Current Students
Guide for Students with Disabilities
Beginning of Program of Study
Once a student who belives s/he has a "legal disability" has been accepted to an academic program at Boston University, the student should immediately begin the application process for obtaining accommodations.
As the review and development of accommodations may take several weeks, students are strongly encouraged to initiate the process well before classes begin.
The following steps must be completed:
- Medical Documentation of the Disability, Guideline for documentation can be obtained through Boston University Disability Services including a reference list of clinicians in the Boston area.
- Accommodation Formulation—Meet with Disability Services to discuss what accommodations are appropriate.
- Dean's authorization—Disability Services makes this request on behalf of the student.
Each Semester
At the beginning of each semester, students requesting accommodations for their courses that semester must complete a Request for Accommodations Form. The student provides the following information:
- Basic identifying information such as name, BUID number, e-mail address, telephone numbers, local and permanent addresses
- The specific accommodations requested
- The course and section numbers, course names, as well as the name of the faculty member teaching the course, for each course in which the student is enrolled in the current semester
Please note that the requested accommodations are limited to those for which the student has received prior approval (including Dean's authorization) through the application process. Accommodations must be on file with Disability Services. Faculty are not required to provide accommodations that are not approved through Disability Services.
Once a Request for Accommodations Form has been submitted, and the accommodations are approved, Disability Services prepares an accommodation letter for each faculty member. This letter generally informs the faculty member that the student has a disability and recommends the provision of specified academic accommodations. Students are given a letter for each course, and are encouraged to meet with the professor and review the letter within the first two weeks of the semester. Faculty must have a copy of the letter prior to students receiving in-class academic accommodations.
