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Students with disabilities should begin the registration process as soon as possible. Registering before the start of the semester is recommended, so that accommodations are in place from the beginning of the semester. However, students can register with SAS at any time. Please keep in mind that gathering sufficient documentation may take time.
Students who submitted disability documentation, such as an IEP or 504 plan, as part of their application to WSU must still self identify, register, and provide supporting documentation to SAS.
Students should provide documentation that demonstrates limitations to one or more major life activities as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In general, the documentation must be on letter head from a licensed professional and include the diagnosis and the impact of the diagnosis both in everyday life and the academic environment.
For students who had accommodations in high school:
An IEP and 504 plan is often not sufficient documentation because it does not include information from a licensed healthcare provider about the student’s disability diagnosis and the impact of the diagnosis. We recommend including relevant testing or medical documentation associated with the student’s diagnosis. Testing may include one or more of the following documents: Psychoeducational Assessment, Psychological Assessment, Educational Achievement testing, Neuropsychological assessment, Speech/Language Assessment, Occupational Therapy evaluation, other Sensory Evaluations, etc.
For students with mental health or chronic health conditions:
Please provide a letter from a licensed professional (therapist, doctor, nurse, practitioner, etc.) that meets the documentation guidelines. When asking for a letter, we suggest you share the documentation guidelines with your provider and discuss the appropriate accommodations. The letter from your licensed professional must meet all of the requirements on the checklist.
For students transferring from another college who had accommodations:
Include a letter from your previous college documenting the accommodations you received there, along with other documentation, such as IEP and testing (see above) or letter from a licensed professional.
To help ensure students submit appropriate documentation, a check list and guidelines are provided below.
Documentation checklist and guidelines
Documentation can be uploaded directly on the Student Registration Form, sent to our confidential email address – sas@worcester.edu, or faxed to SAS at 508-929-8214.
The Intake Meeting may be scheduled up to two weeks after receiving the Student Registration Form and supporting documentation. During the Intake Meeting, the student and specialist will discuss the symptoms of the student’s disability or disabilities and how they impact the student’s as a learner. Navigating this conversation is an important opportunity for students to build self-advocacy skills as adults with disabilities. While parents/legal guardians can attend the meeting with the student’s verbal consent at the time of meeting, our staff will rely on the student’s narrative as a guide for the conversation. The specialist will also provide a brief orientation as to how to access any approved accommodations.
The student should fill out the Registration Form, and can do so with the help of a parent or guardian.
Once you submit the Registration Form, the website will show a confirmation of receipt. You will then receive information about next steps from sas@worcester.edu and/or directly from a SAS staff member.
If you can submit your documentation and Registration Form promptly, we will do our best to review the documentation and set up an intake as quickly as we can, but it can take up to two weeks to schedule an intake appointment during busy times of the year. After the intake meeting is completed, students need to deliver their accommodation letters to faculty in order to use any testing accommodations. Once that has been completed, SAS needs five business days of advanced notice in order to schedule exam accommodations.
Yes, we encourage you to include your IEP as part of your documentation. The IEP or 504 plan must include relevant testing. Accommodations from IEP’s and 504 plans are not automatically transferred to WSU. Reasonable accommodations will be determined on an individual’s documentation and an interactive intake.
Once sufficient documentation is received, it may take up to two weeks for the documentation to be reviewed and to schedule an intake appointment. We may need to ask for additional documentation, and the time students spend gathering their documentation varies. It is best to begin the registration process as soon as possible.
Your registration form and documentation are confidential and not shared outside of SAS. SAS communicates information about student accommodations only as needed to implement accommodations. Most commonly, this happens when sharing an accommodation letter with faculty that lists students’ approved accommodations and confirms that they are registered with the office.
