When requesting an academic, housing or dining accommodation, it is required that students provide written documentation of a disability. Documentation is important in establishing students' need for accommodations and provides SAS staff with information on how their disabilities specifically impact them.
Documentation should be current (typically within one year). What we consider to be “current” will depend on what a student is documenting with us, and whether it is something that might be likely to change over time. We are happy to look at what the student has readily available and let them know if we need additional documentation after we reviewed the submissions. We will only ask for more documentation if we need it to determine appropriate accommodations to best support the student.
Doctor’s excuses on prescription pads and handwritten notes do not qualify as documentation. Information will be kept confidential and will be utilized only to determine eligibility for accommodation or services, and the type of accommodations or level of service required.
All documentation must be prepared by a qualified impartial professional (psychologist; neuropsychologist; psychiatrist; other relevantly trained medical doctors) with experience and expertise in the area for which accommodations are being requested. Documentation cannot be from a family member. Documentation must be written on officialetterhead, including the professional's name, license/certification/degree, area of specialization, employment, address, phone, signature and date.
All documentation should include recommendation(s) for accommodations and services to help the student maximize the potential of their educational experience.
Emerson College reserves the right to determine the adequacy of the documentation provided and the right to require additional or other information as determined necessary by Emerson College to complete its consideration of the request.
Documentation Criteria
Overall, documentation should:
- Be from a qualified, impartial medical care provider (therapist, doctor, psychiatrist, etc.) who has treated/evaluated you recently (e.g. letter within the past year or educational testing within five years) on official letterhead with their signature and credentials. Documentation cannot be from a family member.
- Provide a clear diagnostic statement of the disability/medical conditions (including DSM-V diagnosis, if applicable).
- Provide detailed information on the impact of the diagnosis in your daily life, including but not limited to functional limitations, current treatment strategies, specific recommendations for accommodations, along with rationale for said recommendations.
- Be written or translated into English.
Submitting Documentation
- To submit documentation to us, there are a number of ways. SAS has included a list below in order of preference.
- Upload via the SAS Student Portal. Documentation can be uploaded directly into the SAS portal which will go into the student’s file.
- Email the documentation to SAS’s main inbox SAS [at] emerson.edu and SAS will upload it into the Student Portal.
- Via email to the student’s SAS Case Manager.
- Fax.
- Mail.
Information regarding SAS’s mailing address, fax, and individual case manager emails can be found on the Contact Us page.