Disability Resource Center

Our Mission

The Nevada State University Disability Resource Center ensures that all students with disabilities are afforded the opportunity to access the same educational opportunities, receive the same information, engage in the same interactions, and be empowered to enjoy the same university experience as students without disabilities by:

• Promoting self-advocacy, self-efficacy, and independence;
• Ensuring that students with disabilities are afforded reasonable and timely accommodations;
• Assisting the campus community in identifying barriers to accessibility and solutions for providing accessible facilities, courses, events and activities;
• Utilizing and teaching Universal Design principles;
• Facilitating a campus culture of inclusion and awareness.

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Confidentiality

Records related to disabilities are considered to be highly confidential. The purpose of such confidentiality is to protect the student from discrimination on the basis of disability as well as to ensure that their medical records are not released except as needed to provide educational services. The DRC is responsible for collecting and maintaining these records, and only DRC personnel have direct access to the files. Disability-related information should be shared only when there is a legitimate educational need to know, and then only limited information shall be shared and only with designated university administrators. The DRC Director determines when it is appropriate to share information about students’ disabilities and/or Accommodations and ensures that FERPA, HIPPA, and primary guidelines are followed. In addition, the DRC may not share the nature of a student’s disability with faculty.

Within the postsecondary education environment, DRC staff and other University employees may communicate only with the student, who is an adult. Parents may not contact the DRC or try to complete Accommodations processes on behalf of a student, and the DRC is not able to work with parents who attempt to do so. It is the student’s right and responsibility to self-identify. If the student wants parents involved, the student may invite them to attend appointments.

Confidentiality also extends to faculty, who may not share information with parents.

Limits to Confidentiality

Exceptions to the protection of confidentiality include the following:

•  A court-ordered subpoena;
• The student expresses intent to harm self or others;
• Report of abuse of a child, an individual with a disability, or an elderly individual.

Legal Considerations

It is the policy of Nevada State University to comply with the fundamental principles of nondiscrimination and accommodation in academic programs as set forth in the primary laws that affect higher education and disability. These include Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) (as amended in 2008).

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act states, “No otherwise qualified person with a disability in the United States…shall, solely by reason of disability, be denied the benefits of, be excluded from participation in, or subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Section 504 defines a person with a disability as “Any person who:

1. 1. Has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities;
   2. Has a record of such an impairment;
   3. Is regarded as having such impairment.”

Neither Section 504, the ADA, nor the ADAAA requires colleges to lower academic standards or substantially alter the essential fundamental elements of courses or programs to accommodate students with disabilities. The requirement to provide reasonable Accommodations is designed to afford an equal opportunity for students with disabilities. Achieving reasonable Accommodations for a student with a disability involves shared responsibility among students, faculty, and staff.