The student goes from an environment that is structured to “ensure student success” (high school) to one that is designed to “allow equal access” (college). The success of the student is up to the student in the college setting. The college must ensure access, NOT success. The following applies to college accommodations:
- Applicable Laws: A.D.A. (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990); Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973; A.D.A. is about ACCESS
- There is no standardized plan; High School I.E.P. and 504 are not sufficient and not utilized. Documentation guidelines specify information needed for each category of disability (colleges may set their own reasonable documentation requirements); Student must get evaluation at own expense; Documentation must provide information on specific functional limitations, and demonstrate the need for specific accommodations
- Student must self-identify to the Office of Disability Services if accommodations are wanted (voluntary-not required); Primary responsibility for self-advocacy and arranging accommodations belongs to the student; Student is responsible for initiating contact with instructors and disability office if assistance is needed; Parent does not have access to student records without student’s written consent; Student advocates for self
- Student must ask for services EACH semester, and is responsible for much of the accommodation process (i.e., notifying office of test dates, scheduling tests, requesting accommodations for each class that accommodations are needed, etc.); Student allowed only certain accommodations in college classroom and testing; Student is responsible for monitoring own academic progress and must seek out tutoring if needed, and must pay for it if college does not provide tutoring for non-disabled students
- Student must initiate all communication regarding utilization of accommodations with each professor for each course accommodations are requested every semester; Students may request accommodations at any time during the semester/term (not retroactive); Students have the civil right to not utilize approved accommodations and right to refuse accommodations they don’t need/want; and if they do not request accommodations from the disability office, it is assumed they do not want it
- Professors are not required to modify curriculum design or alter assignment deadlines; No reduced assignments; extended time on assignments is very rare; no grading changes, no test format changes other than providing equal access (such as providing extended time or providing a test in large print/Braille); no extra attempts at tests unless approved accommodations were not provided during the first attempt; Students are assigned substantial amounts of reading and writing which may not be directly addressed in class; Students need to review class notes/text material regularly
- Grading and test content changes are not required; Students who are approved for and elect to utilize extended testing time and separate testing area are required to contact the disability office to schedule testing per the office’s testing guidelines; Testing is usually infrequent and may be cumulative, covering large amounts of material; Student takes same test as everyone else in the class; No notes or books may be utilized during tests; Makeup tests are rarely an option, Students are responsible for reading/adhering to the course syllabus (spells out exactly what is expected, due dates, and grading system)