COCC’s Office for Students with Disabilities recognizes students’ rights to privacy and confidentiality. It is normally the policy of the SSD office not to share information concerning disabilities with other parties.
Identifying oneself as having a disability and requesting accommodations are entirely voluntary actions under the law. Any information shared with the SSD office concerning a disability, in addition to being confidential, is strictly voluntary. Students with disabling characteristics may attend COCC without being identified as a "student with a disability" if that is their wish.
After classes begin, an instructor who believes that a student might benefit from contacting the SSD office might encourage that student to do so. Students who do not choose to identify themselves to them, however, will not be pressured and will receive no further attention in terms of special services regarding disabilities.
In regard to records documenting disability, the office will comply with FERPA and other applicable laws. We will not forward copies of records documenting disability to anyone without the express written consent of the student. We encourage persons submitting copies of records documenting disability to keep a personal copy of these records in case they decide in the future to share it with another agency/school.
If an individual wishes the SSD office to confer with or to provide information to persons who are not members of COCC’s staff, he or she must provide them with permission to do so.
Information regarding a student’s disability MAY be shared by the SSD office with COCC faculty and staff under the following conditions: a) in the vast majority of cases, only persons providing accommodations to the student (e.g. faculty) will be informed that the student qualifies for service based on disability but will not be told the nature of the disability; b) only in exceptional cases where SSD staff determines that an individual has a justifiable "need to know" such as when safety or legal concerns exist will further information be shared.
To view our Confidentiality Agreement form, please go to Appendix D.
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