Students are welcome to have parents or guardians accompany them to the initial introduction meeting. Parents or guardians may not request accommodations and/or services on behalf of their student. The student must request services and accommodations. (Brown Mackie College, and Texas Southern University No. 06-02-2078 OCR 12/06/2002). Furthermore, the Office for Civil Rights has ruled that students must initiate the process, be active participants in the accommodation process and have direct interaction/contact with Student Success. If a parent initiates a request for accommodations, Student Success will redirect all communication directly to the student.
Written consent provided by students under FERPA entitles parents and guardians to information regarding their student’s educational program; however, such consent does not entitle parents and guardians to participate in the accommodations process. The basis for this policy is the existing FERPA (Family and Education Rights Privacy Act) regulations and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) decisions involving colleges and universities across the country.