Policy and Procedures

Student Disability Accommodation Request Policy and Procedures

The College is committed to ensuring that no qualified student with a documented disability is excluded from participation in, subjected to discrimination in connection with, or denied the benefits of any College program or activity due to the student’s disability. The College makes appropriate academic adjustments as are necessary to ensure that such requirements do not discriminate or have the effect of discriminating, on the basis of disability, against a qualified applicant or student with a disability; provides comparable, accessible housing and housing related accommodations to qualified students with disabilities; and provides to qualified students with disabilities an equal opportunity for participation in nonacademic services and activities.

The Student Disability Accommodation Request Policy and Procedures (the “Policy”) sets forth the policy and procedures applicable to student disability accommodation requests. It applies to any disability accommodation request made by any qualified student with a disability regardless of the type of disability and College program or activity in which the student is enrolled and/or participating.

How to Request Accommodations

Students must complete the Disability Accommodation Request Form and provide supporting documentation. Submitting documentation and requesting academic adjustments or other accommodations will begin the processes of determining (1) whether the student has a properly documented disability and, if so, (2) what reasonable accommodations the College will provide to the student.

For questions on how to initiate a request, contact Kate Paull, Accessibility Coordinator, Kate.Paull@kzoo.edu, 269.337.7480.

Timing

Although a student may make an accommodation request at any time, the College strongly encourages students to make requests as early and as far in advance as possible to allow adequate time for consideration and proper documentation of the disability; the interactive process that will determine what reasonable accommodations the College will provide to the student; and implementation of those accommodations. 

Qualified Student with a Disability

Before determining what disability accommodation(s) the College will provide to a qualified student, the College must determine whether that student is a qualified student with a properly documented disability. 

A qualified student is one who, with or without reasonable disability accommodation, is able to meet the essential requirements — including but not limited to technical standards of the applicable program — for participation in a program or activity.

A person with a disability is any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities. Major life activities are functions such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, concentrating, thinking, and working as well as major bodily functions such as normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, immune system, and reproductive functions. This list is not exhaustive. 

A student requesting a disability accommodation must provide required documentation as described below. 

Supporting Documentation

Documentation of the requesting student’s disability shall be obtained at that student’s expense and must meet the criteria set forth in this Policy. Generally, the following is required:

  1. Qualified Professional: The documentation must include the professional credentials of the evaluator, including their licensure and area of specialization. Additional information about their experience with the diagnosis and treatment of adults in the appropriate field is recommended. The evaluator should not be a family member.
  2. Current Documentation: The current impact of a disability upon the student is at the crux of determining a reasonable accommodation and as such, documents submitted to support an accommodation request must be current.
  3. Comprehensive Evaluation: The student must include documentation of an evaluation of the student’s disability. The evaluation must be conducted by a qualified professional and must provide information in five areas:
    • a specific medical diagnosis of a physical, mental, or learning disability;
    • a description of how the diagnosis was confirmed based on established diagnostic criteria using diagnostic testing and methods currently utilized in professional practices within the relevant field; 
    • a description of how the disability limits a major life activity and of the expected duration of the limitation;
    • the requesting student’s history with the disability; and
    • specific recommendation(s) for reasonable accommodations and an explanation of the way in which the proposed accommodation will allow the student equal access to the programs and/or activities in question.

Accommodation Determinations

The Accessibility Coordinator will review the request form and documentation, individually consider each student’s needs, and engage in a collaborative process.

The Accessibility Coordinator may solicit input from other College employees regarding accommodation requests. The Accommodation Coordinator, Section 504 Coordinator, and ADA Coordinator are the only College employees authorized to determine whether a student has a properly documented disability and, through an interactive process, what reasonable accommodations the College may provide to the student. Each request receives individualized consideration and assessed on
that student’s needs and abilities.

Accommodations are reasonable when they do not fundamentally alter the nature of a program or service and do not represent an undue burden. Accordingly, it is imperative that students seeking disability accommodations promptly engage in the interactive process with the Accessibility Coordinator and their faculty.

Letter of Accommodations

The Accessibility Coordinator will email the student the approved accommodations and at the beginning of each academic term, the Accessibility Coordinator will email a letter about the accommodation(s) to the faculty of courses in which the student is registered (copied to the student and their academic advisor) or will work with the student to provide the letter to each faculty member. A student is responsible for providing a copy of their accommodation letter to their faculty and communicating with their faculty when they need to utilize their approved accommodation(s).

Requests for Modification or Continuation

It is the requesting student’s responsibility to inform the Accessibility Coordinator or Section 504 Coordinator of any changes to the disability or to request modifications to approved accommodations. Similarly, it is the student’s responsibility to request continuation of the approved accommodations beyond the time period set forth in the letter of accommodation. To request a continuance or modification, students may be required to provide supporting documentation and an updated request form. 

Confidentiality

The College is responsible for information disclosed by a student seeking accommodations and for maintaining this information in confidential files separate from the student’s academic file. Disability information is shared with faculty and staff on a limited “need to know” basis. 

Appeals and Grievances

If the student believes that the approved accommodation(s) does not fully address their functional limitations, then the student should contact the ADA/Section 504 Coordinator to discuss or initiate the Student Disability Grievance Process. The Student Disability Grievance Process includes informal resolution.