UTSA accommodation decision review and grievance deadlines

Start with the decision and the assigned counselor

Under HOP 9.02, a student disputing an SDS accommodation decision must first discuss it with the assigned counselor within ten business days after the documented decision date.

Keep the original message, including its date and the accommodation it addresses. Prepare a short explanation of the specific point you want reviewed. Contact the counselor promptly and ask how to arrange the discussion within the required period. Record when that conversation happens, because the following steps use a different starting date.

Sources: UTSA Handbook of Operating Procedures 9.02 — Persons with Disabilities

Decide whether to submit additional information for re-review

The policy offers optional SDS re-review with additional information or documentation submitted within ten business days after the counselor meeting. SDS then communicates its decision in writing.

Ask which unresolved issue the additional material would help address. If professional documentation is relevant, give the treating office the actual question and ask what it can appropriately supply. Label the new item and explain how it relates to the point under review. Keep the receipt and subsequent decision together; do not assume a document request to another office extends the university’s deadline.

Sources: UTSA Handbook of Operating Procedures 9.02 — Persons with Disabilities

Use the correct starting date for a written grievance

If you skip re-review, the written grievance is due within ten business days of the counselor meeting; after re-review, within ten business days of learning its decision. Submit to the Provost or designee with your name, address and factual basis.

Ask for the current submission destination and identify which event starts your deadline. Build a concise timeline showing the request, decision, discussion and any re-review. Explain the disputed point and connect relevant correspondence to it. Keep your own copy of the complete submission and ask how to confirm receipt. A general inquiry about the route should not become your only record of filing.

Sources: UTSA Handbook of Operating Procedures 9.02 — Persons with Disabilities

Identify a service or implementation concern separately

SDS’s grievance page directs service or accommodation-delivery concerns to the assigned counselor or director for attempted resolution. It routes disability-discrimination concerns to Equal Opportunity Services.

For an approved arrangement that is not being carried out, HOP directs students to discuss the problem with SDS immediately. Describe the affected course, date and instruction you received, and ask which follow-up applies. If your concern includes discrimination, ask the designated office how to report it. Keep each office’s response with the issue it addresses rather than assuming one conversation covers every part of the problem.

Sources: UT San Antonio Student Disability Services — Grievance Procedures; UTSA Handbook of Operating Procedures 9.02 — Persons with Disabilities

Resolve timing problems and retain the written outcome

HOP 9.02 treats a missed next-step deadline as abandonment unless an extension is agreed with the ADA Coordinator or Provost/designee. The Provost’s decision is final under this process.

If a deadline is becoming difficult to meet, contact the responsible office before relying on extra time. Ask it to confirm any agreed extension and what remains due. Save the eventual written outcome, then ask how an approved change will reach the people implementing it. Keep ongoing care and any new accommodation question on their own task lists.

Sources: UTSA Handbook of Operating Procedures 9.02 — Persons with Disabilities

Common questions