The core purpose of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is to guarantee that individuals with disabilities are not subject to discrimination in their academic and broader college experiences.
The aim is to provide equitable access which is achieved when individuals with disabilities can:
- Fully engage and participate in the same activities, services, benefits, and experiences offered to non-disabled students.
- Access the same information available to everyone.
- Have equal opportunities to succeed.
The Goal is to Promote Equal Opportunity - Not Lowered Expectations
- Accommodations should open doors to the same opportunities available to all students.
- Accommodations should not reduce the responsibilities, expectations, or standards required of all students. Ensuring access does not require altering the academic experience by lowering expectations needed to meet learning and program objectives.
- Accommodations are not intended to guarantee a student’s success.
Students who are registered with the DRC have produced documentation that meets our disability documentation requirements. After documentation is reviewed, an intake interview is conducted where DRC staff engage in the interactive process of determining reasonable accommodations.
There are instances when the DRC and a professor may need to engage in a discussion to assess the reasonableness of an accommodation through an interactive process.
Examples of when further discussion may be necessary include:
- How to implement specific accommodations like Flexible Attendance and Extensions on Assignments.
- Addressing the needs of specialized environments, such as lab settings.
- Ensuring accessibility for particular students, such as a blind student in a math or economics class.
You can access your full course roster and see which students have approved accommodations by doing the following:
- Log into my.newpaltz.edu
- Select the Courses tab
- Select the course from your list of courses
- Select the Enrolled Students tab
- View the column titled Course Accommodations for information that corresponds to the student from the roster
It is important to not assume that a student has a disability. If you notice that a student is struggling with the coursework or they mention specific academic concerns, such as needing more time for exams or challenges with concentration, let them know about the DRC and our resources. Additionally, you can refer students to the Center for Student Success, the Psychological Counseling Center or other departments based on their circumstance. Students can meet with the DRC to receive accommodations at any point in the semester.
There may be situations where the accommodation listed on the Accessibility Accommodation Letter does not align with the course’s learning objectives or design. In these cases, a professor may have concerns about whether implementing an accommodation would fundamentally alter the course’s objectives. In such instances, further dialogue between the DRC and the professor is needed.
No, faculty do not have to retroactively apply accommodations prior to receiving an Accessibility Accommodation Letter or other contact from the DRC, but may choose to do so at their discretion.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework aimed at meeting the diverse needs and abilities of all students by removing unnecessary barriers to learning. It involves creating a flexible learning environment where information is delivered through various methods, students can engage with the material in multiple ways, and they have choices in how they demonstrate their understanding.
The DRC offers training and support for faculty throughout the semester during professional development and upon request.
The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) at SUNY project seeks to provide support for SUNY to be a model of excellence of inclusive pedagogy in higher education by training SUNY faculty and instructional designers in the Universal Design for Learning framework.
Please keep in mind that we in DRC cannot make fundamental alterations to classes. We can ask faculty to evaluate whether the requested accommodation alters the outcome of the course or not. It remains wholly to the professor(s) and the academic departments to make the decision about whether a requested accommodation compromises the fundamental learning outcomes of the class(es). DRC Staff are not the academic specialists. The course credits and the college's accreditation with the national organization are based on already approved learning outcomes. If the fundamental alteration evaluation is processed by the faculty, department chair, or even with the registrar's office and there are no suitable substitute exercises, assignments, or evaluations for the student which can fulfill the learning outcomes, we will then need to consider what alternatives are available to the student, which allows them to meet their degree requirements.
