Disability Services Rights and Responsibilities Form

The form on this page lists the rights and responsibilities of Penn State World Campus students seeking disability services. For more information regarding rights and responsibilities, please visit the Penn State Educational Equity page.

If you are unable to access this form, please contact your disability specialist.

Students are required to agree to the following (check the box with each statement to indicate your acknowledgement).

Rights and Responsibilities of Students Registered with World Campus Student Disability Services (SDS) at Penn State

  • full and equal access to courses, programs, services, activities, and facilities offered by Penn State 
  • an equal opportunity to learn and to receive reasonable academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services
  • appropriate confidentiality of all information regarding the disability, except disclosures required or permitted by law
  • information in an accessible format
  • meet qualifications and maintain essential institutional standards for courses, programs, services, activities, and facilities
  • identify as an individual with a disability when an academic adjustment, auxiliary aid, and/or service is needed and to seek information and assistance as necessary
  • request services and accommodations on their own (parents may not request accommodations and/or services on their child’s behalf)
  • demonstrate or document (from an appropriate professional) how the disability limits participation in courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities
  • follow published policies and procedures for obtaining reasonable academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services
  • meet with the assigned SDS disability specialist each semester so that appropriate academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services can be made in a timely manner
  • report problems or issues with academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services to my disability specialist and instructor (i.e., the same day, the same week).

Rights and Responsibilities of Penn State in Relation to Students with Disabilities

  • establish essential functions, abilities, skills, knowledge, and technical standards for courses, programs, services, and activities or facilities and to evaluate individuals with disabilities on this basis
  • determine the appropriate standards in developing, constructing, remodeling, and maintaining facilities
  • request and receive, through SDS, 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 the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act, 2008
  • select among equally effective academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services
  • refuse an unreasonable academic adjustment, auxiliary aid, and/or service that impose a fundamental alteration to a program or activity of the University
  • provide information to students with disabilities in accessible formats upon request
  • ensure that courses, programs, services, activities, and facilities, when viewed in their entirety, are available and usable in the most integrated and appropriate settings
  • provide or arrange reasonable academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services for students with disabilities in courses
  • respond to requests in a timely manner
  • maintain appropriate confidentiality of all information regarding the disability, except disclosures required or permitted by law