Dear graduate students,

As we plan for the spring semester, Vanderbilt continues to take every appropriate precaution to protect you and our entire community.  Critically important to this is providing a streamlined process for graduate students to request personal health-based accommodations or remote-only study exceptions for Spring 2021.  Refer to the attached policy for complete details on the two pathways by which you may request accommodations or modifications, and relevant contact information.

Students with personal health-related conditions that might impact their ability to safely return to in-person classes and campus activities should visit the Student Access Services (SAS) website and use the Commodore Access Portal to submit a request.  Students residing with a household member with an underlying health condition who need to request an accommodation or modification should also follow this process through SAS.  Students who currently have existing, approved accommodations or modifications will need to reapply for the spring semester.

Students seeking a plan for remote-only study exceptions due to other personal circumstances or travel restrictions should contact the associate dean for graduate education in their school or college to make a request.  The associate dean will consult with the student’s mentor/thesis advisor, director of graduate students and SAS, if required, to evaluate the exception request.

Approval of an accommodation or remote-only exception will require that the student agree to be off campus for the entirety of the remote-only study period. With the exception of attending appointments at the Student Health Center, the student will not have access to on-campus facilities or spaces at any time; however, all virtual student support resources for which the student is eligible will be fully available (career services, Student Care Network, library, etc.).

Whether submitting a request through SAS or the respective associate dean for graduate education, the deadline for requesting accommodations is Wednesday, December 2.

YES will offer an option to select remote-only status when registering for the spring semester.  Checking this option will not automatically classify students as remote-only.  Students must also have an approved accommodation or remote-only exception to select remote-only status.

Contact Student Access Services at studentaccess@vanderbilt.edu for questions about health-related accommodations, and reach out to the director of graduate studies to discuss questions about exceptions related to personal circumstances or travel restrictions.

Please note that this accommodations and remote-only study exceptions policy is subject to change. We will forward any updates on this policy to you, and will supplement the Return to Campus FAQs for graduate and professional students with this information.

We understand the challenges that returning to campus may have on graduate students, and want you to know every effort will be made to offer reasonable options to enable students to attain their educational goals.

Best,
Bunmi

Bunmi Olatunji
Interim Dean of the Graduate School

POLICY: Spring_2021_Accommodations_Request_Process

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