[Georgia_ahead] FW: Student Expectations

[Bonnie Martin]

FYI

 

________________________________

From: Disabled Student Services in Higher Education
<DSSHE-L at LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU> [mailto:Disabled Student Services in
Higher Education <DSSHE-L at LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU>] On Behalf Of Howard
Kallem <hkallem at GMU.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 10:07 AM
To: DSSHE-L at LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU
Subject: Re: Student Expectations

 

In a publication available at 
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/transition.html, OCR has 
stated: "Your postsecondary school may require you to follow reasonable 
procedures to request an academic adjustment. You are responsible for 
knowing and following these procedures. Postsecondary schools usually 
include, in their publications providing general information, 
information on the procedures and contacts for requesting an academic 
adjustment." It goes on to say that "Although you may request an 
academic adjustment from your postsecondary school at any time, you 
should request it as early as possible. Some academic adjustments may 
take more time to provide than others. You should follow your school's 
procedures to ensure that your school has enough time to review your 
request and provide an appropriate academic adjustment." 

OCR has reiterated these fundamental principles in any number of cases 
and TA presentations. As long as a college has reasonable procedures 
and they are readily available, a college isn't required by either 
Section 504 or Title II to provide accommodations to students who fail 
to follow them. 

Rather than try and work through the students, you might want to 
consider working through the faculty -- educating them about the 
college's procedures and their role in them. One possibility could be 
to inform faculty members to direct all requests for accommodations to 
your office. An even stricter approach would be to tell them not to 
honor any requests, at least not without first contacting you. On the 
one hand, you may not want to discourage a faculty member from helping 
out a student -- whether officially "disabled" or not. On the other, 
such assistance could lead to the problems you describe -- a sense of 
entitlement or expectation (e.g., from the next professor), expecting 
too much, perhaps even resentment from some faculty for having to deal 
with such situations. 

------------------------ 
Howard Kallem 
Office of Equity and Diversity Services 
George Mason University 
4400 University Dr. MS 2C2 
Fairfax, VA 22030 
703 993 8730 
703 993 8899 (fax) 



Nikki Dyer wrote: 
> Colleagues: 
> A number of our students, who have sought services from Disability
Support Services this semester, have chosen to disclose their
accommodations to their instructors in ways which are less than ideal.
More specifically, students are providing notices of their
accommodations to faculty on the day of an exam, are not meeting with
the faculty in a private one-to-one setting to discuss their
accommodations in a "pro-active" manner, and they are sometimes
expecting accommodations beyond what is featured in their notice to
instructors. I am confident that I am not alone in having to address
these concerns and am asking what you all are doing to combat these
behaviors. I have considered generating a "Statement of Understanding"
for students, but other than this, I am at a loss. Any insights would be
appreciated - as always. 
> Regards, 
> Nikki 
> 
> _____________________________________ 
> Nikki Allen Dyer 
> Coordinator, Student Disability Support Services 
> Salisbury University 
> Guerrieri University Center, Room 256 
> 1101 Camden Avenue 
> Salisbury, Maryland 21801 
> 
> ph: 410-677-6536 
> fax: 410-543-6069 
> TTY: 410-543-6083 

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