Disability Accommodations

This institution complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and state and local requirements regarding students with disabilities. Accommodations will be provided to qualified students with disabilities (including, but not limited to, mental health disabilities, physical/learning disabilities or temporary disabilities) in compliance with federal and state regulations.

A request for accommodation will be considered if the request:

• is based on documentation that meets APUS' published guidelines;
• does not compromise essential requirements of a course or program; and
• does not impose a financial or administrative burden upon APUS beyond that which is deemed reasonable.

Accommodations are intended to provide equal access to qualified students with disabilities to pursue their studies with the same level of rigor and demand as their classmates without disabilities. The essential requirements of an academic course or program need not be modified to accommodate an individual with a disability.

Students whose accommodation requests are denied will not be discriminated or retaliated against if they appeal the decision.

Notice of Nondiscrimination

The University does not discriminate on the basis of disability in violation of applicable law and regulation.  The University does not discriminate in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its programs or activities.  The University’s Disability Officer coordinates compliance with the Section 504 regulation and may be contacted at:

Julie Komisarcik
Director and Disability Officer
303 W 3rd Avenue
Ranson, WV 25438
304-885-5252
[email protected]

Disability Accommodation Process

It is the student’s responsibility to identify themselves to the university as having a disability by contacting the Disability Services Accommodations (DSA) Office. As further outlined below, the student must submit all required documentation prior to engaging in any activity for which an accommodation is being requested. For example, a request to retake a test or course due to a disability will not be considered for a test or course that a student has already taken. Since the documentation and review process may take some time, currently diagnosed students should submit any requests for a disability accommodation as soon as they are admitted to a program and prior to registering for courses.

• No accommodation requests may be granted by the university prior to a student notifying the DSA Office of their disability and submitting any required documentation thereof.
• Students must identify themselves to the Disability Services Accommodations (DSA) Officer and provide the required documentation as outlined in the Documentation Requirements section below at least thirty (30) days in advance of the desired start date of the accommodation being requested. 
• It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that documentation meeting the published Documentation Requirements, as outlined below, is submitted thirty (30) days prior to the desired start date of the accommodation being requested.

Steps to Requesting Disability Accommodation

1. Student submits a written statement to the DSA Office outlining their disability. Statements can be emailed to [email protected].
2. Student submits documentation on the disability and accommodation request that meets the Documentation Requirements set forth below.
3. The DSA Officer will review the submitted documentation with the Disability Support Services Committee.
4. The DSA Officer will notify the student in writing to the student’s email address on record with the university of the decision to grant or deny the request within ten (10) business days of receipt of all required documentation. If further documentation is required, the DSA Officer will notify the student in writing to the student's email address on record of what further information is needed to consider the request.
5. It is the student's responsibility to request an accommodation from an instructor and to supply the instructor with a copy of their official DSA Award Letter at least five (5) days prior to the accommodation being needed (If the accommodation request is for a course extension, the DSA Award Letter should be submitted to the instructor at the time the course extension request form is submitted to the instructor.).
6. Only necessary information regarding the approved accommodation will be shared with the instructor; no medical history or other sensitive information regarding the student will be released.

Appeal Process

A student whose disability accommodation request is denied or adjusted may submit an appeal. The appeal must be made within fifteen (15) days of the accommodation being denied and should be submitted using the official Academic Appeal Request form in the campus. The form is located under the Academic Plan & Forms menu, under University Forms. Please select “Other” as your appeal category and type and include your request in the space provided. To learn more about the appeal process, please visit the University General Grievance Procedure in the Student Handbook.

Documentation Requirements

Documentation to support a request for disability accommodation must be provided by the student and at the student’s expense. Such documentation must follow the guidelines listed below:

Age of Documentation

• For Learning Disability Accommodations, documentation should be no older than 3 years if student is under 21 years of age. Older documentation will be accepted for students who are over 21 as long as the clinical testing was completed since the student reached the age of 18.
• For Mental Disability Accommodations, documentation should be clinical documentation created since the student reached the age of 18.
• For Physical Disability Accommodations, if the physical disability is a permanent condition, documentation of any age may be considered. For a physical disability that is based on a temporary condition, such as weakness caused by chemotherapy or other short-term treatments, clinical documentation should be less than 1 year old.

Documentation

To determine reasonable accommodations, the DSA Office requires students provide documentation that contains the following information:

• The professional credentials of the evaluator including what training and experience the evaluator has with the diagnosis and treatment of adults. The evaluator should be a licensed professional in the appropriate field and qualified to diagnose adults.
• A specific medical diagnosis of the physical, mental, or learning disability.
• The names of the diagnostic tests used, evaluation dates, test scores, and interpretation of test results for learning disabilities.
• A description of how the student is limited in functionality in a major life activity.
• Specific accommodation recommendations that are tied to the diagnosis and how the accommodations will affect the specific functional limitations of the student.

Means of Delivery

A student may upload documentation to support a request for disability accommodation via our secure document upload portal. This is a secure location to provide documents which may contain sensitive Information instead of through other means, such as email, fax, or mail.

If a student is unable to upload documentation using the means above, documentation to support a request for disability accommodation may be delivered by any of the following means:

• Scan and email to [email protected]
• Mail to*:
  American Public University System
  ATTN: Disability Accommodations 
  303 W 3rd Avenue
  Ranson, WV 25438

* Note: Using this form of delivery may delay the review of the student’s DSA documentation.