Responsibilities of Graduate Coordinators/Department Heads/ Graduate Supervisors/Instructors   

It is the responsibility of graduate coordinators, department/program heads, supervisors and instructors to be familiar with the legislation governing the accommodation of students with disabilities, in particular, the definition of ‘disability’ under the Human Rights Code, and that the Code’s definition of a disability encompasses a wide variety of physical, cognitive and mental conditions.

The University, under the Ontario Human Rights Code, is required to accommodate graduate students with disabilities to the point of undue hardship[1].

The Disability Services Office (DSO) in Health, Counselling and Disability Services  (DSO) is the key organization at Queen’s that support students with disabilities. Students must be registered with the DSO in order to receive formal academic accommodations on grounds of a documented disability.  It is important to inform students about the DSO at the first instance of an accommodation question. Consult the Instructor’s Handbook produced by the Disability Services Office for further information on accommodating students with disabilities at Queen’s.   Faculty are also encouraged to contact the DSO with any questions about supporting students with a disability or about any disability/accommodation matter related to graduate students.

When an accommodation is required, course instructors and supervisors and/or graduate coordinators and/or department/program heads, are obligated to actively engage the accommodation planning process by considering a range of possible approaches and suggesting reasonable solutions that meet the essential academic requirements of the program.  Faculty are required to respond to requests by graduate students for accommodations for reasons of a disability from a premise of good faith, to meet regularly with graduate students with disabilities to discuss accommodation needs and the student’s progress in meeting program requirements.

Graduate student supervisors and/or graduate coordinators and/or department/program heads are expected to know that all policies and procedures of graduate programs and of the School of Graduate Studies can be examined and adapted as part of an official accommodation plan.  In particular, students registered as part-time in a graduate degree program to accommodate a documented permanent disability may be eligible for internal scholarships and awards when the terms of the awards permit this flexibility.  The SGS will also extend the normal funding eligibility period for graduate students whose documented permanent disability impacts their academic progress such that more time to complete their degree is required; a request for such consideration should normally be made within the first term of study. An extension of the normal funding eligibility period provides students with the option of distributing the normal funding package over a longer period of time.  The allocation of funding support beyond the funding eligible period will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the School of Graduate Studies, based on the principle of individualized and particular accommodations.  If granted, the revised funding eligibility period will normally be limited to no more than one additional term (4 months) for Master’s students or one additional year (12 months) for doctoral students.