(Note: This document is used with the permission of the University of Montana)

Yes, it is possible not to pass a student with a disability. The secret centers on compliance with the civil rights laws which prohibit discrimination. These laws mandate access to education, not guaranteed academic success. When a faculty member has done all that is required, then flunking the under-qualified student is proper and lawful. Here's a compliance checklist:

Stand by academic standards and freedoms. Full and equitable access to academic programs serves as the foundation to standards and freedoms.

Communicate clear and concise expectations for performance to your students. Care should be taken to distinguish between essential and non-essential components of the course.

Allow reasonable accommodations. Accommodations are changes in the way things are done and affect only non-essential aspects of a course. They are reasonable so long as course standards are not fundamentally altered.

Notify students of your willingness to accommodate. This can be done verbally during lectures and in writing within a course syllabus. Student Disability Services (SDS) recommends both. Sample syllabus statement:

It is the responsibility of any student with a disability who requests a reasonable accommodation to contact the Office of Student Disability Services (915-7128). SDS will then contact the instructor through the student by means of an Instructor Notification of Classroom Accommodations form.

Consult with the student and SDS staff. Students are required to disclose a disability and request accommodations through the SDS office. They are also required to submit, to the SDS office, documentation which supports their requests. If requesting direct classroom accommodations, students are required to deliver an Instructor Notification of Classroom Accommodations form to each instructor from whom they will need accommodation. If a student does not have this form, faculty should request that the student contact SDS in order to get an Instructor Notification of Classroom Accommodations form. We furnish everything relevant an instructor needs to know.

Permit students to use auxiliary aids and technologies which ensure access. Depending on the disability, students may use notetakers, sign language interpreters, readers, scribes, and research assistants. Others may use tape recorders/players, computers, assistive listening devices, and other technologies for the same purpose.

When requested, provide alternatives to printed information such as Braille, computer electronic, text, large print, and tape cassettes. If Internet resources and other technologies are used, then they must be accessible to students with disabilities as they are for other students. Also, if using video or audio formats, ensure that the information relayed is in accessible form, such as closed captioning or transcription. SDS produces or provides most of these alternate formats.

Make academic adjustments in instruction. Some students need lecturers to face the audience while speaking. Others may need written instructions or graphic information spoken aloud or described. Adjustments such as these may be made after the student requests them.

Grant testing accommodations. Again, depending on the particular needs of a student, it may be necessary to extend testing times, test in a quiet environment and so on. Testing accommodations will be listed on each student's Instructor Notification of Classroom Accommodations form.

Contact SDS with any questions or concerns regarding the granting of academic accommodations to students with disabilities.

Regard disability-related discussions and information with the strictest confidentiality. No professor has the right to destroy program access by ignoring confidentiality.

Document your efforts to accommodate students with disabilities.

And there you have it. If compliance checks out, don't pass the student who isn't otherwise qualified. Although it is possible for any student to file a complaint, it is another matter entirely to show discrimination when faculty have complied with the law. For more information, call the staff members at 915-7128.

Office of Student Disability Services
234 Martindale Center
915-7128
sds@olemiss.edu

SDS revised 12/2006