of the safety issues presented, the student may be deemed as not otherwise qualified to participate in that program. Career development and other professional support can be consulted to help the student transfer to another major if possible.