This procedure describes the College’s obligations to provide academic accommodations and auxiliary aids and services for students under Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Introduction
In 1973, Congress passed Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), a law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability (29 U.S.C. Section 794). It states:
No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States ... shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance ....
Section 504 regulations apply to all recipients of funding from the U.S. Department of Education, including Lane Community College. Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits state and local governments, including Lane Community College, from discriminating on the basis of disability.
The College will make reasonable modifications to policies, practices or procedures when necessary to avoid discrimination on the basis of disability, unless doing so would fundamentally alter the nature of the service, program or activity. The College will take reasonable steps to accommodate the needs of individual students except in case of undue hardship.
Academic Requirements
The College will make such modifications to its academic requirements as are necessary to ensure that such requirements do not discriminate or have the effect of discriminating, on the basis of disability, against a qualified disabled applicant or student. Academic requirements that the College can demonstrate are essential to the instruction being pursued by such student or to any directly related licensing requirement are not regarded as discriminatory. Modifications may include changes in the length of time permitted for the completion of degree requirements, substitution of specific courses required for the completion of degree requirements, and adaptation of the manner in which specific courses are conducted.
Auxiliary Aids
The Section 504 regulations contain the following requirement relating to a postsecondary school's obligation to provide auxiliary aids to qualified students who have disabilities:
A recipient . . . shall take such steps as are necessary to ensure that no handicapped student is denied the benefits of, excluded from participation in, or otherwise subjected to discrimination under the education program or activity operated by the recipient because of the absence of educational auxiliary aids for students with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills.
The Title II regulations state:
A public entity shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to afford an individual with a disability an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of, a service, program, or activity conducted by a public entity.
It is, therefore, the College’s responsibility to provide these auxiliary aids and services in a timely manner to ensure effective participation by students with disabilities. If students are being evaluated to determine their eligibility under Section 504 or the ADA, the College must provide auxiliary aids in the interim.
Aids, benefits, and services, to be equally effective, are not required to produce the identical result or level of achievement for disabled and non-disabled persons but must afford disabled persons equal opportunity to obtain the same result, to gain the same benefit, or to reach the same level of achievement, in the most integrated setting appropriate to the person's needs. The College will analyze the appropriateness of an aid or service in its specific context. In determining what types of auxiliary aids and services are necessary, College officials will give primary consideration to the requests of individuals with disabilities.
The College is not required to provide attendants, individually prescribed devices, readers for personal use or study, or other devices or services of a personal nature.
Student Responsibilities
A student with a disability who is in need of academic accommodations or auxiliary aids or services is obligated to provide notice of the nature of the disabling condition to the Center for Accessible Resources and to assist it in identifying appropriate and effective auxiliary aids. The College may ask the student, in response to a request for academic accommodations or auxiliary aids or services, to provide supporting diagnostic test results and professional prescriptions for academic accommodations or auxiliary aids or services. The College also may obtain its own professional determination. The College and the student should engage in an interactive process designed to arrive at a reasonable academic accommodation or auxiliary aid or service. The College’s evaluation of requests will be based on an individualized assessment of the student’s need. Written notification of the College’s decision will be provided to the student and will include an explanation of the factors considered and determinations made in support of the decision. A student may seek resolution of any complaint under the College’s complaint procedure.
Non-academic Services
In providing physical education courses and athletics and similar aid, benefits, or services to any of its students, the College may not discriminate on the basis of handicap. The College will provide to qualified handicapped students an equal opportunity for participation in physical education courses and intercollegiate, club, or intramural athletics.
The College will provide, without discrimination on the basis of handicap, personal, academic, and vocational counseling guidance and placement services.