Differing Abilities Policy

Policy Concerning Students with Differing Abilities

Union Presbyterian Seminary recognizes differing abilities as an aspect of diversity, the inclusion of which is vital to the seminary community and to the world. The Academic Dean provides appropriate accommodations for students with qualifying disabilities intended to make the learning environment accessible and inclusive. Students with differing abilities can begin the collaborative process of accessibility by contacting the Academic Dean to develop a partnership that includes the student and course professor(s), generate solutions, and implement reasonable accommodations while maintaining the seminary’s academic standards. 

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities. The seminary’s Academic Dean shall serve as the institution’s compliance officer for student issues with students with disabilities.

Steps/Procedures

It is the student's responsibility to self-identify as having a diagnosed disability and to initiate a request for accommodations, whether in person or with the Academic Dean. 

The student shall submit appropriate documentation to the Academic Dean. 

Accommodations are handled on a case-by-case basis. The Academic Dean will discuss with the student whether reasonable accommodations are appropriate and review course expectations. 

The Academic Dean will draft a memo with the approved accommodations (excluding the reason) to be shared with the student and each professor. 

The student should meet with each professor at the beginning of the term to discuss the approved accommodations.

Documentation: Medical or Health Needs

When medical or health—physical, psychological, or emotional—needs and/or reasons are cited for failure to comply with institutional policies and deadlines or for failure to make due academic progress or for failure to honor or practice community norms, the student may be required to provide official statements from medical and/or health professionals of such form, nature, and detail as the seminary considers necessary in order to establish a sound basis for subsequent academic and community decisions. All such information will be treated respectfully and accessed on a need-to-know basis only by those involved in the care, response, and decision process. UPSem reserves the right to require such documentation, to determine the adequacy or lack thereof of documentation, and to determine the implications of the documentation for its decision.