Accommodating Pregnant and Parenting Students Policy

Policy

In compliance with the Department of Education’s (DOE) regulation implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University (Downstate) “shall not discriminate against any student, or exclude any student from its education program or activity, including any class or extracurricular activity, on the basis of such student’s pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom.”

SUNY Downstate will engage pregnant students in need of medically necessary reasonable accommodation in an interactive process to develop and implement a plan that: allows the student to continue in (or resume) their academic program and is not an undue burden on the University or a fundamental alteration to the curriculum. This interactive process will involve two or more of the following: the student, the student’s medical provider(s), applicable faculty or academic departments, the Office of Accessibility Resources & Services, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI).

After the interactive process is complete, appropriate and individualized accommodations may be provided including but not limited to:

• Access to on-campus lactation rooms;
• Flexible clinical scheduling where possible
• Frequent/reasonable breaks during class time to attend to health needs associated with pregnancy or related conditions, (food, hydration, restroom), or to express breast milk
• Allowing a student to sit or stand, or carry or keep water nearby, and

Provision of any particular accommodation is intended to facilitate continued participation in academic and other activities and is not solely governed by an academic department or program or individual faculty member’s class rules or policies, but by the nature of the work or program.

When medical leave is necessary, pregnant students will be granted leave for so long a period of time as is deemed medically necessary by the student’s medical provider. To the extent practicable and pedagogically possible, students returning from medically necessary pregnancy leave will be placed in the same position of academic progress that they were in when they took leave.

In situations where the inherent structure of the program, activity or task do not allow for extended absence, such as clinical rotations, large performances, and certain lab or group work, Downstate will work with the student to, whenever practicable, devise an alternative path to completion.

Applicability

This policy applies to SUNY Downstate students

Definitions

• Accommodations: Changes in the environment or typical operations of the university that enable pregnant students, students with pregnancy-related conditions including, but not limited to, temporary disabilities caused by pregnancy, to continue to pursue their education.
• Pregnancy or Pregnancy-Related Condition: Conditions include pregnancy, childbirth, pseudo-pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, conditions that arise in connection with pregnancy, and recovery from any of these conditions.
• Pregnant Student: Refers to the student who is or was pregnant. This policy and its pregnancy-related protections apply to all pregnant persons, regardless of gender identity or expression.

Contact

Additional information about this policy is available here:

Nick Cromie
Director of Accessibility Resources & Services
Basic Science Building 1-111C Brooklyn, NY 11203
Phone: 718.270.1156
Email: Nicholas.Cromie@downstate.edu

Bolaji Olasokan, Esq.
Title VI and IX Director/Chief Diversity Officer
Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Basic Science Building 5-95 Brooklyn, NY 11203
Phone: 718.270.1738
Email: AskODI@Downstate.edu

Procedures/Guidelines

• A pregnant or postpartum student may contact the Director of Accessibility Resources & Services, or the Title IX Director/Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) to request an accommodation from the onset and at any point during the student’s pregnancy and pregnancy-related Students are encouraged to contact the Director of Accessibility Resources & Services directly about their need for a pregnancy or pregnancy-related reasonable accommodation.
• Faculty members, teaching assistants and all other academic staff must document all requests for pregnancy-related accommodations and submit them to the Director of Accessibility Resources &
• If a pregnancy accommodation is denied on the basis of insufficient information, the student may submit additional medical documentation or information and request additional reviews from the Director of Accessibility Resources & Services.
• A student who believes that they have experienced discrimination due to their pregnancy and/or related condition should contact the Title IX Director/Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) via telephone (718-270-1738) or email, AskODI@Downstate.edu, to report the issue.

Relevant Standards, Codes, Rules, Regulations, Statutes and References

• U.S. Department of Education. (2013, June). Supporting the academic success of pregnant and parenting students under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Office for Civil Rights. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/pregnancy.pdf
• U.S. Government Publishing Office. (2024). Nondiscrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance, 34 C.F.R. §106.40(b). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/part-106/section-106.40

Effective August 21, 2026