Disability and Title IX Accommodations

McBurney Disability Resource Center

The McBurney Disability Resource Center is UW-Madison’s resource for ensuring equal access to education for all students through academic and classroom accommodations. They work with students and instructors to provide and support disability-related student accommodations. They work with UW-Madison students with physical, learning, hearing, vision, psychological, health, and other disabilities that substantially affect a major life activity, like walking, communicating, learning, seeing, breathing, or reading. This includes students who also have non-apparent disabilities like depression, anxiety, autism, learning disabilities, AD/HD, and health conditions such as Crohn’s disease or fibromyalgia. Contact the McBurney Center for more information about the services they offer.

Requesting Accommodations

Technical Standards

To make satisfactory progress in the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program and perform the essential functions of a pharmacist after graduation, all students are required to meet the minimum technical standards established by the School of Pharmacy. Students must meet the SOP Technical Standards at all times during the pharmacy program to maintain satisfactory progress and be eligible for graduation.

Accommodation Request & Implementation Process

Conferral of a pharmacy degree (PharmD) certifies that the recipient has demonstrated all the requisite abilities and skills to become a practicing generalist pharmacist either with or without reasonable accommodation. All enrolled PharmD students are required to attest that they meet the SOP Technical Standards either with, or without, reasonable accommodations. The need for accommodations may develop at any point during the PharmD program.

Applying for Accommodations

Register for services through the McBurney Disability Resource Center  by selecting Apply for Accommodations, and then completing the McBurney Connect Student Application. Please identify yourself as a PharmD student on the McBurney Connect Student Application.

• The McBurney Center staff will contact you to schedule an intake appointment. Your assigned Access Consultant may need additional information to determine your eligibility for accommodations.
• If you are approved for accommodations, you will receive information about how to utilize your accommodations, including the process for informing your faculty.
• If you have questions or concerns about how accommodations are implemented at the School of Pharmacy, please schedule an appointment with the SOP Technical Standards Coordinator for a confidential discussion.

Student Responsibilities

In order to receive accommodations, it is the student’s responsibility to follow the SOP’s published procedures for submitting and requesting accommodations. These responsibilities include:

• Register with McBurney Disability Resource Center and complete the intake and eligibility process.Complete the SOP Accommodations Submission Form and provide the Technical Standards Coordinator with a copy of their Faculty Notification letter.
• Provide all course coordinators with their Faculty Notification Letter by the end of the third week of the semester, or as soon as possible after accommodations have been received.
• Discuss implementation of accommodations with the appropriate course coordinator prior to the start of IPPE or APPE activities.
• Contact the Assistant Dean for Experiential Education in spring of the DPH-2 year to discuss anticipated APPE accommodation needs. Failure to provide advanced notice of anticipated APPE accommodation needs could result in an inability to provide accommodations or a delay in  graduation.
• Participate in an interactive process with appropriate staff and faculty. The effectiveness of accommodations requires a proactive effort from the student to plan, manage, monitor, and communicate accommodation needs.

Additional Information About Accommodations

• Students are not required to disclose their disability as part of the admission process.
• Accommodations are not retroactive.
• Accommodations will not alter or waive an essential part of any course, program, or degree.
• Receiving reasonable accommodations is not a guarantee of academic success. Accommodations are in place for the purpose of providing equal access and opportunity to meet the SOP Technical Standards.
• The Office of Compliance’s student ADA page outlines the process for students to formally appeal a denial of accommodation decision. Students are encouraged to contact their Access Consultant or the SOP Technical Standards Coordinator to address any initial accommodation concerns. More information on the full process can be found through the Office of Compliance site.

The SOP Technical Standards Access to Accommodations Committee (TSAAC) and Student Confidentiality

• TSAAC meets throughout the year to review complex accommodations recommended by the McBurney Center and discuss challenges with  implementation in classroom, clinical, laboratory and testing environments within the context of SOP Technical Standards.
• Diagnoses and educational records are not provided to TSAAC; it is TSAAC’s primary role to determine how accommodations will be implemented within various pharmacy school settings in order to provide students with equal access to a pharmacy education and the evaluative process.
• Students requesting temporary accommodations between scheduled TSAAC meetings will be reviewed by the Technical Standards Coordinator and the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.