MC1: A Disability Resource Provider Tune-Up: Staying in Our Lane and Reclaiming Our Mission
Adam Meyer, University of Central Florida
Just as a car driver must diligently focus on the road when driving in the rain or a snowstorm lest the car veers off the road and away from its destination, so must we in a disability office maintain focus. The various “storms” of student and parent requests, feelings of entitlement, confused expectations following K – 12 experiences, and college environments that increasingly focus on student success and strong customer service can make it difficult to know what we need to do through our work and why.
This class will give experienced disability resource providers time away from hectic offices and constant demands from students, staff, and administrators to step back, assess where we are and where we want to be, and make sure we are steering our work in the direction it should go. The content of this 13.5-hour course will consist of approximately half instruction and half self-reflection, personal planning, and small group discussions.
Over the course of the two-and-a-half days, we will examine these areas:
- Revisiting Our Mission – We cannot stay on the road and in our lane if we are not clear where we are going. We will outline our mission, what it is and what it is not.
- Student Access vs. Student Success/Learning Preference/K-12 experiences – We will explore some of the requests that we get for accommodations that are not access-centered that cause us to slip out of our lane and how we can re-center accommodations to meet higher education access needs.
- Academic vs. Personal Barriers – How does our core mission align with campus barriers that we need to address vs. the personal barriers that students present to us?
- Using AHEAD’s Guidance on Documentation: Sorting through the barriers and what constitutes access can be challenging. What is the role of documentation in the process? We will discuss ways to use documentation effectively for decision-making purpose.
- Revisiting the Interactive Process – What does the interactive process entail? What is the role of the disability office in the interactive process? How can we effectively engage with other campus partners in the process when needed?
- Ways to Communicate ‘No’ – Deciding to say ‘no’ can be hard. Telling the student ‘no’ is often harder. Thoughts on how to approach this critical step in a clear, yet empathetic, manner will be discussed.
Each topic will include reflection questions, information sharing, and a time to discuss scenarios in small group settings. These principles to be discussed will be applied to the most common and challenging accommodation requests that we deal with today. Participants will be asked to create their top five take-aways at the conclusion with action steps to be taken when returning to campus.
This training session assumes competence in the basics of disability law and disability resources in a higher education setting. Attendees should have a few years of experience in disability services.
Cost for Master Class #1:
- On or before April 21, 2023: $595 member rate; $725 non-members
- After April 21, 2023: $695 member rate; $825 non-members
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MC2: The ADA Coordinator Role in Higher Education: Planning Seamless Access
Gabriel Merrell, Oregon State University
Bree Callahan, University of Washington
This master class is designed for participants who have been serving (formally or informally) as the ADA/Section 504 Coordinator at their institution. The fast-paced training assumes a working knowledge of the ADA and Section 504. Our focus will be on institutional access and unique challenges within higher education, on developing a compliance program and philosophy. This session will not focus on providing direct services to students, faculty, or staff. You are a good candidate for this class if you:
- are your institution’s ADA Coordinator and/or 504 Compliance Officer, or
- frequently participate in institution-wide policy development, construction & renovation projects, employee accommodations, dispute resolution, and public access needs.
Using a review of the administrative requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, the facilitators will draw on their own and participants’ experiences to explore the role of ADA Coordinators within higher education and to highlight best practices.
Across a range of practice areas that reflect the diversity and scope of higher education, participatory case studies will model a flexible approach and identify practical solutions anchored to relevant statutes, regulations, and case law. Within and across topics, concrete examples will highlight core principles and processes that can be adapted to a range of educational institutions.
Topics to be covered with an advanced dive into deeper issues include:
- Law, regulation, and policy
- Role and Structure of the ADA Coordinator
- Built Environment
- Unique Higher Education Program Access Topics
- Applying a 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. Interactive scenarios will highlight principles in action and illustrate best practices, allowing participants to workshop policy and process elements to bring back to their campuses. The overall experience will balance information sharing, small group discussion, and hands-on policy and process development.
Cost for Master Class #2:
- On or before April 21, 2023: $595 member rate; $725 non-members
- After April 21, 2023: $695 member rate; $825 non-members
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MC3: Advanced Practices for Leveraging Data, Research, Assessment, and Other Information on Your Campus to Build Relationships and Get What You Want for Your Office
Chester Goad, Ed.D., Tennessee Tech University
Ann Knettler, Ed.D., Delaware State University
In an age of accountability, we are often placed in a position of having to prove the effectiveness of the of our offices or to justify use of resources that are critical to fulfilling the mission of access on our campuses. As offices are asked to do more with less, data becomes an essential tool for understanding the impact of diminishing resources on students. But what if we could change the narrative? This master class will challenge participants to take a critical look at how we are using the resources and data at our disposal creatively to shift perspectives and create greater awareness of our respective offices. We will share and explore innovative approaches to gaining what we need and ways to expand our own professional growth through the use of data, research, assessment, and other information.
Using both participant and facilitator expertise and experience, we will explore using data in strategic ways in our work to advocate, educate, collaborate, evaluate and build meaningful relationships. This will include discussions of effective practices followed by samples, models, and resources. Participants will identify the challenges and successes on their own campuses and select elements to bring back to their own setting. From this foundation of exploring a broad repertoire of methods and applications to benefit the work of your office, how can you continue to advance your use of data and information and take your office to the next level? Are you ready to present your data at a professional conference? Have you thought about writing up your work for possible publication? Opportunities, tips, and resources will be shared for stepping up your data-based practices, joining the professional dialogue in new ways, and pushing your own growing edge of professional practices.
Cost for Master Class #3:
- On or before April 21, 2023: $595 member rate; $725 non-members
- After April 21, 2023: $695 member rate; $825 non-members
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MC4: Mastering the Shift from Compliance to a Culture of Inclusion: Integrating Disability in Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts
Charnessa Warren, University of Chicago
Karen Andrews, Brown University
Disability is the largest minoritized group in the United States, so why is it the least talked about group in diversity and inclusion efforts in higher education? How might we transform traditional thinking about diversity and disability inclusion to become part of a vibrant, holistically inclusive movement at our institutions? This master class will introduce a four-step approach to systematically include disability, accessibility, and diversity in higher education. The presenters will share a practical, customizable approach that higher education institutions may utilize immediately to begin the shift from a disability compliance approach to a more inclusive culture.
The 2.5 day session will include:
- Foundation building and personal and institutional self-reflection
- Presentation of the Four-Step AP Approach to Disability Inclusion
- Creation of a customized action plan using the Accessibility Toolkit
- Goal setting and assessment strategies for measuring progress
- Creating ongoing accountability partnerships
This course is formatted with both group and individual activities throughout, to enable participants to not just learn concepts, but to immediately evaluate how those concepts apply to their own work and develop personal action plans that are grounded in existing work, regularly assessed, and achievable.
Because the Four-Step AP approach is customized and individually created, attendees from any institution type will benefit from this session to create meaningful change at their campuses. Participants will have the opportunity to evaluate their institution’s current environment and consider how to leverage existing tools, partnerships, initiatives, etc. to advance the joint mission of DEI and disability work.
Cost for Master Class #4:
- On or before April 21, 2023: $595 member rate; $725 non-members
- After April 21, 2023: $695 member rate; $825 non-members
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MC5: Disability Law: Lessons in Application for the Advanced Disability Professional
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
This advanced training will highlight the application of long-standing and widely-accepted judicial precedents and principles, as well as recent court decisions, to the analysis and resolution of the latest and most challenging issues. At the outset, we will succinctly review the analytical tools and processes provided in our introductory course. The bulk of the course will consist of modules covering ten topic areas, facilitating best practice discussions through multiple case scenarios. Together with your colleagues and the presenters, you will explore these difficult issues and assess practical policies, processes, and procedures that provide effective access in accordance with legal obligations. Many of our hypotheticals will be based on OCR/DOJ findings, letters, and court decisions that reflect common and recurring situations; participant scenarios are also welcome.
This master class will include 13.5-hours of face-to-face discussion and instruction. Participants will be sent a few seminal court rulings related to disability law in postsecondary education to review prior to our time together. The training is fast-paced and assumes competence in the basics of the ADA and disability resources. Therefore, participants must have a solid background in applying disability access principles in higher education.
The topical modules will focus on the following areas:
- An overview of the “qualified student with a disability” (QSD) paradigm and the processes that pertain to this paradigm including the individualized interactive process and the defenses of fundamental alteration and undue burden.
- Accommodations regarding attendance and extensions of time to complete assignments.
- Responding to accommodation requests that include some form of remote/on-line learning.
- Housing accommodations such as a single room.
- Service animals and ESAs.
- Nondiscrimination and accommodation within the setting of internships and field work
- Responding to self-injurious students while complying with their rights under disability laws.
- Conduct violations of students with disabilities, including “direct threat analysis.”
- Accommodations that pertain to the intersection of Title IX and Section 504, such as addressing pregnancy and allegations of sexual harassment and violence.
- Digital equality, including website access.
Included with the tuition for this course is a copy of the brand new book, Laws, Policies, and Processes: Tools for Postsecondary Student Accommodation. With contributions from each of the presenters, this book, along with the detailed PowerPoint decks used during the presentations, will provide each participant with a rich set of resources to take with them back to their campuses.
Cost for Master Class #5:
Note: Registration for Master Class #5 includes a copy of Laws, Policies, and Processes: Tools for Postsecondary Student Accommodation, edited by Vance and Thompson.
- On or before April 21, 2023: $645 member rate; $775 non-members
- After April 21, 2023: $745 member rate; $875 non-members
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