An instructor who believes an approved accommodation creates an undue burden because it interferes with a course learning goal or academic standards or because it represents a fundamental alteration of the course may appeal the accommodation as described below.

During the appeal process, the original accommodation approved by Student Accessibility and Accommodation (SAA) must be implemented.

To appeal an approved accommodation, the Instructor: 

  1. Must write the Section 504/ADA Coordinator within 5 days of receiving the notice of the approved accommodation stating they wish to appeal the accommodation and providing an explanation of how the approved accommodation creates an undue burden or fundamentally alters the course.
  2. Meets with the Section 504/ADA Coordinator to discuss the concerns about the approved accommodation, and to consider what alternative accommodations might meet both the student's needs and the learning objectives in the course without creating an undue burden or fundamental alteration.  
  3. If the instructor and the Section 504/ADA Coordinator cannot agree on an appropriate accommodation, the instructor can appeal the accommodation with the Dean of Faculty Affairs (Dean) within 5 days of the meeting with the Section 504/ADA Coordinator. The instructor must submit their appeal in writing to the Dean and provide an explanation of how the approved accommodation, or any proposed alternate accommodation offered by SAA or the Section 504/ADA Coordinator, creates an undue burden or fundamentally alters the course. 
  4. The Dean of Faculty Affairs will promptly review the relevant written information from the instructor, invite the Section 504/ADA Coordinator to submit additional relevant written information, and, in their sole discretion, may elect to meet with the instructor and the Section 504/ADA Coordinator together or separately. Following their review, the Dean will provide a written determination to both parties as to whether the original approved accommodation will continue as a reasonable accommodation, or whether it creates an undue burden or fundamentally alters the course and requires that a different accommodation must be put in place upon consultation with the student and the instructor. 
  5. The decision of the Dean is final.