Safeguarding Your Department Against Disability Discrimination Complaints
Winter 2005, Course 7
CLOSED
Course Description:
Disability issues in higher education have become an increasingly significant body of research and the issues surrounding disability access in higher education are becoming more complex. As a student affairs practitioner, regardless of the area in which one specializes, disability issues will arise. This course is designed as an intensive review of the fundamental requirements of disability legislation on institutions of higher learning and the subsequent implications for student access in programs, activities, and services. Enhancing student outcomes within student affairs and preventing unnecessary Office of Civil Rights (OCR) legislation is the focus.
Course Outline:
No attempt will be made in this course to provide definitive legal answers to particular problems. The overall objective of the course is to provide illustrations of the dynamic and controversial issues shaping student affairs decision-making as it pertains to disability access, and to define the deliberate decision-making process required by student affairs deans, directors, and administrators in protecting the institution against discrimination claims. Therefore, this course will be divided into three sections: 1) understanding the disability legislation that impacts student affairs practices, 2) dissecting the top 5 Office of Civil Rights (OCR) rulings regarding disability access in higher education and the subsequent implications for student affairs, and 3) exploring the trends, challenges, and controversies facing disability access in student affairs today.
Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion, participants will be able to:
- define and apply the definition of "who is protected" under disability legislation with specific focus on defining disability in institutions of higher learning.
- apply and discuss the accommodation process at the higher education level.
- demonstrate the complexity and ambiguity of determining "reasonableness of accommodations" in a variety of higher education contexts.
- identify the role of student affairs administrators in supporting an inclusive higher education environment.
- analyze and synthesize the five most significant Office of Civil Rights (OCR) cases for college student affairs professionals.
- apply OCR's view of the "deliberate" process in providing disability access in student affairs.
- identify current "hot button" issues, trends, and challenges facing institutions of higher education and student affairs.
- describe best practices in college support services for students with disabilities.
Participant Expectations:
Participants will be expected to purchase the book,
"New Directions for Student Services, Serving Students with Disability", No. 91,
Belch, Holley (ed.), 2000. Published by Jossey-Bass.
This book will be the primary reading for the course.
Other materials including case studies and related articles will be utilized during the course.
Participants will be expected to participate in on-line discussion, complete readings, and turn in written analysis based on the discussions and readings.
Individuals registering for CEUs will receive 1.0 CEU upon successful
completion of the course.
Instructor Bio:
Kendra Johnson, Ed.D. is the ADA Compliance Officer and Director of the Office of Accessibility at the University of
Toledo, and formally served in that position at the University of Michigan-Flint campus.
She has more than fifteen years professional experience with issues pertaining to educational and
workplace access for persons with disabilities. She has served as a 504/ADA compliance officer and director of the student disability
support services (DSS) office for both a small and large public four-year university. In addition to administering a college DSS office
for over ten years, she is an adjunct university instructor in special education and higher education administration.
Dr. Johnson is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences on the topic of transitioning to college for students with
disabilities and is the co-author of the book, "100 Things Every College Student with a Disability Ought to Know".
Dr. Johnson has a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling and a doctorate of education degree in curriculum and instruction.
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