Interested in Accommodations?

• The main purpose of academic accommodations is to give students equal opportunity to access and benefit from all educational programs offered at the UWRF.  

• Types of academic accommodations: 

  • testing accommodations

  • note-taking accommodations

  • classroom accommodations. 

To see more specific accommodations, please view the application. Keep in mind that if a certain accommodation is not listed, please bring it up in your intake appointment as we can find innovative solutions to the barriers encountered. 

• Residence Life creates communities in which students live, study and build friendships. UWRF recognizes that students with disabilities may require a housing accommodation to fully participate in the residential component of the university experience.  

• The DRC actively works with Residence Life to provide reasonable housing accommodations within university-owned housing. 

• Applications are reviewed by the Residence Life Accommodations Committee. The process is the same for all inquiries. 

  • Once all steps are completed (application/documentation/intake meeting), it can take up to 30 days to determine eligibility. The committee will make every effort to provide reasonable accommodations in a timely fashion. If a request for accommodation is made fewer than sixty (60) days before the student intends to move into university housing, UWRF cannot guarantee that it will be able to meet the individual’s accommodation needs during the semester or term in which the request is received.  

• Types of housing accommodations: single room, elevator access, air conditioning, furniture alterations and emotional support animals (ESA). To see specific accommodations, please view the application. Keep in mind that if a certain accommodation is not listed, please bring it up in your intake appointment as we can find innovative solutions to the barriers encountered. 

• View accessibility information for all our residence halls.   

Dining on campus is an integral part of the student college experience. The DRC works collaboratively with Dining Services and the Campus Registered Dietician to provide reasonable accommodations to students during their campus dining experience. Completed meal accommodation requests are reviewed by the Meal Accommodations Committee.

• The DRC is for students who have a disability.

• If you want accommodations for academics or housing, you must fill out the DRC’s New Student Application through DRC Connect.   

• The new student application is for students who have never applied for accommodations before at UWRF. You must be accepted to UWRF in order to apply for accommodations.      

• Filling out the new student application is the first step in getting accommodations for college. At the time, it is fine to not have documentation. You're highly encouraged to fill out the new student application and get started with the accommodation process.   

• The application may take up to 48 hours (about two days) to process. After the DRC processes the application, you'll receive an email from your DRC adviser explaining how to set up an appointment for intake. At that time, you may be asked to provide documentation for the upcoming appointment. It is important to understand that we will take appointments whether or not you have documentation. An adviser may require documentation before the intake. This is because documentation is important when making decisions about accommodations.   

• When completing the DRC application, we encourage you to look at the application before you intend to fill it out as the application only allows the user to access it for about 10 minutes. With this in mind, we suggest that you type out your responses on a Word document and copy/paste your responses into the application. Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that it is okay if you miss something on your application because we will address it in your intake appointment    

• At the end of the application, after you have submitted the application, you'll be provided with a link to upload your documentation. At that time, you can upload your documentation to your application or wait to give us your documentation later. If you choose to wait, you can email your documentation to us or have your provider fax it to us.  

• You can still apply to meet with a DRC adviser even if you do not have documentation. We will work with you to find a way to reduce barriers.   

• For academic accommodations, we strongly encourage you to submit documentation prior to the intake meeting. Doing so streamlines the process. If you do not have documentation immediately available, you can meet with our professional staff to determine what options may be available to you.   

• For housing accommodations, documentation prior to an intake meeting is necessary.  

• When documenting a disability, you should use the parameters listed below as a general guideline. Refer to your specific disability for detailed requirements needed to support your disability through documentation.  

• Be recent and comprehensive.   

• Demonstrate a substantial more of life’s major activities.   

• Verify the nature and extent of the disability.   

• Support the need for the your requested accommodations.   

• Be provided by a licensed clinical professional familiar with the impairment/condition.   

• Be dated, signed and on letterhead. The documentation should include name, title and professional credentials of the evaluator.   

• The evaluator may not be anyone related to the student.   

• Documentation must be from an appropriate professional who has diagnosed the your disability or who has sufficient history with you to support a previous diagnosis.  

• If applicable, any testing in the documentation must be adult normed and should be from a recent evaluation.  

• While IEPs and 504 plans are helpful in establishing past accommodations, they are typically not sufficient documentation and more information may be required. If you have concerns regarding the availability of your documentation, please contact us.  

Acquired Brain Injury 

• It’s written by a licensed expert, identifies the author’s credentials, and indicates where the expert works, including postal address and phone number. It’s written with an obvious focus on the student’s specific circumstances. (Not written in a generic way like; “People with this issue often experience the following circumstances.”)  

• It indicates how the brain issue arose, the method used to assess the issue, and notes any important changes that have already occurred.  

• It lists the brain injury’s symptoms, indicating their magnitude, frequency, and duration.  

• It explains how much difficulty the injury causes in relation to things that must work well for a college education. These could be things like: paying attention; accurately perceiving things; effective reasoning; memory; use of language; motor skills; managing difficult emotions; independently solving problems or making plans; and, any impact on academic skills like reading, writing, knowing basic math facts, etc.. When appropriate it should include statistically relevant measurements of those difficulties with outward explanations for what the resulting numbers mean. When pertinent there’s also an explanation of any other health related issues that impact the brain injury. All the above information is stated in a way that someone who’s not an expert can understand it.  

• It provides an outward diagnosis that fits the circumstances using terminology that’s conventional to the author’s field of expertise. This aspect of the document should be written in such a way that it’s clear the expert HAS assigned the diagnosis to the student. (Not written like; “These difficulties tend to indicate there’s a concussion.”)  

• It outwardly explains how the brain injury will impact specific things college students need to do for favorable achievement. These are things like: attending class; writing lecture notes; completing reading and/or writing assignments; taking tests; making speeches and/or presentations. It could also be things like living in a residential hall on campus, or having a given number of credits per semester. It suggests how long the impacts may be expected to last.  

• There should be a recommendation regarding the kinds of academic accommodations the student will need for equal access and opportunity in a college setting. 

• It should be written by a licensed clinician (psychologist, neurologist, pediatrician, psychiatrist, or family physician).  

• It should identify the doctor’s agency, mailing address, and phone number.  

• Specific diagnosis as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V or DSM-IV) and date of onset. 

• It should describe a conventional method the doctor used to evaluate the student for ADHD. 

• There should be a concise historical summary about the student “as a youngster” that supports such a diagnosis.  

• There should be sufficient information about the student as an adult. For instance, there may not be enough information if all the information was written when the student was a child or young adolescent. 

• There should be descriptions of existing ADHD symptoms, their magnitude and frequency, to the extent that the diagnosis seems justified.  

• There should be an explanation regarding how the symptoms will substantially limit the student’s functioning in relation to important aspects of college (listening to lectures, writing notes, taking tests, completing assignments, etc.). 

• It should outwardly assign the diagnosis, preferably using the multi-axial format described in the DSM-V.  

• There should be recommendations about the kinds of appropriate and reasonable accommodations that will be needed for equal access and opportunity.

• Specific diagnosis as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V or DSM-IV) and date of onset. 

• Current functional limitations on major life activities resulting from the Autism spectrum disorder to include but not be limited to: communication or language skills, social interaction, restricted, repetitive and/or stereotyped patterns of behavior and activities, sensory functioning and sensitivity to environmental conditions, and motor planning. 

• Evidence to support the functional limitations. This statement may include aptitude testing, standardized tests of language skills, clinical and teacher observations, and standardized scales of symptoms related to autism.  

• Recommendations for accommodations related to function and their rationale should be stated and any other strategies or services that may benefit the individual in a higher education environment. 

• Signature, License/Certification, and contact information of diagnostician including mailing address, telephone number, and email address. 

• The author’s credentials are indicated and confirm an appropriate level of expertise for the issue. It is signed and dated by the clinician practitioners with a Master’s degree should obtain the dated co-signature of an appropriate doctor. 

• Specific diagnosis as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V or DSM-IV) and date of onset. 

• There’s sufficient information regarding the student as an adult.  

• Submit comprehensive evaluation (diagnostic interview, history, summary of treatment, medication, therapy, etc.). 

• There should be an adequate summary of the issue: a concise explanation regarding how the issue originated; any significant changes over time; a list and description of current symptoms, including their frequency, magnitude, and duration; an outward assignment of a specific diagnosis; description of any coexisting diagnosis that compounds the circumstances of the primary diagnosis; description regarding how the circumstances can be expected to change over time. A multi-axial assessment is encouraged using the format described in the most recent DSM.  

• There’s an explanation regarding how the diagnosed condition will substantially limit the student’s functioning in relation to important aspects of college. For academic accommodations it could be limits to: class attendance, listening to lectures, writing notes, completing reading assignments, taking tests, writing assignments, working on projects in a peer group; participating in class discussions, etc.. For accommodation to living in a residential hall it could be limitations related to sharing a relatively small living area with a roommate, many peers living nearby, use of communal bathrooms, etc. 

• There’s a recommendation for the kinds of reasonable accommodation that will be necessary to create equal access and opportunity in a college setting.  

• The agency where the author works is identified, including mailing address and phone number.  

• The author’s name, credentials for evaluating the vision issue, and a dated signature are included.  

• There’s a summary of how the vision issue development, any significant changes over time, and how it was already accommodated for educational purposes. 

• There are appropriate measurements of the student’s ability to see, and explanations regarding what the measurements mean (or a statement saying the student is legally blind, if that’s the case).  

• An appropriate vision related diagnoses is given.  

• If the student isn’t blind, there should be explanations regarding how the limited vision issue will probably impact important academic functioning (such as, taking tests, writing lecture notes, completing reading assignments, writing papers, etc.) and limit any other important aspects of college (such as living in a residential hall). 

• There are recommendations regarding the kinds of reasonable and appropriate accommodations that will be needed to create equal access and opportunity for college. 

• The expert’s name, phone number, name of the agency and postal address where the expert works, an indication of the expert’s credentials to confirm there’s sufficient expertise on the issue (some clinicians attach a vita for this purpose), and be signed and dated by the expert. 

• A historical summary of the issue, indicating how it arose and any significant developments over time.  

• A description of the clinical methods that were used to evaluate the issue.  

• A list of the student’s current symptoms, indicating their magnitudes, duration and frequency; outwardly assign a diagnosis; and, describe any other important circumstances that are needed to understand the issue, such as how it may be expected to change over time.  

• An explanation of how the issue will substantially limit the student in relation to an important aspect of college. For limitations related to learning the focus could be such things as: attending classes; taking notes during lectures; writing papers; performing reading assignments; giving speeches; taking tests, etc.. For limitations related to the physical aspects of a campus the explanation could focus on such things as: relatively small classroom desks; use of computers; traveling from one building to another; using stairways; living in a residential hall, etc. 

• There are recommendations regarding the kinds of reasonable and appropriate accommodations that will be needed to create equal access and opportunity for the student’s college education.  

• The document's author is outwardly identified by name, agency, phone number, postal address. 

• The author's credentials for evaluating the learning issues are indicated. For an evaluation conducted before a student graduated from high school the author may be a school staff with an appropriate Master's degree and professional license. For an evaluation conducted after high school graduation the author should have an appropriate Doctorate degree and professional license. 

• The following information about the student at an adult stage of life, during high school or after finishing it, should include: 

  • An explanation regarding why the student was evaluated; 

  • A summary of the student's academic history reviewing previous learning issues, earlier evaluations, and any special services that were received; 

  • A detailed summary of a thorough psycho-educational  evaluation with all the scores obtained with standardized tests that are appropriate are for the student's issue. They should include a test of academic skills such as the Woodcock Johnson-III Test of Achievement. (Please see the next page for an example of those scores.) And if there's an information or cognitive processing issue it should also include standardized tests that measure executive functions such as: processing speed; abilities to process auditory and visual information; attention; memory; and motor abilities. For all tests the range of significant scores and standardized deviations should be noted. All statistically significant scores should be outwardly identified and explained. 

  • A conventional diagnosis of the student's issue is outwardly assigned. 

  • There should be explanations regarding how the diagnosed condition can be expected to impact the student's learning and common academic tasks such as: completing reading assignments, completing writing assignments, writing lecture notes, taking tests, etc.. 

  • There should be recommendations  for the kinds of reasonable and appropriate academic accommodations that will be needed to create equal access and opportunity. 

• The expert’s name, phone number, name of the agency and postal address where the expert works, an indication of the expert’s credentials to confirm there’s sufficient expertise on the issue (some clinicians attach a vita for this purpose), and be signed and dated by the expert.  

• A historical summary of the issue, indicating how it arose and any significant developments over time.  

• A description of the clinical methods that were used to evaluate the issue.  

• A list of the student’s current symptoms, indicating their magnitudes, duration and frequency; outwardly assign a diagnosis; and, describe any other important circumstances that are needed to understand the issue, such as how it may be expected to change over time.  

• An explanation of how the issue will substantially limit the student in relation to an important aspect of college. For limitations related to learning the focus could be such things as: attending classes; taking notes during lectures; writing papers; performing reading assignments; giving speeches; taking tests, etc.. For limitations related to the physical aspects of a campus the explanation could focus on such things as: relatively small classroom desks; use of computers; traveling from one building to another; using stairways; living in a residential hall, etc. 

• A recommendation for the kinds of reasonable and appropriate accommodations that will be necessary to create equal access and opportunity for the student’s college education. 

• Documentation of a deaf or hard of hearing circumstance should be written by a licensed audiologist or equivalent specialist.  

• An indication of the author’s credentials to verify a sufficient level of expertise on hearing topics.  

• Historical summary about the student’s hard of hearing or deaf circumstances.  

• A copy of an audiogram and the summary from a relevant audiological evaluation. For circumstances involving progressive loss of hearing the summary should be no more than 3 years old. For circumstances that involve complete deafness the summary should be from when or after the deafness was first discovered. 

• An explanation of the functional limitations the circumstances create, indicating whether the degree of severity is mild, moderate, or substantial.  

• There should also be an explanation about how those things are expected to change over time.  

• There should be an identification of the aspects of college towards which the circumstances will create a negative impact. Examples could be the student’s ability to: live in a residential hall; participate in meetings with professors; hold a job on campus; perform common academic tasks (create le lecture notes, take tests, participate in class discussions, deliver speeches, etc.).  

• Recommendations for the kinds of accommodation that should occur to create equal access and opportunity. 

• Academic Accommodation Form
  • This form is for mental health diagnosis or for students with physical disabilities.
  • You may elect to have the appropriate clinician complete the form to get started. The form is meant to guide the documentation process for a provider (therapist or doctor) to effectively explain from their perspective how your disability affects you academically. It is also intended to identify helpful accommodations that could benefit you based on your individual needs.  
  • On this form, you will fill out the first page and their provider (therapist or doctor) the second.  
  • Other kinds of documentation that can be submitted for academic accommodations:    
    • Full IEP evaluation for learning disability.
    • Full psychological evaluation for mental health diagnosis and for learning disability.
    • A letter from an appropriate licensed provider that outlines the symptoms and severity of the mental health diagnosis or physical disability.

• You will fill out the student residence life form for all housing accommodation requirements.  
  • Student Request Form for Residence Life Accommodation
• If you are requesting a single room, elevator access, air conditioning, furniture alterations, etc., then your provider (therapist or doctor) will fill out the clinician form.  
  • General Clinician Form for Residence Life Accommodations
• If you are requesting an emotional support animal, then your provider (therapist or doctor) will fill out the ESA clinician form.  
  • Clinician Form for An ESA

Meal Accommodation Form

The information completed on this form will be reviewed to determine: 

• That the student has a documented disability.
• That the requested accommodation is necessary to afford the student an equal opportunity to use the on-campus housing and/or dining facilities and
• That there is an identifiable relationship between the disability and the requested accommodation.

If you request accommodations on a placement test under non-standard conditions due to a disability, do not register online. Instead, send a letter on high school letterhead from a teacher, counselor or principal describing the appropriate accommodations you need.  

With the letter, please include:  

• Your address and telephone number.  

• Which site you would like to test at.  

• Which UW campus you plan to enroll.  

Email this information to tnoconno@wisc.edu or mail to: Tim O'Connor, 1025 W. Johnson St., Madison, WI 53706   

• At UWRF, we believe that the ability to dine safely on campus with peers is a significant part of the college experience. Students who need dietary accommodation related to food allergies or other dietary related diagnoses should contact UWRF Dining at least two weeks prior to the start of a new semester by completing the Meal Accommodation Form. 

• The DRC does not provide these accommodations.  

The DRC can arrange a temporary disability parking permit for students who submit a disability parking application signed by a doctor. This parking permit is only valid on campus and expires after 30 days. The permit cannot be renewed through any UWRF office. Students who may need disability parking for over 30 days or park somewhere other than campus should try to acquire a permit directly from their state’s Department of Motor Vehicle office. See the state links below for the appropriate application found on the DMV's websites. Students should use the state where their vehicle is licensed.

• Wisconsin: Temporary Disabled Parking Identification Permit Information and Application  

• Minnesota: Minnesota Disability Parking Certificate  

• Iowa: Disability Parking Services 

• Illinois: Persons with Disabilities Certification for Parking Placard

• South Dakota: Disabled Parking Permits and Placards

• North Dakota: Application for Mobility-Impaired Parking Permit

For more information on disability parking at UWRF, please visit the parking office.