When voluntary action is taken to overcome the effects of conditions that resulted in limited participation in certain programs, services, or activities, pursuant to Section 147.00 of these Guidelines, campuses may invite applicants for admission or enrollment to indicate whether and to what extent they are disabled, provided that:
Health services and insurance plans should be provided to qualified students with disabilities on the same basis as for students without disabilities generally. However, student health centers need not provide specialized services and aids; for example, if a center treats only simple disorders, such as cuts, bruises, and colds, its obligation to students with disabilities is to treat only those same disorders.
Academic requirements should be modified, as necessary and appropriate, to ensure that they do not discriminate or have the effect of discriminating, on the basis of disability, against qualified applicants or students with disabilities. As appropriate, modifications may include changes in the length of time permitted for the completion of degree requirements, substitution or waiver of specific courses required for the completion of the requirements, and adaptation of the manner in which specific courses are conducted. For example, a campus may permit an otherwise qualified student who is deaf to substitute a music history class for a required class in music appreciation, or the campus could modify the manner in which the music appreciation course is conducted for the student who is deaf.
Academic requirements that are determined by the Academic Senate to be essential to programs of instruction or for any directly related licensing requirement are not regarded as discriminatory.
In course examinations or other procedures for evaluating students' academic achievement, methods should be provided, as appropriate, for evaluating the achievement of students who have a disability that impairs sensory, manual, or speaking skills as will best ensure that the results of the evaluation represent students' achievement in the course, rather than reflecting students' impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, except when such skills are among the factors the test purports to measure.
In meeting this requirement, campuses may assist qualified students or participants with disabilities in University programs, services, or activities in contacting existing resources, such as State vocational rehabilitation agencies and private charitable organizations, to obtain auxiliary support services and devices. Also, other students may be asked to work with students with disabilities, or private agencies that tape texts for individuals with disabilities free of charge may be contacted in order to reduce the number of readers needed for students with visual impairments and students with learning disabilities. Typically, it is still the University's obligation to provide appropriate educational auxiliary support services and devices should public and private agencies be unable to provide such services or devices. As appropriate, the provision of auxiliary support services and devices to students with disabilities may be provided by the University during the period in which outside help is solicited or in lieu of such outside help.
As long as no qualified person with a disability is excluded from a program because of the lack of appropriate auxiliary support services or devices, such support services and devices need not be on hand at all times.
Attendants, individually prescribed devices, readers for personal use, or other devices or services of a personal nature need not be provided.
Any prohibition against the use of tape recorders or braillers in classrooms, or dog guides and service dogs in campus buildings, or other rules that have the effect of limiting the participation of qualified students with disabilities in educational programs, services, or activities, may not be adopted.
Students or participants with disabilities in University programs, services, or activities may be required to sign an agreement that they will not release tape recordings or transcriptions of lectures, or otherwise hinder the ability of a professor to obtain a copyright.
Section 10.00 of these Policies specifies that each member of the University community shares the responsibility of maintaining conditions conducive to the achievement of the University's mission of research, teaching, and public service. Thus, in attempting to provide any type of academic adjustment, faculty, disability-management staff, and students with disabilities should work in concert to formulate accommodations that meet the individual educational needs of qualified students with disabilities while maintaining the academic integrity of the program, service, or activity to be modified.
Moreover, it is essential that during this consultative process students be given an opportunity to express their preferred choice for disability accommodations and that this choice be given careful consideration, unless an equally effective accommodation can be provided, or that the use of the student's choice would result in a fundamental alteration of the academic program, service, or activity, or would result in an undue financial and administrative burden.
In providing any type of academic adjustment, including, but not limited to, modification of academic requirements, course examinations, or support services and devices, the University may require that: 1) students with disabilities provide reasonable advance notice of requests for, changes to, or cancellation of, academic adjustments; 2) students with disabilities provide sufficient and timely verification of their disability and documentation of their disability-related academic adjustment needs; and 3) students with disabilities comply with campus rules regulating requests for, and the proper use of, auxiliary support services or devices.
Campuses are encouraged to develop written procedures for: 1) the provision of academic accommodations to students with disabilities; and 2) resolving disagreements regarding the provision of academic adjustments to students with disabilities.
The University provides on-campus housing for non-disabled students and shall provide comparable, convenient, and accessible on-campus housing at the same cost to students with disabilities. Housing for students with disabilities should be made available in sufficient quantity and variety so the scope of their choice of living accommodations will, when viewed in its entirety, be comparable to that of students who are not disabled.
With regard to housing that is not provided by the University, but is listed by the campus, each campus shall assure itself that such housing, when viewed in its entirety, is made available in a manner that does not result in discrimination on the basis of disability. If a campus determines that off-campus housing, when viewed in its entirety, is not available to students with disabilities, efforts should be made to generate new sources of housing.
Each campus, each Laboratory, the Office of the President, and the Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources may not employ University students in a manner that would violate Section 144.00 of these Guidelines.
When assisting outside agencies, organizations, or persons in providing employment opportunities for University students, campuses should assure themselves that such opportunities, as a whole, are available in a manner that would not violate Section 144.00 of these Guidelines.
In providing physical education courses and athletics, and similar programs, services, and activities, campuses may not discriminate on the basis of disability. Qualified students or participants with disabilities in University programs, services, or activities should be provided with an equal opportunity to participate in physical education courses, intercollegiate, club, and intramural athletics or similar activities whether as part of the required curriculum or as an extracurricular activity. For example, a student who uses a wheelchair should not be denied the opportunity to enroll in a regular archery course, nor should a student who has a speech impairment be excluded from participating in a wrestling course.
Students with disabilities who cannot participate in regularly offered physical education courses or who cannot compete in athletic programs may be offered separate physical education and athletic activities designed to accommodate students with disabilities. However, students with disabilities must be offered the opportunity to participate in regular physical education or athletic activities, in the most integrated setting possible, even if separate physical education or athletic programs for students with disabilities are offered.
Personal, academic, or career counseling, guidance, and placement services should be provided without discrimination on the basis of disability.
Campuses should ensure that qualified students with disabilities are not counseled toward more restrictive career objectives than are non-disabled students with similar interests and abilities. This does not preclude providing factual information about licensing and certification requirements that may present obstacles to individuals with disabilities in their pursuit of particular careers.
Before providing any significant assistance, such as financial support, use of University facilities, or official University recognition or affiliation, including, but not limited to, fraternities, sororities, or similar organizations, campuses shall assure themselves that these organizations do not permit discrimination that is otherwise prohibited by these Guidelines.
Back to the Table of Contents