|
St. Luke’s College is committed to full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by providing equal opportunity and reasonable accommodations to qualifying students with disabilities. Students, faculty, staff and administration all play a role in ensuring reasonable and appropriate accommodations are provided in a timely and effective manner. It is the policy of St. Luke’s College that no qualified student who demonstrates a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities be excluded from participation in, be denied benefit of, or be subject to discrimination in any program or activity offered by St. Luke’s College. The College endeavors to provide qualified students with disabilities equal access, not advantage, to the College’s educational opportunities, facilities, programs and activities in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of the individual.
St. Luke’s College will adhere to all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required by providing equal opportunity to qualified individuals with disabilities who have qualified for admission by meeting standard admission requirements.
Definitions:
Individual with a disability: Someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Physical impairments include, for example, specific learning disabilities, emotional or mental illness, blindness and visual impairments, deafness and hearing impairments, mobility impairments, and some chronic illness.
Major life activity: Functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working and learning. A person is considered to be an individual with a disability and protected by law if he/she has the disability, has a record of having the disability, or is regarded as having the disability.
Qualified student with a disability: An individual who, with reasonable medications or accommodations (if necessary) to rules, policies or practices, the removal of barriers, of the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs and activities.
Accommodations: A change in the status quo. A reasonable accommodation in the student setting is a medication or adjustment to a class or program that allow the person with a disability to participate as fully as possible in the programs and activities offered by St. Luke’s College. Disability Services
Accommodation Requests St. Luke’s College has designated the Dean of Student Services to handle all requests for accommodations due to a qualifying disability and to provide information about the existence and location of services, activities, and facilities that are accessible to and useable to person with disabilities. The Dean may be contacted at (712) 279-3377 or by going to 2800 Pierce St, Suite 410. Students should make accommodation requests to the Dean of Student Services rather than making them directly to faculty members who are teaching their classes. Faculty members shall not grant or deny accommodation requests by students and will refer such requests to the Dean of Student Services.
Responsibility of the Student:
Initiate the request process with the Dean of Student Services by completing the Request for Service and Accommodation Form. It is only through the student’s voluntary disclosure of disability and request for accommodation that the College can support the student’s disability needs.
Provide documentation of the disability if necessary and provide other relevant information (i.e. as to specific medication requested).
To deliver modification letters to course instructors, if relevant and necessary for the modification.
To notify the Dean of Student Services of any pertinent changes each semester.
To work cooperatively with the Dean of Student Services.
Disclosure of Disability and Request for Accommodation
Consideration for services or accommodations is initiated by a student’s disclosure of a qualified disability and request for services or accommodations.
St. Luke’s College encourages that disclosure of the disability and requests for services or accommodations be made as early as possible. It is best to disclose the disability prior to the start of the semester or very early in the semester to allow time to review the request and documentation and make the proper arrangements; however requests will be accepted at any time. Accommodation arrangements may be compromised or denied if a request is not made in a timely manner.
Students should disclose their disability and request services by contacting the Dean of Student Services. A meeting should be arranged to meet in person to determine the appropriateness of the request.
St. Luke’s College will respond to student’s request in a timely and reasonable manner, but no longer than sixty (60) business days from the time of the request, unless extenuating circumstances exist.
Faculty/professional staff may, in collaboration with the student, refer the student to the Dean of Student Services if they believe that a student has a disability that qualifies them for accommodations. The referral may be in the form of a student exploring personal learning concerns, staff member encouragement based upon student expressed concerns, or a faculty generated student contract from a specific course.
Documentation:
When making an accommodation request, the student may be required, at St. Luke’s College’s request, to provide documentation from qualified professionals (i.e. physicians, psychologist, psychiatrist, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner) that establish the nature and extent of the disability, that the student has a current need for accommodation, and the basis for the diagnosis and dates of testing. Any documentation submitted must be current. Whether or not documentation is current will depend on the nature of the disability. (See Documentation Guidelines for Students with Disabilities for further documentation requirements).
Documentation may serve to demonstrate a student’s need for accommodation in order to assure equal access. Documentation may also serve to demonstrate the existence of a disability, affording the promise of nondiscrimination under ADA and Section 504. The type of documentation will vary according to the disability. Examples include, but are not limited to: a psycho-educational or neuropsychological assessment for learning and other cognitive disabilities, a psychiatrist’s report for psychological disabilities, a letter from a doctor or other specialist for physical and most other disability creates a substantial limitation for a major life activity to establish eligibility protection under the law.
Confidentiality:
Documentation of a student’s disability is maintained in a confidential file in Student Services. This documentation is considered a ‘treatment record’ and not part of the student’s educational record.
Documentation that will be maintained, but not limited to:
- Written request
- Supporting documentation
- Records/notes of the interactive process and proposed accommodations
- Correspondence with professors explaining accommodations
- Correspondence with the student explaining what accommodations have and have not been granted
Confidential records are held and maintained by the Dean of Student Services on the behalf of St. Luke’s College All information related to a disability is confidential and may be disclosed only with the permission of the student or otherwise as permitted by the College’s records policy and state and federal laws.
Determining Accommodations:
Disability documentation is used to determine eligible for services and to establish a current need for accommodations.
Accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis taking into account the learning needs of the students, the requirements of the learning task, the course standards and essential requirements, and the educational environment.
The determination of an appropriate and reasonable accommodation revolves around the interaction between the individual and St. Luke’s College. Specifically, accommodations are determined by the Dean of Student Services in consultation with the student and input from the faculty, as needed. The Dean of Student Services has been designated by the College, and its administration, as the principle person with the responsibility/authority to determine disability related accommodations.
The College need not give primary consideration to a specific accommodation request by a student. However, based on the legislative history of the ADA, the Dean of Student Services will do their best to consult with the student when determining an appropriate accommodation(s).
If the student submits documentation from a qualified health professional showing a medical diagnosis, the diagnosis is neither necessary nor controlling in determining student’s disability status, but a factor in the evaluation process.
At the discretion of the Dean of Student Services, the student may be required to undergo additional evaluations if needed to effectively collaborate with the student in securing appropriate learning strategies. Student will not be entitled to selecting a specific evaluator.
Implementing Accommodations:
Faculty, staff or the Dean of Student Services is responsible for the implementation of the accommodation identified by the Dean of Student Services. Faculty and staff are required to support approved accommodations.
Faculty will be notified of approved accommodations through a written letter from the Dean of Student Services outlining the student’s accommodations based upon their eligibility under ADA and Section 504.
A student who believes that the approved accommodations have not been provided appropriately is encouraged to schedule a meeting with the Dean of Student Services to explore the matter and identify a resolution (see also Student Appeal).
Reasonable Accommodations:
The reasonable accommodations selected will be based on the student’s need supported by documentation and the College’s ability to reasonably accommodate the disability without undue hardship. Examples of potential reasonable accommodations for students might include, but not necessarily limited to:
- Classroom accessibility
- Alternative testing formats
- Test taking accommodations
- Tape recording of class
- Reasonable equipment modification
- Preferential seating
- Large print materials
Granted accommodations are not effective retroactively so that students will not be able to re-do assignments or retake exams before they asked for and received accommodations.
|