Rights and Responsibilities

Wake Forest University views the provision of reasonable accommodations, modifications, or auxiliary aides to enable equal access for students with disabilities as a collaborative process among students, faculty, and staff. The Learning Assistance Center & Disability Services (LAC-DS) staff considers individual needs in each request and encourages an age-appropriate level of self-advocacy with students.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities 

According to this federal legislation, no otherwise qualified individual with a disability shall, solely by reason of his/her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity of a public entity.

Students who request academic accommodations are required to disclose their disability to the Learning Assistance Center & Disability Services. In addition, they must provide documentation of their disability to support their request. Once it has been determined that students are eligible for reasonable accommodations, they will receive a hard copy letter, personalized for each faculty member, that (a) confirms the presence of a disability and (b) briefly describes the approved accommodation. Students are encouraged to schedule an appointment with each faculty member to hand-deliver their letter and to discuss implementation of their accommodation(s).

Students are ensured equal access to all programs.

Students’ disability-related records will be used to determine appropriate accommodations/services and will be kept separate from academic records.

Students must provide the LAC-DS with documentation of a disability and the need for accommodation.

Students must initiate a meeting with the LAC-DS staff to discuss the accommodation request in a time frame that allows adequate time to arrange the accommodations.

More information from the US Department of Education for students with disabilities preparing for postsecondary education can be found here.

Wake Forest University is responsible for enabling students to have equal access to its programs and facilities.

Wake Forest University reserves the right to determine the appropriateness of submitted documentation and requests for accommodation on a case by case basis, using the professional judgment of the LAC-DS staff and the Committee for Students with Disabilities.

Additional information may be requested to verify the disability and to make a decision on accommodations.

The LAC-DS staff will work to provide the student with a timely response to his or her requests, but the time frame will vary depending on the nature of the accommodation request.