Disability Accommodations

KU Law welcomes and supports students with disabilities and recognizes the unique challenges they may encounter as they navigate their legal education. We are confident in the ability of all our students to succeed, and our goal is to provide reasonable accommodation to ensure that the educational experience is positive and productive for every student. We hope this document will provide guidance and resources that will serve you throughout your time at KU Law.

At the University of Kansas, a centralized office—the Student Access Center—reviews requests for accommodations and communicates the recommended accommodations to the appropriate Law School administrator. Within KU Law, the Office of Academic & Student Life implements those accommodations. The Office of Academic & Student Life staff would be happy to meet with you at any point in the process to answer questions about disability accommodations in a confidential manner.

The Accommodations Process Overview

All students who need in-class or testing accommodations must engage with the Student Access Center (SAC) to determine eligibility. The process of determining eligibility and considering what is a reasonable modification or adjustment is an interactive process done in collaboration with the Student Access Center.

Reasonable efforts are to be made both by the student requesting reasonable accommodation and the representative of Disability Resources to complete the disability determination process and the consideration of any reasonable academic modification or adjustment expeditiously. The disability determination process can take time and accommodation may not be able to be implemented if requests are made late in the semester. 

The Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs must receive the notice of a student’s testing accommodations no later than 10 business days from the start of the midterm or final exam for which accommodations are sought. The School of Law will not be able to comply with notices of eligibility received after the deadline.

All accommodations are determined on a semester basis, so students must request accommodations each semester and do so promptly.

Overview of Process

1. To initiate this process, students should submit a new accommodation request by visiting the Access Online Portal.
2. Student Accommodations Specialist (SAS) will schedule a follow-up meeting with the students to evaluate their needs, which may entail requesting written documentation from a medical provider.

The Access Online Portal serves as a central hub for managing current and past accommodations, facilitating communication between the SAC and accommodated students, offering a scheduling tool to arrange meetings with your Student Accommodations Specialist and facilitating accommodation renewals in subsequent academic years.

Keep in mind that this process can span several weeks, and accommodations must be requested for each semester they are needed.

3. SAC will review any documentation or medical diagnosis as well as and suggested accommodation and will then render a decision which they provide to the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the School of Law.

The Associate Dean serves as the law school liaison for all accommodations matters to protect the anonymity of the student to the greatest extent possible. While students may communicate with faculty members directly regarding their disability accommodations, they do not need to do so if they wish to remain anonymous. Anonymity is not provided for course accommodations.

The Disability Determination

The first step in the process is to determine whether the student qualifies as disabled under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and Section 504. According to these laws, a person is considered disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. To be "substantially limited" by an impairment means either:

a) The student cannot perform a major life activity that the average person in the general population can perform, or
b) The student is significantly restricted in performing that major life activity compared to the average person in the general population.

In making the disability determination, the representative of the Student Access Center (SAC) considers the following questions:

1. Does the student have a physical or mental impairment?
2. Does impairment substantially limit one or more major life activities?
3. How does the student’s performance of the major life activity compare to that of the average person in the general population?
4. What evidence or documentation is available to support the presence of impairment and its impact on major life activities?
5. Are there any mitigating measures (e.g., medications, assistive devices) that lessen the impact of the impairment, and if so, how do they affect the determination of substantial limitation?
6. Does the impairment affect the student in a chronic or episodic manner, and what is the expected duration of the impairment?

Disability determinations are typically based on information provided by the student to the University. This includes detailed and current medical documentation—dated within the last three years—from an appropriate professional regarding the nature and severity of the impairment, along with a description of the student's functional limitations.

For students with learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, the Student Access Center (SAC) will provide a list of required tests and contact information for potential testers in the area, if needed. Once complete documentation is received, the University may consult with an external medical professional to review the assessment and any recommended accommodations.

Determining Reasonable Accommodation

The second step in the process is to determine the appropriate academic modifications or adjustments for which the student with a disability qualifies. To determine the appropriateness of a particular academic modification or adjustment, the representative of Student Access Center (SAC) considers:

1. The functional limitations caused by the disability.
2. The essential requirements/elements of the academic program, course, and/or University-sponsored student life activity.
3. The student's past performance with and without reasonable accommodation.
4. The student's history of disability-related difficulties in participating in academic and/or University-sponsored student life programs.
5. Previous modifications or adjustments received by the student in an educational setting.
6. A review of the recommended reasonable accommodations.

Reasonable accommodations are modifications or adjustments that enable the student with a disability to have equal access to the educational program or student life activities for which they are eligible. Academic modifications or adjustments are not predetermined; instead, they are individualized based on the functional limitations caused by the student's disability, academic program and student life activities. If necessary, the representative of the Student Access Center (SAC) will consult with course instructors to understand the essential requirements/elements of a particular course.

The academic modification or adjustment must be effective and provide equal access to classroom activities.

Implementation of Approved Reasonable Accommodation

After a disability determination has been made and tentative accommodation is designed for the student, a representative of Student Access Center (SAC) will notify the School of Law's Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs. If this notice is received within 10 business days from the start of final exams, the Associate Dean will share the tentative accommodation with each of the student's instructors without disclosing the student's identity.

If a faculty member has concerns that the tentative accommodation would interfere with or be inconsistent with the essential requirements or elements of their course, they must communicate those concerns to the Student Access Center within five business days. The Student Access Center will consider the faculty member's statement of the essential elements of the course when finalizing the accommodation for the student. Once the accommodation has been finalized by the Student Access Center, the student will be informed in writing of the accommodation for each class.

Request for Review

A student concerned with the reasonable accommodation determination is advised to meet and discuss the concerns with the representative of Student Access Center (SAC) or the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs in the KU School of Law within five business days of receiving the written notice of accommodation. If further discussion does not resolve the matter, the student may make a request for review to the Director of the Student Access Center. The request for review must be made in writing within five business days of the student being informed of the accommodation.

The Student Access Center (SAC) Director will review the appropriate records and documentation and may ask the student for a meeting to clarify the request. The Student Access Center Director may discuss the request with the representative of the Student Access Center (SAC) and other appropriate professionals. He or she will communicate a final decision in writing as soon as practicable. The disability eligibility and reasonable accommodation determination remain in effect during the period in which the Student Access Center Director considers the student's request.

Frequently Asked Questions