Website: http://dss.cua.edu/

PURPOSE: The office of Disability Support Services (DSS) at the Catholic University of America assists all students who have documented disabilities with appropriate accommodations. DSS provides programs and services designed to support and encourage integration of students with disabilities into the mainstream of the university community. The School of Arts & Sciences cooperates fully with DSS.

PROCEDURE: In order to register with Disability Support Services, students requesting accommodations are required to verify eligibility under the ADA of 1990 and Section 504 or the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Appropriate documentation of the disability must be provided so that DSS can: 1) determine the student's eligibility for accommodation; and 2) if the student is eligible, determine appropriate academic accommodations.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT: Once enrolled at the university, a student with a learning disability or other disability that impairs the ability to acquire a foreign language may apply to substitute courses for the language requirement. The decision to grant a substitution is based on the individual's learning history, documentation of a disability that impairs foreign language acquisition, and future educational goals. Eligibility is ultimately determined by the Dean's office of the School of Arts & Sciences. The application process is started in the DSS office. If the foreign language substitution is granted, two alternate courses in areas designated by the School of Arts & Sciences may be substituted for the required intermediate foreign language courses.

CAUTIONS: It is the responsibility of the individual student to communicate his or her needs to professors, advisers, deans, etc., as necessary.

Accommodations are not given retroactively. In particular, grades are not changed or removed based on disability declarations or documentation provided after a course, or part of a course, is past.

FURTHER INFORMATION: Disability Support Services, 127 Pryzbyla Center, cua-disabilityservices@cua.edu. 

Reviewed August 9, 2021