You are an important source of information about the effects of your disability and the effectiveness of accommodations. For this reason, when you request these services, we will ask you to describe your disability, past use of accommodations, and the disability’s impact on your educational experiences.
As we create your personalized accommodation plan, we seek to engage in a comprehensive assessment of recommended and beneficial accommodations that are tailored to your needs. For this reason, the Director of Accessibility may also request documentation to help Augustana better understand how courses, facilities, programs or other environmental factors may present barriers for you.
The Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) has stated that documentation may come in many forms. Types of helpful documentation supportive of such requests include medical records, psycho-educational evaluations, individual education program (I.E.P.) or summary of performance (S.O.P.) reports, and school records. If additional diagnostic testing or evaluation is needed, staff will describe the information that is necessary or refer you for such testing.
Presenting documentation as soon as possible in the process is beneficial to both you and accessibility staff. However, you do not need to have documentation in hand to have a meeting with staff or to start the accommodations process. If a student’s disability is apparent, additional documentation may not be necessary. Each student’s situation is unique and is handled on a case-by-case basis. Documentation that is shared with accessibility staff is kept confidential and separate from your academic record.
You may submit your disability documentation to the accessibility staff at Augustana by faxing it to 605.274.5293 or by mailing it to the following address:
Augustana University
Attention: Jeff Merkle
Madsen Center, Room 223
2001 S. Summit Ave
Sioux Falls, SD 57197
All personal information or documentation regarding a student received by Accessibility Services is kept confidential as guided by Augustana policies and federal law (FERPA). Information is only shared when absolutely necessary with other campus personnel on a “need to know basis”. Therefore disability personnel are very limited in the information they can share about students to anyone else, including the student’s parents. Students however may choose to sign a consent form for the release of information to facilitate conversation between parents, treating specialists and disability personnel.
