UNC EOC office provides accommodations relating to academics, campus, dining and more

Students have access to resources from the UNC Equal Opportunity and Compliance office throughout their time at the University. The office can provide accommodations, support, investigations and more.

What does the EOC office do?

Elizabeth Hall, the associate vice chancellor and Title IX coordinator at the EOC, said that the office deals with anything related to an individual's protected status, which includes age, disability, gender, nationality, race, religion, sexual orientation and more, according to the EOC website.

Hall said that the EOC can receive reports of discrimination and harassment related to protected status, as well as reports of sexual misconduct as a form of sex-or gender-based harassment. She said that a student or faculty member would share their experience with a coordinator if reporting something to the office.

"We receive those reports, provide resources and support related to that, and where appropriate, do investigations of alleged misconduct," Hall said.

The office also interacts with protected status by providing accommodations for disability, religion and pregnancy, Hall said, referencing the Accessibility Resources & Service section of the EOC.

Accommodations at UNC

Tiffany Bailey, the director of the EOC and the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator, said that accommodations cover students, employees, visitors and applicants. Bailey said that the legal authority to implement accommodations is given to institutions, then falling on the EOC, which determines appropriate and reasonable accommodations.

Legally, instructors are obligated to implement accommodations, Bailey said.

According to the EOC website, the office provides “reasonable accommodations” related to academics, on-campus living and dining as well as extracurricular and co-curricular activities. Accommodations can range from sign language interpreters to extended time on tests, but the services that ARS provides vary based on each student’s needs.

ARS merged into the EOC on Jan. 1. UNC Media Relations Manager Erin Spandorf said in an email to The Daily Tar Heel that the two offices merged because multiple services and expertise already overlapped, and that combining the offices creates more efficiency for assisting the UNC community.

Starting the accommodations process

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 define an individual with a disability as someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, who has a history or record of an impairment or who is regarded or perceived by others as having an impairment.

To start the process of receiving accommodations for a disability, students can connect with ARS by filling out the Accommodation Request Form, which can be found on the EOC website. The form prompts students to describe the basis of their request, their requested accommodations and to upload additional documentation around disabilities.

According to the EOC website, disability-related documentation must be from a relevant licensed provider and should include the diagnosis, a description of the methods used to produce the diagnosis and a description of the way the diagnosis impacts the student.

In order for the EOC to consider "reasonable accommodations" requests, students need to submit required documentation at least 14 days before the start of the course or exam that they need accommodations for, Bailey said in an email to The DTH.

Lydia Thomas, a recent UNC graduate, went through the process of securing accommodations in 2020. Thomas said that after a student fills out the Accommodation Request Form, a staff member at ARS would reach out to schedule a meeting, saying that she received an email three days after submitting the form.

At her meeting, Thomas said she talked with the staff member about her diagnosis. Within a week, the staff member reached out to confirm which accommodations the ARS office had approved for Thomas to use.

Using accommodations

After her initial meeting with ARS, Thomas said she never met with the office again. At the start of each semester, she used her account on the ARS Hub — a website that helps students communicate approved accommodations and schedule testing — to generate emails to her professors about her accommodations, adding a personalized message specific to each class. 

Thomas said that talking to professors about her accommodations did not require her to explain her diagnosis.

“Professors deal with this every semester, so you don’t have to [explain] unless you really want to,” Thomas said.

Bailey wrote in the email that if students have any questions about implementing their accommodations, they should email ARS at ars@unc.edu.

For students who are thinking about getting accommodations at UNC, Thomas said she recommends taking advantage of ARS’ services early.

“You are given this free gift, and you should run with it,” Thomas said.

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