Governmental mandates including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) all support this policy in their encouragement of the protection of privacy.

All written materials obtained by the Disability Center are used to verify the disability and plan for appropriate accommodations. Copies of these documents are stored in the student’s electronic file. The Disability Center will destroy originals 5 years after a student’s last date of enrollment, per the university’s record retention policy.

Students are advised to keep copies of any documentation provided to the Disability Center for their own records or obtain copies of documentation from the original sources.

Disability-related information may be released on a legitimate need-to-know basis within the university community only when there is a compelling reason for disclosure regarding some specific aspect of the confidential information, such as providing an appropriate accommodation. This determination is made by the director of the Disability Center.