1. 100 International Drive, Suite 340
Accommodating Students with Disabilities Faculty Responsibilities and Recommendations
Goucher College
January 23, 2018
Jeanne M. Kincaid, Esq.
Drummond Woodsum
100 International Drive, Suite 340
Portsmouth, NH 03801
603/

2. Goucher College’s Vision Statement
Become the model for accessible transformational education that integrates curricular and co-curricular learning to deliver graduates who can solve complex problems together with people who are not like themselves.
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3. Goucher College’s Commitment
Goucher College has endorsed a Community Principle of Inclusion
Stating that the College will acknowledge and embrace the unique gifts and differences of our community members.
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4. Civil Rights Laws – Higher Education
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973)
Recipients of federal financial assistance
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990)
Title III: places of public accommodation
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5. Contrast: Elementary/Secondary
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
But with a different set of standards
Key differences:
K-12: Remediation, including services
Higher education: Reasonable modification of policies, practices and procedures - to enable equal access
Including provision of auxiliary aids and services (e.g., interpreter for a student who is deaf)
Services of a personal nature are not considered to be a reasonable modification
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6. Service Animals
On the first day of your class, Stuart arrives with a dog, Chelsea, by his side. Chelsea is on a leash.
How would you handle this situation?
What if Stuart were accompanied by a cat named Wanda?
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7. ADA/504 Obligations
Not to unlawfully discriminate on the basis of disability
Provide reasonable accommodations (academic adjustments and auxiliary aids & services) to students to enable equal opportunity
To all College programs, activities and services
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8. Programs, Activities & Services
In general, if the campus offers a benefit, it must be made equally available to individuals with disabilities
Dining
Housing
Transportation
Library services
Health/counseling services
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9. Who Qualifies For Accommodation?
Students with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity
Do you know how that is determined at the College?
I venture to guess that the vast majority of students with disabilities have hidden disorders
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10. Accommodation Process
Liza approaches you after a few classes and quietly asks you if you would be willing to give her more time on her tests and forgive her lateness on assignments as she suffers with anxiety. You inform her about Accessibility Services but she tells you she does not want to share her personal documentation with anyone.
What should you do?
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11. Understanding the Process
It generally begins with the student
Although as faculty, you may be instrumental in helping the student reach out for campus supports
The student typically interacts with the Office of Accessibility Services
Which interchanges with faculty and other campus stakeholders in an “interactive process”
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12. Key Stakeholders Student Office of Accessibility Services Faculty
And parents – but keeping in mind students are now adults
Office of Accessibility Services
Faculty
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13. Other Stakeholders IT Library Residential and student life
Dining services
Public safety
Learning centers
Advisors
Center Directors and Program Chairs
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14. Timing
Isaac approaches you with an accommodation request halfway through the semester.
What is your response?
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15. Who Is Qualified?
Students must meet the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in the institution’s program
Qualified is a moving target - student must maintain status
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16. What are Technical Standards?
All essential non-academic standards
Here – courts will defer to reasoned academic decision-making
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17. Let’s Apply It
Can you identify any technical standards associated with your courses, department or major?
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18. Test Accommodations
Constance is registered with the Office of Accessibility Services and has taken her class-based tests in a separate testing room and been afforded extra time to complete these assessments
Constance is enrolled in an internship and states that she needs the same accommodations. How would should your Department address the student’s request?
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19. Attendance
You are a Professor in the Center for Dance, Music & Theatre. Your specialty is music. Jocelyn is registered with the Office of Accessibility Services. She has shared with you that she suffers from depression and often cannot get out of bed. She asks that you forgive her for missing class. How should you respond to the student’s mental health condition manifestations?
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20. Institutional ADA Obligations
To become aware of the nature of the disability
Explore accommodation alternatives
Exercise professional judgment in deciding whether modifications would give student the opportunity to complete the program without fundamentally or substantially modifying institutional standards
Wong v. Regents of College of California
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