Mission. Vision and Goals of Student Accessibility Services
Our Mission
The mission of Student Accessibility Services, in keeping with the University's mission to provide excellent student-centered undergraduate and graduate education, is to create an accessible community where students with disabilities have an equal opportunity to fully participate in all aspects of the academic environment and the University community.
Our Vision
Because of our belief in the dignity of each person, and through compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, amended in 2008, we strive to promote students’ independence. Our vision is a community where disability is neutral; a community where all of its members are empowered to learn, to participate, and to experience University life fully.
Our Goals
- To ensure that all students with disabilities can freely and actively participate in all facets of university life.
- To provide and coordinate support services to maximize each student’s educational potential and develop their independence to the fullest extent possible.
- To strive to increase the level of awareness among all members of the university community so that students with disabilities are equally able to perform to the best of their abilities.
- To identify and engage strategies that effectively offset disability and enhance academic accessibility. University of Detroit Mercy strives to ensure that qualified students with documented disabilities have equal access to courses, programs, and activities by approving reasonable and appropriate accommodations or adjustments to eliminate barriers that may exist.
- For academic adjustments to be considered reasonable and appropriate, they must focus on removing barriers to equal access, while not fundamentally altering the nature of the course, course components, course requirements, or technical standards. Academic adjustments can include modifications to academic requirements, as necessary, to ensure equal educational opportunity. The university is not required to lower or substantially modify essential requirements.
- Accommodations are determined on an individual basis based on each student's particular needs as identified in their disability documentation. Therefore, accommodations will vary from one student to the next.
- Students who are approved for accommodations are not required to pay the costs related to those accommodations. The provision of accommodations is not based on the availability of funds, as long as their provision would not pose an undue burden or cause a fundamental alteration to the service, program, or activity.