Disability Services

The term "accommodation" may be used to describe an alteration of environment, curriculum format, or equipment that allows an individual with a disability to gain access to content and/or complete assigned tasks.

Accommodations allow students with disabilities to pursue a regular course of study. Since accommodations do not alter what is being taught, instructors should be able to implement the same grading scale for students with disabilities as they do for students without disabilities.

Students at private, post-secondary institutions are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act as Amended (ADAAA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. When serving students with disabilities, institutions must comply with these laws, which stipulate those institutions:

• Cannot discriminate in college recruitment, admission or after admission based solely on a student’s disability
• Are required to make individual, reasonable accommodations at no cost to students with documented disabilities (Please note that accommodations that would cause an undue hardship on the University may not be granted.)
• Will provide equal access and participation to students who qualify for an educational program
• Make modifications “as necessary” to ensure that academic requirements are nondiscriminatory
• Inform students of available services, academic adjustments, and the name of the coordinator of support services (These are the Accommodations Officers and Liaisons.)
• Provide written information on how to access services or request accommodations

Accommodations can include services, teaching approaches, compensatory strategies, and changes or modifications in the learning environment that enable students with documented disabilities to demonstrate their ability to perform the essential skills and functions required in a program or course. Accommodations are intended to ensure equal access to learning opportunities, to allow equal program participation, and/or to remove barriers to demonstrating learning. Appropriate accommodations are specific to the unique need of an individual student which is supported by their physician and approved by the Accommodations Committee. For example, an interpreter can provide access to lectures and discussions for a student who has an auditory disability. The knowledge that is to be learned by the student remains the same as for all students; thus, requests that modify the learning objectives or assessments, or create “advantages” are not considered appropriate at the post-secondary level.

Post-secondary institutions may provide academic adjustments if they do not change course outcomes or program requirements or place an undue burden on the institution. Reducing the acceptable level of skill required to pass an exam or assignment may result in a student not mastering a task that is required for safe and competent performance in the student’s chosen field. Modifications such as this are not appropriate in preparing students for successful futures. Instead, post-secondary education institutions provide approved accommodations to students with documented disabilities including, but not limited to:

• Assistive technology
• Testing accommodations
• Instructor lecture notes
• Readers
• Interpreters/transcriptions
• Preferential seating

You oversee your own future. While there are laws put in place to protect you, as a student entering post-secondary education, it is necessary that you advocate for yourself. As a student, you are encouraged to:

• Understand your disability and provide current documentation verifying the disability
• Contact an Accommodations Officer when accommodations are needed and/or if there are concerns/questions
• Notify instructors of approved accommodations by giving each a copy of the Accommodations Plan
• Talk to instructors and work out arrangements for accommodations as soon as they are approved
• Arrange for those support services that are not available in the post-secondary education setting (personal services or items of a personal nature)

All students can experience success in a post-secondary environment by demonstrating the following characteristics of successful students:

• Be motivated and goal-oriented
• Be academically prepared
• Demonstrate self-advocacy skills
• Demonstrate organizational skills
• Demonstrate time-management skills

Rasmussen University is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in education. Rasmussen University admits students without regard to their race, color, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, ancestry, disability, veteran status, marital status, prenatal status, or any other protected status to all the rights, privileges, programs, and other activities generally accorded or made available to students at Rasmussen University. The University does not discriminate against individuals of any protected status in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs and other Rasmussen University administered programs and activities. Otherwise-qualified persons are not subject to discrimination based on disability.

If a student believes that Rasmussen University has inadequately applied the principles and/or regulations of the Rehabilitation Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or believes they have experienced discrimination because of a disability, they should file a grievance following these steps below.

Informal Resolution
The student is encouraged to first attempt to resolve the issue informally and directly with the individual or entity responsible for the concern, wherein safe and feasible.

Disability Accommodations Grievance Procedures
If the issue is not resolved informally, the complainant may submit a grievance by completing the Disability Accommodations Grievance Form within ten (10) business days of the complaint or the conclusion of the informal resolution. The link to the Disability Accommodations Grievance Form can be found at https://guides.rasmussen.edu/disputeresolutionpolicies

The Disability Accommodations Grievance Committee will have fifteen (15) business days from the date submitted to conduct a thorough review and render a written decision to the grievance.

Disability Accommodation Grievance Appeal Procedure
The complainant may only appeal the grievance decision of the Disability Accommodations Grievance Committee for the following reasons:

• A procedural irregularity that affected the outcome of the matter.
• New evidence that was not reasonably available at the time of the decision.
• Evidence that the outcome was not supported by the findings.
• Evidence of bias or conflict of interest.

To appeal, the student must complete the Disability Accommodations Grievance Appeal Form within ten (10) business days of receiving the Committee’s decision. The link to the appeal form can be found at https://guides.rasmussen.edu/disputeresolutionpolicies. The University’s Provost will have thirty (30) business days from receipt of the appeal to either grant or deny the appeal. The decision of the Provost is final.

No retaliatory action may be taken by the University or any of its representatives against those who have a complaint or submit a grievance, participate in the resolution process, or are the subject of the matter. The University will investigate and attempt to resolve each grievance made under these policies and any associated allegations of retaliation.