Policy for Students with Disabilities

General Statement
I. Scope of Policy
II.Administrative Processes
III.Services to Identified Students
IV.Designated Administrative Responsibilities
Publication of Policy
Resolving Disputes

In order to meet its legal responsibilities for the admission and accommodation of students with various disabilities, the University establishes the following policy:

General Statement

The University of Massachusetts Lowell is a Title I, Affirmative Action institution and complies with requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Applicants for admission are not required to identify themselves as having a disability at the time of application.  If an applicant does voluntarily identify him/herself as a person with a disability as part of the application process, this information is not considered in evaluating the application.  In order to provide properly for any required services/accommodations, the University does request timely notification of any disability.

I.  Scope of Policy

A (i). The University encourages all applicants for admission who have physical disabilities to identify themselves as such during the admission process, either with the admission application, or immediately after being accepted as a student.  These applicants will be referred to the Acting Director of Student Disability Services in order to verify or provide documentation of their disability.

A (ii).  Any admitted student who is identified as physically disabled after admission to the University and who wishes to invoke the provisions of Article III of this policy shall provide documentation of the handicap to the Acting Director of Student Disability Services.

B (i).  The University encourages all applicants for admission who have been diagnosed as learning disabled to identify themselves as such during the admission process, either with the admission application, or immediately after being accepted as a student.  These applicants shall provide the documentation of their learning disability and any services they have received under Mass General Law Chapter 766 to the Acting Director of Student Disability Services.  Those Massachusetts resident students who wish their admission application to be evaluated without SAT scores, as provided for under Massachusetts law, must provide documentation of their learning disability along with their application.

B (ii).  Any admitted student who is identified as learning disabled after admission to the University and who wishes to invoke the provisions of Article III of this policy shall provide appropriate documentation of the disability to the Acting Director of Student Disability Services.

C (i).  The University encourages all applicants for admission who have documented neurological and/or psychiatric disabilities (e.g. head injuries, seizure disorders, psychiatric disabilities) to identify themselves as such during the admission process, either with the admission application, or immediately after being accepted as a student.  These applicants shall provide documentation of their handicap to the Acting Director of Student Disability Services (for those whose primary disability or need of service is physical) or the Director of Counseling (for those whose primary disability and need of services is psychological or learning-related) at the time of their admission application.

C (ii).  Any admitted student who is identified as having neurological and/or psychiatric disabilities after admission to the University and who wishes to invoke the provisions of Article III of this policy shall provide appropriate documentation of the disability to the Acting Director of Student Disability Services or the Director of Counseling.

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II.  Administrative Processes

A.  For applicants and students identified in I A:  After receipt of the appropriate documentation, the Acting Director of Student Disability Services will meet with each identified person after they have been offered admission in order to determine that person’s needs and to explain the services that the University is able to provide. 

B (i).  For applicants identified in I B (i):  After receipt of the appropriate documentation, the Director of Admissions and the Acting Director of Student Disability Services shall meet with all such applicants after their acceptance as a student.  At this meeting, the services that the University is able to provide to the applicant will be explained, and the person’s need for services will be evaluated.

B (ii).  For students identified in I B (ii):  After receipt of the appropriate documentation, the Acting Director of Student Disability Services will meet with the student to explain the services the University is able to provide, and to evaluate the person’s need for services. 

C.  For students identified in I C:  After receipt of the appropriate documentation and the student has been offered admission, the Director of Student Disability Services and the Director of Counseling will confer and determine who shall meet with the applicant or student to describe the services the University is able to provide and evaluate the need for.

III.  Services to Identified Students

In addition to services available to all students, the following procedures shall be explicitly permitted as needed for students identified under Article I of this policy:  nonstandard test administration;  use of tape recorders, note-takers, interpreters, or other learning assistance in class;  and permission to be enrolled in less than 12 credits each semester.  These will be allowed in a way that is neither demeaning to the student nor disruptive to the classroom environment. 

For physically disabled students, one or more of the following accommodations can be made, as determined by need:  rescheduling of classes into disabled-accessible classrooms, preferential registration to ensure early notification of text tiles so these can be brailled or made into Talking Books, handicapped parking, readers/scribes, personal care attendants (PCAs), inter-campus transportation, adaptations to lab tables and preferential room assignments in Residence Halls. 

Requests for any other accommodations or services will be considered on a case by case basis.

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IV.  Designated Administrative Responsibilities

A.  The documentation for all students to whom this policy applies shall be maintained by the Acting Director of Student Disability Services.

B.  For purposes of the administration of this policy after the completion of the admissions process, the designated administrator, after specific request from the student, shall communicate both the policy and any specific recommended accommodations for a particular student to those faculty and other administrators who are involved. 

C.  Authorization to take less than 12 credits shall be accomplished through a petition initiated by the student through the Acting Director of Student Disability Services and approved by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs or his designee.  This petition shall normally be filed during the official pre-registration period for the semester in which a reduced course load or part time enrollment is requested.

When the petition is filed during the official pre-registration period, the student may be granted part time student status for that semester, and will be billed according to the University’s established pro-rated basis for part time enrollment.   

Petitions filed at any time other than the official pre-registration period shall be approved by the Dean of the student’s college to permit the student to be considered on reduced load status.  Such students shall pay all tuition and fees as are set for full-time students. 

There is no formal limitation on the number of semesters during which an eligible student may be granted part time or reduced load status. 

D.  For purposes of reporting the status of students covered by this policy to outside entities (e.g. insurance companies), the Registrar’s Office will designate those students with reduced course loads as registered full time on a reduced load under the regulations of the University and, if required to designate the number of credits, shall add an appropriate explanatory notation.  The Acting Director of Student Disability Services can provide an explanation of the nature of part time enrollment.  However, the University cannot guarantee that any other entity will use the University’s categorization of the student’s status in evaluating the student’s eligibility under their own criteria.

Publication of Policy 

This policy shall be printed in  in the Catalog for Undergraduate Studies. The following statement shall be printed in the promotional brochure prepared and distributed for prospective applicants to the University by the Admissions Office: 

All applicants for admission to the University who have a disability (physical, learning or psychiatric) and who may be in need of those specialized accommodations and services that the University is able to provide are requested to identify their disability in a timely manner (either at the time of their application for admission or immediately after receiving an offer of admission from the University) in order that their specific needs may be determined and that the services which can be provided by the University may be discussed with them.  A copy of the University’s Policy for Students With Disabilities is available on request from the Office of Admissions or the Office of Student Disability Services. Prospective students who wish to discuss issues related to a disability prior to admission are encouraged to speak with the Acting Director: 

For Learning Disabilities
Dr. Chandrika Sharma
(978) 934-4574  

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The staff of Student Disability Services act as liaisons between students with disability and their faculty members.  If a faculty member has a concern regarding classroom or teaching accommodations, he or she is urged to discuss the concern with Student Disability Services staff immediately.  Student Disability Services staff will review the concern against the mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act to determine whether and how the concern might be resolved.

For more  information on the University's obligations regarding provision on reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities:

• Please see: Reasonable Accommodations (pdf)
• Please contact Mrs. Oneida D. Blagg, Director, Equal Opportunity and Outreach, Cumnock C-4, 978-934-3565.