Institute #1: The ADA Coordinator Role in Higher Education: Navigating the Essentials and Nuances
Bree Callahan, University of Washington
Enjie Hall, University of Minnesota
In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law and a new position, the ADA Coordinator, became required overnight across the country in many places, including higher education institutions. While the regulations outlined general responsibilities of the position, colleges were left to grapple with how and where to implement the mandates. Many questions were posed: What areas and duties fall within the ADA Coordinator role? Where does the role fit in the organization and what is the scope? Should it be different from the Director of the disability office for students? How will this position systematically ensure equitable access across institutional programs, services and activities? Even now, higher education institutions are navigating the best way to operationalize and engage this required role while they work to meet compliance requirements. However, many institutions are also seeking to build beyond compliance and work towards proactively developing and sustaining inclusive environments. How can the ADA Coordinator role contribute to each body of work?
Do you act in the capacity of the ADA Coordinator at your institution, or perhaps you are interested in transitioning into that role in the future and want to prepare? This workshop will be led by two experienced ADA Coordinators—one who serves simultaneously as the disability office director and ADA Coordinator, and one who has held each position separately at different times within one institution. Together, they will cover a broad range of topics starting with the foundations of the ADA Coordinator role before diving into components and nuances that influence the work in higher education. The workshop will cover areas that reflect the diversity and scope within higher education and identify practical solutions anchored to relevant statutes, regulations, and case law. The facilitators will draw on their experiences, as well as those of the audience, to explore the role of ADA Coordinators serving within higher education and highlight best practices. Topics to be covered include:
- Legal and regulation basics
- Components of ADA coordination
- Grievance processes
- Equity through the interactive process
- Organizational structure differences: Director of disability office as the ADA Coordinator vs. two separate positions
- ADA Transition Plans
- Access and accommodations in unique programs (i.e. athletics, residence and dining halls, employment, research labs, hospitals)
- How to be effective as a one-person unit or larger unit
- Applying the social justice lens to the role
- Using data to support the work
The presenters will discuss models for implementing a coordinated program that moves your institution towards seamless access and enhances the full participation of disabled individuals in all aspects of the academic enterprise.
Cost for Institute #1:
- On or before December 22, 2022: $495 member rate; $625 non-members
- After December 22, 2022: $595 member rate; $725 non-members
Institute #2: Removing Roadblocks to Learning, Retention, and Graduation for All TRIO Students
Rhonda Rapp, Consultant
The intermediate to advanced level TRIO Training Institute will cover programming, strategies, activities, and shared practices that address changing student populations and the changing landscape of education at all levels. Focus will be on emerging Latino/ Latina/Latinx populations, men of color, students with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ students. Topics include, but are not limited to, Maslow’s Theory, social/cultural capital, student’s experiences, metacognition, the learning cycle, growth mind-set, inclusivity/accessibility, and the formation of non-cognitive skills (i.e., grit, perseverance, etc.) in a framework of creating long-term learning and success for TRIO students.
Students of all abilities and backgrounds want educational experiences that are inclusive, accessible, formative and that convey respect. Since their inception, TRIO programs have provided a diverse array of successful educational experiences and programming for a wide variety of learners. However, the educational landscape has changed unexpectedly and may continue changing in a variety of directions. Plus, it is no longer enough to “get an education.” Higher education, graduate schools, professional schools, and future employers expect not only well-educated individuals but also life-long learners with grit and perseverance who know how they learn and how to enhance their learning. Learning is not just a destination; it is a life-long adventure!
Staff from all levels of TRIO programs are encouraged to not only attend this Institute, but to help create the group’s cadre of shared practices. This will be a hands-on, in-depth, and development-focused institute.
Cost for Institute #2:
- On or before December 22, 2022: $495 AHEAD or TRiO* member rate; $625 non-members
- After December 22, 2022: $595 AHEAD or TRiO* member rate; $725 non-members
*TRiO members who are not AHEAD members should email elisa@ahead.org to obtain the discount code that you must enter at registration checkout to get the reduced rate.
Institute #3: Introduction to Disability Law for DSS Directors, Staff, and ADA Officers
Paul Grossman, J.D., Executive Counsel of AHEAD, and OCR and Hastings College of Law, retired
Jamie Axelrod, M.S., Northern Arizona University
Mary Lee Vance, Ph.D., California State University Sacramento
Back by popular demand, this updated session will give disability resource, ADA, disability law, and compliance professionals a comprehensive introduction to postsecondary student disability law, including the requirements of the Americans Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Fair Housing Act. There is no way to anticipate every question or scenario that will arise in implementing these laws. Consequently, our mission is to provide each participant with a series of comprehensive frameworks, “analytical paradigms,” and procedural tools for addressing the broad range of legal questions they are likely to encounter. The courts and the Office for Civil Rights often devote more scrutiny to the processes colleges and universities use to reach their decisions than to the decisions themselves. Accordingly, this course will present the procedures most likely to receive agency approval and deference.
This course will begin by placing the responsibilities of disability services into its civil rights context with a review of the history of discrimination against individuals with disabilities and the emergence of the intersectional disability rights movement. Participants will learn the seminal legal concepts common to all antidiscrimination laws and what is unique to disability law. With this broad foundation under our feet, we will take a quick walk through the applicable regulations and tie these concepts and regulations to a comprehensive overview of potential claims and defenses under disability discrimination law including denial of accommodation, fundamental alteration, and undue burden.
Next, we will learn to look at our daily questions as if they had been set before a judge to scrutinize. The issue underlying about 80% of all post-secondary student disability cases is whether the student complainant is “a qualified student with a disability” (QSD). This includes focusing on who is “an individual with a disability” under the ADA as amended and what the courts and DOJ tell us about documentation of disability. We will then proceed to the second element of the QSD paradigm: whether a student with a disability can meet the essential academic and technical requirements of the institution, with or without reasonable accommodation (“academic adjustments and auxiliary aids”). This will include discussion of accommodations that are “necessary” and “reasonable” and those that are not because they either entail a “fundamental alteration” or an “undue burden.”
Finally, will devote significant time analyzing recent court decisions and OCR letters, whose discernible theme is that colleges and universities should never deny an accommodation to students with disabilities without first engaging in a case-by-case (individualized) and “interactive” consideration process, even if implementing the accommodation would require making an exception or modification to a long-existing rule, practice, policy, or assumption. Particularly at this stage, we will apply these foundational concepts to cutting-edge legal developments in some of the most challenging and complex issues that face disability resource offices. Opportunities to apply concepts will be provided through discussion of recent cases.
Cost for Institute #3:
Note: Registration for Institute #3 includes a copy of Laws, Policies, and Processes: Tools for Postsecondary Student Accommodation, edited by Vance and Thompson.
- On or before December 22, 2022: $545 member rate; $675 non-members
- After December 22, 2022: $645 member rate; $775 non-members
Institute # 4: An Introduction to Managing Accommodations for Students in Health Science Programs
Jon McGough, M.Ed., Consultant: Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine & Amazon Senior Accommodation Consultant
Mary Gerard, M.Ed., Bellingham Technical College
Schools that offer health science programs, including Nursing, Dental, Pharmacy, Speech/Language, Physical or Occupational Therapy, Physician Assistant, Veterinary, Medical, Podiatry, or other programs, face unique challenges in creating accessible programs and developing effective accommodations for students with disabilities. This introduction to disability accommodations in health science education is intended for clinical program administrators and disability resource professionals at 2-year, 4-year or graduate institutions, to provide an overview of how to address complex accommodation requests in classroom, lab, and clinical environments. Common challenges in health science education—whether a certificate program, associate degree, or professional school— include the lock-step nature of most programs, determining appropriate accommodations in patient care settings, meeting technical standards, planning proactively to anticipate accommodation needs in clinical environments, and guiding students applying for testing accommodations in licensing exams.
The presenters, one from a community college and one with experience at a four-year university with a medical school, will cover the basic tenets of practicing in this specialization, including the most relevant OCR decisions and court cases. Participants will have opportunities to work through basic scenarios. Throughout the Institute, participants will gain:
- a practical overview of disability laws and how they apply to the health sciences, with attention to how disability laws relate to health science clinical settings;
- an understanding of the interactive process that occurs between disability professionals, faculty, staff, and the student when determining reasonable accommodations in clinical and lab environments (such as fieldwork, internships, clerkships, preceptorships, etc., as well as OSCEs, sim labs, cadaver labs, etc.);
- information on how to identify when a potential accommodation may affect the integrity of the learning outcomes, compromise patient safety, or challenge technical standards;
- an appreciation of the importance of giving prospective, recently admitted, and enrolled students clear, written policies and procedures;
- tips for developing clear processes for faculty and staff;
- ideas for working with students and faculty to improve communication around disability-related needs and implementing accommodations;
- skills for training faculty, including addressing common concerns about patient safety, essential requirements, and technical standards; and advising faculty and administrators who may instinctively slip from the role of faculty into their roles as health care providers when working with students with disabilities.
Participants will leave this training with tools to aid in decision-making, policy development, and leading faculty/staff development trainings.
Cost for Institute #4:
Note: Registration for Institute #4 includes a copy of Equal Access for Students with Disabilities: The Guide for Health Science and Professional Education, Second Edition (2020).
- On or before December 22, 2022: $545 member rate; $675 non-members
- After December 22, 2022: $645 member rate; $775 non-members
Back to Top