Role of Disability and Access Services

The primary goal of our team at DAS is to ensure that students receive the accommodations they are entitled to while simultaneously protecting the integrity of the academic programs and services MIT offers. They have the difficult task of balancing a student’s right to access and the Institution’s right to apply and enforce legitimate academic and technical standards.

Considerations

First, two things must be considered when deciding if a student qualifies for protection under Section 504 [per Gill v. Franklin Pierce Law Center, 899 F.Supp. 850, 854 (D.N.H. 1995)]:

• Are there reasonable accommodations that would work for both the school and the student?
• If such accommodations exist, did the school make an effort to explore these options?

In turn, disability service providers have three main jobs when helping students:

1. Figure out if the student has a disability that qualifies them for support
2. Determine what specific support options are available
3. Work with school administrators to make sure these supports don’t lower academic standards or change the core requirements of the program

This process is referred to in the law as conducting “an individualized assessment,” because it looks at each student’s unique situation. The “individualized assessment” that must be conducted involves a consideration of:

• The student’s skills and abilities
• The manifestations of their disability
• The nature of the course or program
• The impact the accommodation(s) in question would have on the course or program
• The impact the accommodation(s) would have on the student’s educational experience

Evidence that this assessment has occurred is generally accepted as proof that an institution has reached its decision concerning a student through a “deliberative process” that demonstrates that the institution has “conscientiously carried out the statutory obligation to seek suitable means to reasonably accommodating (the student).” [Wynne v. Tufts University School of Medicine, 932 F.2d 19, 25 (1 st Cir. 1991) and Guckenburg v. Boston University, 957 F.Supp. 106 (D.Mass. 1997)]

Faculty Input

The legitimate input of both academic experts and disability experts must be incorporated into the process. Academic experts are important participants when the issue involves the impact a particular accommodation might have on a course or program, and the qualified status of the student in relationship to an academic requirement or technical standard. The importance of faculty to the process has long been recognized.