Reasonable Accommodations
Faculty determine course attendance policies. Because attendance may be integral to the pedagogic process, these policies are set by faculty at the College/School, departmental or individual level. Faculty also determine policies regarding make-up work and missed quizzes and exams. The United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, which enforces disability law in higher education, uses the following heuristic to determine if class attendance is fundamental to course participation:
- Is there classroom interaction between the instructor and students, and among students?
- Do student contributions constitute a significant component of the learning process?
- Does the fundamental nature of the course rely upon student participation as an essential method for learning?
- To what degree does a student's failure to attend constitute a significant loss to the educational experience of other students in the class?
- What does the course description and syllabus say?
- What is the method by which the final course grade is calculated?
- What are classroom practices and policies regarding attendance?
ACCESS provides faculty with verification of a student’s reasonable accommodations based on appropriate documentation provided to ACCESS by the student. This verification addresses the legitimacy of absences.
Navigating Intermittent/Extended Absence Accommodations
If you receive an Intermittent/Extended Absence Accommodation form (IEAF) from our office, this means based on the student’s diagnoses, there’s a high likelihood for the student to experience either extended/intermittent absences from your course. These absences may come suddenly and without warning and will not be accompanied by individualized doctor’s notices but have been verified by a qualified physician and authenticated by ACCESS.
Along with the standard accommodation letter, you will recieve from ACCESS our IEA form to assist in the facilitation of an absence based agreement. If your course has standard attendance policies with which missed classes do not have a correlated penalty, please be informed that the student may miss class due to symptoms or circumstances related to their diagnosis and will follow up with you on opportunities to make up missed work, assignments or exams. The form will include an opportunity to affirm your agreement with the accommodation as well as provide insight to any activities that students will be permitted to miss and how long they will have to make up any missed opportunities after an absence, either intermittent or extended in nature. You may also indicate any opportunities in class that cannot be replicated or missed due to being related to an essential requirement of the course.
Please note that absence based accommodations are an individualized process and are evaluated on a case by case basis through interactive dialogue between our office and the instructor with input from the student. Should you have any additional questions, comments or concerns regarding the process, feel free to contact the ACCESS office directly to discuss further.
Questions regarding an absence related accommodation
In order to refuse or refute absenteeism as an accommodation, the instructor should notify ACCESS in writing as to the reasons for the decision to deny attendance policy modification as an accommodation for the course. For this purpose we have an Essential Abilities IEA form which will allow instructors to detail specifically how attendance impacts the student's ability to demonstrate the essential requirements, how attendance or participation is factored into the final grade, the degree of interaction between the instructor and students, etc.
The student retains the right of appeal which will be facilitated through the Office of Equal Opportunity, Access, and Title IX. In your written denial, faculty will be asked to address the following questions and provide evidence of the significant alteration of the course:
- How does the absence of this student significantly alter the course requirements?
- How does the fundamental nature of the course rely upon student participation as an essential method for learning?
- To what degree does a student's failure to attend class constitute a significant loss to the educational experience of other students in the class?
- What percentage of the course grade is altered by the absence of the student in the course?
Questions regarding this policy should be directed to the director of ACCESS by calling 618-650-3726.
