In line with our Mission, Vision, and Values, Student Accessibility Services (SAS) engages in an interactive process with students to determine reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities attending the Yale Divinity School (YDS).
The step-by-step process for requesting accommodations is found below. When you discuss accommodations with SAS, we encourage you to think about all aspects of your life at YDS that may need accommodation, including any planned involvement in worship, internships, community events, and dining, along with housing, transportation, and academics. The YDS curricular and co-curricular experiences may differ from your undergraduate experiences.
SAS will engage with you to:
- Understand potential barriers to the curriculum or experiential portion of your program, due to your disability.
- Discuss potential accommodations to address the barriers, when indicated.
- Provide you with written notification regarding your accommodations request, and if accommodation(s) are being granted, an accommodation letter describing the accommodation(s). Unless otherwise stated in the accommodation letter, accommodations are valid for the duration of your program at YDS.
- Notify appropriate YDS designees that have coordinating responsibilities of any accommodations that fall in their area(s) of responsibility. For example, dining services would be notified of dining accommodations. The designee(s) will be informed only of the accommodations and will not have information related to your disability. Please note that you are responsible for sharing your accommodation letter directly with your faculty.
Requests for accommodations may be submitted at any time. However, accommodations do not apply retroactively. SAS encourages you to request accommodations upon accepting your offer to attend YDS.
You are welcome to contact SAS for general information about accessibility and accommodations without requesting accommodations. SAS can be reached at 203-432-2324 or sas@yale.edu.
Step-by-Step Process for Requesting Accommodations in Divinity School
Step 1. Make a formal request for accommodations
Complete and submit the SAS Accommodations Request form. Click the following button for more information and to start this process. As part of the interactive process, you will be asked to provide a self-report along with documentation from your health care provider(s).
Step 2. Provide documentation about your disability
SAS has Documentation Guidelines to assist you with requesting the necessary documentation from your health care provider(s). Students who (i) do not have documentation of their disability, or (ii) believe they have an undiagnosed disability and who believe that as a result of the undiagnosed disability, they are experiencing barriers to accessing academic or residential activities, should contact SAS to discuss their circumstances further.
Step 3. Determination of eligibility and accommodations
SAS engages in an interactive process with each student and takes into consideration your self-report provided on the Accommodations Request form, information provided during the initial meeting, disability documentation from your health care provider, and the requirements of your program to determine eligibility and reasonable accommodations. It is essential that you be an active participant throughout the process.
More Information
Students requesting residential accommodations must submit an SAS Accommodations Request form with documentation from your health care provider. The documentation may be submission of the SAS Housing form or a letter requesting a housing accommodation. Additionally, you must complete the graduate housing application to apply for on-campus housing by the housing application deadline. Graduate housing is not guaranteed for any graduate or professional student. Please see the SAS Housing webpage for more information about requesting residential accommodations. Please see the Housing Office website for information about graduate student housing and the housing application process.
Students must have approved SAS testing accommodations to receive exam accommodations. For YDS courses, students should communicate directly with faculty for accommodations by sharing their SAS accommodation letter. Students taking courses outside of the Divinity School, including students taking non-YDS courses that are required as part of a Divinity School curriculum, should contact SAS to coordinate testing accommodations in those courses.
Graduate and professional students have access to writing resources through the Graduate Writing Laboratory in the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. The Poorvu Center provides support to all students.