Sarah Smoger

Sarah,
I am actually going through this exact scenario in our culinary programs. Prior to making a decision like that we have to do our due diligence and thoroughly research options and of course document the process we went through to make the determination. This has been a very lengthy process in which we contacted the Office of Civil Rights, outside legal counsel as well as the local heath department responsible for our licensing.

Sarah Smoger

Sarah Bethel CHEP

We recently had two possible students take a tour of our campus with their pets. They said that they were coping companions and one even had documentation. Both wanted to be able to bring their pets into the classroom each day, but since we are a culinary college this could not be allowed for hygienic and Health Code reasons. I personally think we acted rightly by telling them no, but should we have been required to somehow accommodate these students?

Jane Jarrow

jean,
I would say you have done your "due diligence." You talked to him about alternatives and he chose to handle it this way. That's fine. The only thing I would suggest (besides, as you suggest, checking before each test) is that you document the date on which you had the conversation and the results. Just a quick note for your files in case there was question by someone else.

Dr. Jane Jarrow

jean deecki CHEP

I have a student presently who has an IEP that says that a possibility of accommodating him would be to read his tests to him or to allow him to go to another room- when I discussed this with the student he chose to remain in the classroom to test and he said that reading the question himself was okay- he took a test last week and was one of the first students finished but passed it. Am I required to do anything further given the fact that he chose to test in this manner? I address this issue for every test in the same manner.- jeanie

Jane Jarrow

Chukwuka,
That sounds like a coping strategy that the student had developed, and there certainly shouldn't be any restriction on that. Just remember that it isn't necessary for YOU, as the faculty member, to see the documentation, so long as someone else in the institution is charged with collecting such information.

Dr. Jane Jarrow

Chukwuka Okekenta

There was a student in one of my past classes. She said she was dyslexic. I never saw any medical paper stating any learning disability. During tests she would cover the question numbers with a scratch paper. When I asked the reason behind covering the question numbers, she said she could not read the questions with the numbers on the side. I could not find any college policy or rule that it violates. So I let it be. I would would think that is a reasonable accomodation.

Jane Jarrow

David,
The institution is entitled to set appropriate technical standards and to stick to them. In the specific situation you describe, a technical standard that said, "must be able to stand" would NOT be acceptable. You don't teach "standing" in your program. A technical standard that said, "Must be able to perform such-and-such procedure on a standing animal" WOULD be appropriate. If there is a reasonable accommodation that could be made to allow the individual in a wheelchair to accomplish that, fine. If not, the individual is unable to perform a necessary task and is graded appropriately. My daughter is a wheelchair user. When she took riding lessons, the stable had a ramped platform that we could push her wheelchair up so that she was at the right height to mount the horse. If the wheelchair user could get up high enough, using such a platform (maybe even transferring out of the chair to sit on the side and administer treatment, I would consider that reasonable. But he/she would still need to demonstrate appropriate technique for doing whatever need to be done.

Dr. Jane Jarrow