Accommodation Policies and Procedures

Academic accommodations are essential for reducing or eliminating barriers in the learning environment, ensuring that students with disabilities have equal access and opportunities to fully engage in all educational programs at William Paterson University. These accommodations provide equitable access to course instruction, materials and assessment by addressing barriers created by the interaction between a student's disability and the learning environment. While accommodations "level the playing field," they do not guarantee success or provide an unfair advantage. Instead, they must be reasonable and cannot alter the essential requirements of a course or program.

After a student generates their Letter of Accommodation for your course, you will receive their letter via email. This letter outlines the specific accommodations approved for the student. To help you manage accommodations efficiently, ARC provides an Instructor Portal where you can view and organize all accommodation requests for your courses.

Review each Course Accessibility Letter carefully to understand the accommodations being requested. If you are unsure about implementing a specific accommodation, you can find detailed guidance on this page or consult ARC for further assistance. Timely collaboration with the student and ARC is critical to ensuring accommodations are implemented effectively. For complex cases, consult directly with the student’s Accessibility Specialist.

Staff and Faculty Members will find the following information to help them navigate through the accommodation process the Accessibility Resource Center has to offer:

For any general assistance, please do not hesitate to contact our main email:arc@wpunj.edu

For alternative testing inquiries, please contact our testing email: arc-testing@wpunj.edu

  • Policies and Procedures

  • As defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended in 2008, a "person with a disability" is someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. A person is considered to be a person with a disability if s/he has the disability, has a record of the disability, or is regarded as having the disability. The University will make a "good faith" effort to provide reasonable accommodations to persons identified as having disabilities on a case by case basis.

  • Requesting Academic Accommodations

  • All students with disabilities are responsible for identifying themselves as a having a disability and must request services from the Accessibility Resource Center. 

    According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended in 2008.

    • A person with a disability is someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
    • A person is considered to have a disability if he/she has record of the disability or is regarded as having the disability.

    Accessibility Resource Center is responsible for determining reasonable and appropriate accommodations and facilitating the approved accommodations for students with disabilities on a case by case basis.

  • Faculty Rights

  • Faculty have the right to:

    • Establish the academic standards for their courses.
    • Consult with the Accessibility Resource Center (ARC) to determine what accommodations are reasonable for a given course. It is therefore the responsibility of an instructor to provide accommodations, as determined by the ARC-provided accommodations email, as long as they do not undermine the academic integrity of the course.
    • Evaluate the academic work of students with disabilities according to the same criteria of evaluation utilized for all other students in the class.

  • Faculty Responsibilities

  • Faculty Responsibilities:

    • Ensure course content, materials, and assessments are accessible.
    • Implement accommodations listed in the ARC-provided notification.
    • Maintain confidentiality regarding students’ disabilities.
    • Guide students with unverified disabilities to ARC for support.