AccessAbility Services (AAS) collects documentation and other information pertaining to your academic functional limitations, your history, and/or your personal circumstances for the following purposes:
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To verify the need for disability-related accommodations for academic work at the post-secondary level (e.g., classrooms, laboratories, research settings, practicum/placements); and
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To develop and implement effective disability-related accommodations and supports.
AAS respects your privacy and keeps your sensitive health information confidential. With your expressed consent, academic accommodation information may be shared with university staff, but only on a need-to-know basis for them to perform their duties to facilitate academic or other disability-related accommodations on campus. AAS will never share your medical and/or personal health information with your academic unit.
Examples:
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When you activate your accommodation plan, your testing accommodations will be shared with AccessAbility Services Exam Centre staff to ensure that your accommodation(s) are applied to in-person exams.
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AccessAbility Services’ Accommodation Consultants may speak to your instructor, the Registrar's Office, or a campus partner (e.g. academic unit, Writing and Communication Centre) to arrange accommodations and supports. We will not release your medical and/or personal health information.
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When a student encounters difficulties that require attention from other University units, such as the Specialized Care Office and Counselling Services, AAS will only share information with those units that is necessary in order to facilitate accommodations.
To protect your information, all University staff receiving information follow legislation and University policy including Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) R.S.O. 1990, c. F. 31 as amended, Policy 46: Information Management, and other legislative requirements.
Personal Health Information (PHI) is stored by the University in a secure manner using a cloud solution with a highly secure environment that offers extensive protection. The University of Waterloo's cloud storage solution employs robust authentication and authorization controls including two factor authentication (2FA) and policy controls which restrict access based on user roles and permissions assigned. The cloud storage solution has a comprehensive vulnerability management program and regularly releases security patches and updates to improve overall system security. AccessAbility Services also utilizes a web-based accommodation, appointment, and case management system, Accessible Information Management (AIM), that treats all information as Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and encrypts it both during transit and when stored at rest.
We maintain student records for 10 years after your last interaction with AAS. After the retention period, all hard-copy, and electronic files of your AAS student record are securely destroyed.
FIPPA NOTICE: The University of Waterloo respects your privacy. Personal information is collected for the purpose(s) of program administration. At all times it will be protected in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions about how your information will be used, please contact Geoffrey Shifflett, PhD, Interim Director, AccessAbility Services by phone: 519-888-4567 ext. 45660 or email: geoffrey.shifflett@uwaterloo.ca.
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