Gonzaga University students who require access or accommodation due to a disability must contact the Disability Access Office, and must complete the process for acquiring accommodations . Both permanent and temporary conditions can qualify for accommodation. A disability, under the American's with Disabilities Act (as amended), is defined as any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity of an individual.
If you are unsure if you have a medical condition that qualifies for disability accommodations, please call (509) 313-4134 or come into the Disability Access office (Foley Library 208) and talk to a staff member, do not delay meeting with a Disability Access representative out of concern for not having appropriate paperwork.
Note: If you are requesting accommodations involving campus living - such as housing (including emotional support animals) or around meal plans - please see our Residence Life and Dinning page for more important details!
At any time, you may request an inquiry appointment (see below).
How to begin the process:
Please fill out our Online Student Application - if you have any difficulties with this, do not hesitate to contact us (note: if you do not yet have a GU ID, enter 00000000 in the ID field or contact our office if this doesn't work). You will be given an opportunity to upload your medical documentation (see below) while filling out this form. If you are not ready to upload your documentation, you will receive a confirmation email after filling out the form, which contains a link to upload the documentation at a later date.
You may download our "good" documentation guidelines for specific conditions here:
General Guidelines
ADD and ADHD
Health and Sensory
Learning
Mental Health
ESA Addendum to documentation guidelines
Your medical documentation should, at a minimum, fulfill the following criteria:
- Be provided by a medical practitioner who is licensed to diagnose the condition (the practitioner's contact details and credentials should be included).
- Identifies a medical condition(s) (i.e. gives a diagnosis), and describes diagnostic methodology used (how the diagnosis was derived). (Note for medical providers: please be as thorough as possible in this step.)
- Describe presenting symptoms in detail.
- Describe functional limitations caused by the condition (i.e. how the symptoms impact daily life).
- Describe expected progression or stability of the diagnosed medical condition(s).
- Should be legible - poor quality fax/scans, cell phone photos of the pages, illegible handwriting etc. can make it difficult or impossible for us to read.
Any additional information from the medical practitioner that will help us best serve the student's accommodation needs will be considered. However, the University is the final determinant of appropriate accommodations in our environment.
You can upload your documentation as described above, or you (or your provider) may mail it, email it to disability@gonzaga.edu, or fax it to (509) 313-5523.
What happens next:
Once appropriate medical documentation has been received the review process begins. You will be notified that a document has been received each time you submit one. Every effort is made to expedite the process, but it can take up to 15 business days to review your documentation. Only once the documentation has been completely reviewed will you be contacted to schedule an intake appointment.
At any time you, or a staff member in the Disability Access office, may request a joint meeting called an inquiry appointment. The inquiry is where you can have any of your questions answered, discuss potential accommodations, and the Disability Access staff may help you understand the process and documentation guidelines. Interim resources or support ideas may be discussed at this meeting (e.g. how some other offices on campus may be helpful, or how some assistive technologies work on your personal computer) - this is not an accommodation plan.
During the intake appointment you will have a chance to give (or add to) your narrative about how your condition impacts you, delve deeper into what you feel like you need, and then work with the DA staff member to determine what accommodations are appropriate. Then you will be shown how determined accommodations typically work and what you need to do to use them. Upon completion of the intake appointment you will have a copy of your accommodation plan that outlines determined accommodations, and you will have access to a system to send your accommodation letter to your instructors. It is your responsibility to understand how your accommodations work (if it isn't clear, please ask!), to send letter to your instructors in a timely manner, and to discuss your accommodations with them.
If you encounter any problems using accommodations in the classroom contact Disability Access immediately (509) 313-4134. Issues concerning accommodation implementation require a conversation between Disability Access and the person(s) (faculty, staff, etc.) who control the environment (e.g. the classroom) - that burden is not on you - but you will be included in the conversation.
For Law Students
Your disability accommodation letter does not go to your instructors but rather to the Director of Student Success at the Law School who is responsible for providing students with instructions on activating accommodations in law classes. The system will automatically handle this for you when you send your letters. Please meet with the Director of Student Success to discuss specifics about how accommodations work at Gonzaga School of Law.