Requesting Records | Student Disability Services

SDS will maintain your records for five years after you leave the university. This is in accordance with Cornell's record retention policy for academic records. We cannot provide any documentation or verification once we no longer have your records.

Requesting Records or Verification of Accommodations

In accordance with Cornell policy, Student Disability Services only maintains records for five years after you leave the university. We are happy to send you a letter verifying the accommodations you used while here, or copies of your disability documentation, if requested in that time frame. We recommend that all students request a copy of their records or a proof of verification letter if they may need it at a future date.

To request:

From your Cornell email address, you can email the general SDS email account letting us know what is needed.
You can complete our Release of Records Form (pdf) and mail to us

We will follow up with you to discuss your request. Records can be sent digitally by Secure File Transfer, by fax, or by mail.

Graduate School Standardized Exams

If you received academic accommodations while at Cornell as an undergraduate, you may be eligible to receive accommodations on examinations that are required by various advanced degree programs. Documentation requirements for these programs can be strict.

Please check the website for the exam you expect to take. Examples:

Student Disability Services (SDS) can provide you with a letter to the testing agency that confirms your status as being registered with SDS, the accommodations that you were granted, and the period covered during which you used your accommodation. Contact us to request a letter.

Note about documentation and records:
For exam applications that include forms to be completed by Student Disability Services, Cornell SDS personnel will complete the form requesting accommodations only if our files contain the documentation required by the testing agency.

Many testing organizations require current documentation. If you need new documentation, plan accordingly. Psychoeducational testing could take six weeks or more to obtain.

If you're not sure if your documentation meets the requirements of the testing organization for the exam you want to take, please reach out to us.