Reasonable Accommodation Policy

Herbert Fletcher University (HFU) is a university under the online modality, it does not discriminate based on race, gender, disability, social status, political or religious ideas, recognizes and meets its obligations under the Americans with Disabilities ACt of 1990 (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and similar state laws.  The institution is committed to provide reasonable accommodation to the students with special needs in the academic programs of the University, in both activities, academic and extracurricular. The policies and procedures for the coordination of services for people with special needs, are the way in which the law is fulfilled.

The student with special need should:

1. Complete and submit the application to the Student Services Office. The students can download the application in this page:

    Reasonable Accommodation Form

    Please send the full documento to studentserv@hfu.edu together with the necessary documents justifying the need for a reasonable accommodation with the recommendations of a licensed professional such as a physician, psychologist, psychiatrist or other relevant.

2. Request reasonable accommodation each section and report to eh Student Services Office the names of the professors of the courses you will be taking.
3. The documentation should be as recent as possible (within the past year) and contain the following information:
   • The diagnosis that substantiate the special needs for reasonable accommodation, learning limitations in the online modality.
   • Recommendations for the academic adjustment that would allow compensate the limitations regarding the educational program.
4. The student will write an authorization to  HFU to disclose the necessary information of the impediment to proceed with the process  of the reasonable accommodation.

Note: The request for reasonable accommodation will not be attended until the required documents are delivered and verified by the Student Services office.

5. Once the process of review of the reasonable accommodation application has being completed and approved by the Student Service Office, it will be sent to the student a copy of the  “Notification of Reasonable Accommodation”.

6. If the applicant does not agree with the reasonable accommodation, you can appeal to the Student Services Office, following the “Procedure to attend Grievances and Complaints” mentioned on the Institutional Catalog.

Most Common reasonable accommodations

Understanding that the online courses of HFU were created to be accessible to the universal public with original design,  and a few barriers can be presented that requires adjustments for students with disabilities. The online modality provides an accessible environment that otherwise would require adjustment. By what is mentioned before   we understand that the most common reasonable accommodation in our online courses are “additional time”.

Additional time: The modular format of our courses provides the flexibility for the majority of students with disabilities to schedule courses and meet deadlines. There are moments where additional time it’s needed to fulfill the assignments because of the limitations. In this cases, the students are permitted to have more time to complete the assignments.  There is a limit to the amount of additional time established by the professor of the course, the limit is based on the essential components of the academic programs of HFU.

Rights and Duties of the HFU Faculty

The faculty members have the right to challenge a reasonable accommodation application if they have the sustainable reasons why a students does not quality for the benefit.

1. The final decision will be determined by the Director of Student Services and Academic Counselor.
2. Every member of the faculty should adjust the  academic program for those students that qualifies for the benefit of reasonable accommodation, to meet the demands of the ADA law.