Committee on Disabilities

Charge

The Statement on the Evaluation of Candidates for Admission, approved by the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions in September 2007, commits the University to “comprehensive and individual evaluations” of all candidates for undergraduate admission. These evaluations, in the words of the Statement, “aim to draw together students who will enrich each other’s education, strengthen the campus community, contribute to the betterment of society, and help the University achieve its broader mission.”

In keeping with this commitment, the Advisory Committee charges the Committee on Disabilities with advising the Office of Undergraduate Admissions on the admission of students who voluntarily disclose disabilities during the course of applying for admission.

Specifically, the Advisory Committee charges the committee with:

• Educating the Office of Undergraduate Admissions about disabilities and their likely impact upon students’ academic and extracurricular performance.
• Advising the Office of Undergraduate Admissions about individual candidates for admission who voluntarily disclose disabilities and provide appropriate documentation.
• Evaluating appeals of admissions decisions lodged by candidates who have disclosed disabilities and provided appropriate documentation.

Membership

The committee consists of at least three members, all of whom serve ex officio: the coordinator of the Academic Success Program for Students with LD/ADHD; the director of the Department of Accessibility Resources and Service (formerly Department of Disability Services); and the deputy director of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions or his or her designee. Other members may be appointed at the discretion of the chair of the Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Admissions.

Procedures

1. At the start of each admissions season, the committee will meet with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to discuss the range of challenges typically faced by students with disabilities and the accommodations currently available to students who matriculate at the University.

2. When a candidate for admission discloses a disability by providing documentation from a physician, psychologist, or school, and when the comprehensive and holistic evaluation offered to all candidates indicates that the student will not be admitted competitively to the University, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions may, in its discretion, ask the committee to assess the candidate. The purpose of this assessment will be to help the admissions committee gain a better understanding of the full context of the candidate’s academic and extracurricular performance, as well as the candidate’s likelihood of academic success at the University. In order to assess the candidate, the committee may require additional documentation, such as a statement from the candidate regarding the impact the diagnosed condition has had on his or her academic performance.

3. When a candidate discloses a disability by providing documentation appeals his or her admissions decision in accordance with the Trustee Policy on Appeals, the director of admissions will seek the assessment of the committee, at his or her discretion, before acting on the appeal. The director will use such an assessment to gain a better understanding of the full context of the applicant’s academic and extracurricular performance, as well as the applicant’s likelihood of academic success at the University.

4. Although the assessments of the committee are advisory only and not binding on the admissions committee or the admissions director, the committee and the director will consider such assessments carefully before acting on candidates’ applications or appeals.

Adopted February 2006
Revised January 2019

2022-23 Committee Roster

Name	Constituency
Kimberly Abels	Director, Writing Center and Learning Center
Simon Bloor	Director, Accessibility Resources and Services
Meredith Petschauer	Associate Dean for Undergraduate Curricula
Jennifer Youngstrom	Clinical Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience, College of Arts and Sciences