The Harvard School of Graduate Education is committed to creating an environment that values disability as a part of the diverse range of identities within our student body. The mission of Accessibility Services, within the Office of Student Affairs, is to provide students with equal educational opportunity and full partcipation in all programming at HGSE and within the wider Harvard Community. Our goal is to remove educational and co-curricular barriers to education so that students may fulfill their professional aspirations during their time at HGSE. We also provide educational opportunities for the community to promote disability as a part of the diversity continuum. Accessibility Services engages students in an interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations. If you have questions, please contact hgsesupport@gse.harvard.edu.
All accommodations are individualized, flexible, and determined based on the nature of the disability and the academic environment.
Requesting Accommodations:
HGSE Accessibility Services utilizes an interactive review process to determine reasonable accommodations for each student. This includes factoring in the student’s request, the nature of the student’s disability, the supporting documentation from a licensed professional and the fundamental requirements of courses, programs of study, and the broader university.
Steps to Request Accommodations:
- Students should submit an Intake Form before their first meeting with Accessibility Services.
- Students should work to obtain documentation that states their diagnosis, functional limitations, and any recommendations for accommodations from a licensed provider. Accommodations are provided using an interactive process in conjunction with appropriate documentation from a licensed provider. The licensed provider should have professional expertise in the disability. Please read the documentation guidelines linked in this page.
- Students should set up an Access Meeting with the Assistant Director of Accessibility Services who will meet with them to discuss their educational experience and the impact of their disability in different environments. Accommodations are determined based on an interactive process between the student and the Accessibility Services Office.
- The Accessibility Services staff will create an accommodation leter for the student with approved accommodations. Any accommodations that are not listed in the accommodation leter should be referred to Accessibility Services to determine if the accommodation is reasonable.
- The student emails their professor their accommodation leter and sets up a meeting with their faculty and/or teaching team to discuss how their disability impacts their educational experience.
Timeline for Accommodations and Accommodations Letters:
The process for receiving accommodations is not a same day process. Therefore, the turnaround time from the time an intake form has been submited to when the accommodations leter is sent to the student may take up to 1-3 weeks. Therefore, students hoping to receive accommodations before the
start of the term should apply with this timeframe in mind. A student can register for accommodations at any point during their time at HSGE, but accommodations are not retroactive.