Arranging for Accommodations

Students with disabilities or suspected disabilities meet with their Disability Services coordinator confidentially as a first step in arranging accommodations.

The coordinator verifies the disability and determines how functional limitations affect academic work. This is accomplished through discussion with the student and review of documentation. Students with insufficient documentation may be referred to physicians, psychologists or other qualified diagnosticians for complete assessment before accommodations are granted.

After the disability and its functional limitations are verified, the coordinator provides information about the various reasonable accommodations which address the student's functional limitations.

The student then chooses the reasonable accommodations that best apply in a given course or semester.

Frequently, students arrange follow-up meetings with their coordinator. Coordinators are available to assist with ongoing problem solving.

When are accommodations not provided?

The University provides accommodations unless they fall under one of the following three categories:

• Fundamental Alteration: If an accommodation reduces the academic standards of the University, its schools, departments, or its courses, the University denies the accommodation and deems it unreasonable. Academic standards are essential for any student. It is unreasonable to alter these fundamental standards as an accommodation for a student with a disability.
• Undue Hardship: If an accommodation costs too much or is impossible to administer, the University denies the accommodation and deems it unreasonable. An undue financial burden applies to the University as a whole. Therefore, decisions regarding undue financial hardship can only be made by the president and cannot be made by a department, school or college. If a University division feels it cannot afford an accommodation which would be reasonable otherwise, it should seek assistance through appropriate channels. An undue administrative burden occurs when the University doesn't have enough time to respond to the request, or when it would be impossible or infeasible to administer. In every instance, the University reserves the right to offer other, equally effective accommodations.
• Personal Service: If a request for an accommodation falls under the definition of a personal service, the University denies the request because it is unreasonable. Personal services are those that a person with a disability must use regardless of attendance at the University. In addition, personal services are those for which no correlation between the disability's functional limitation and program access can be established. The University, for instance, does not purchase wheelchairs or other assistive technologies used in every setting to compensate for a mobility impairment. Other examples of personal services may include independent living, mental health, rehabilitation, remediation and tutoring.

Students make requests for accommodations primarily through their Disability Services coordinator. However, it is unnecessary to request accommodations exclusively through Disability Services. Any employee or unit of the University makes reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified students with disabilities. The University requires verification of disability and functional limitation prior to the provision of reasonable accommodations.

Student Confidentiality

All documents which Disability Services collects are regarded with strict confidentiality. Disability Services does not reveal the condition or diagnosis of any student registered and/or verified with us. Faculty have the right to know the following regarding students with disabilities:

1. The student has a disability verified by Disability Services
2. How the disability or condition limits the student at UM-Missoula
3. Recommended academic adjustments that will make the student's programs accessible

Once again, there must be a logical link between the functional limitations and the recommended accommodations or adjustments.

No documents will be released to any internal or external individual, departments or agency without the written permission of the student or the student's guardian. Instructors are cautioned against identifying students with disabilities unnecessarily to their peers or other colleagues without the student's consent. Announcing, for example, at the beginning of an exam that all disabled students should come to the front of the class would violate the students' right to confidentiality.

How do I challenge an accommodation that I feel is unreasonable?

If you are uncertain about a request for an accommodation, you can challenge the student's request in a number of ways. First, you can ask the student for their letter of verification from Disability Services to ensure that the accommodation is one recommended by their coordinator. If the letter doesn't contain any mention of the requested accommodation, you can contact the Disability Services Coordinator. Remember, the accommodation is considered unreasonable if it reduces the academic standards, or your requirements for a given course. It is also unreasonable if it is impossible to administer. If an accommodation does not appear to be appropriate given the student's functional limitation, Disability Services will not support it.

Many accommodations may be requested by the student that have not been discussed with a coordinator. This doesn't always mean that the request is unreasonable under the law. Contact Disability Services if you are unsure if a request is reasonable and suggest other alternatives to offer the student.

If you decide to deny a request as unreasonable, inform the student, clearly indicating your rationale. If you have discussed this with Disability Services already, refer them back to their coordinator for further clarification.

Are these accommodations fair to other students?

This question is often asked of students with disabilities. The underlying assumption of the question is that fairness and equal treatment are synonymous with "the same" treatment. However, the same treatment doesn't always measure fairly. Civil rights laws for people with disabilities are founded on this last assumption.

First, these laws protect students with disabilities from being subjected to the arbitrary measure of what is best for others, except in cases of safety to others. Second, the assumption of the law is that modifying non-essential tasks should give the student with a disability an equal, or fair, chance to demonstrate their ability, minimizing their functional limitations to the greatest extent possible.

Example:
A student whose limitations in the physical task of writing or other fine motor manipulations may be an excellent writer even though they cannot print or type the letters and words. Thus, the physical act of writing is a non-essential task. The student's mastery of language and course material must not, under the law, be judged by their ability to manipulate a pencil or pen, or by use of a keyboard. Accommodating the student by providing a scribe to record the student's essay responses, for example, permits the student to show whether they can write effectively and whether they have acquired the information and critical skills the instructor wished to convey in the course.

No unfair advantage over nondisabled peers is gained by the use of a scribe. In using this auxiliary aide, the student has yet another layer of communication to contend with -- that of communicating clearly to the scribe the words and structure of their answer -- including punctuation and spelling. Even with extended time on an essay exam to compensate for the additional time of dictating to and directing the scribe, the student can only hope to approach a truly level playing field.