Rights and Responsibilities

Legal Information

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 Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success (CLASS) 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 their 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.

Student Responsibilities

Students who request academic accommodations are required to disclose their disability to the Center for Learning, Access, and Student Success. 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, students will request an electronic accommodation letter, personalized for each faculty member, that (a) confirms the presence of a disability and (b) briefly describes the approved accommodation(s). Students are encouraged to schedule an appointment with each faculty member 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 CLASS with documentation of a disability and the need for accommodation.

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

Find more information from the US Department of Education for students with disabilities preparing for postsecondary education here.

Institutional Responsibilities

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 CLASS 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 CLASS staff will work to provide the student with a timely response to their requests, but the time frame will vary depending on the nature of the accommodation request.