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ACCESS:
A BALANCE OF RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES
"Ohio State provides accessible,
high-quality undergraduate and graduate education for qualified students
who are able to benefit from a scholarly environment in which research
inspires and informs teaching. At Ohio State, we celebrate and learn from
our diversity and we value individual differences. Academic Freedom is
defended within an environment of civility, tolerance, and mutual respect."
(From the Mission and Vision Statement, 12/04/92)
The rights and responsibilities summarized here serve as a foundation for translating the university's vision into a common understanding of access for individuals with disabilities. They are firmly rooted in our mission, our legal obligations, and, most importantly, our social commitment. The document is divided into two large sections. The first section lays out rights and responsibilities surrounding our instructional mission. The second section lays out the rights and responsibilities in the context of employment. Comments should be directed to the ADA Coordinator's Office at ada-osu@osu.edu.
ACCESS
TO INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS
Access for Individuals
with Disabilities
As a matter of policy The Ohio State University is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, policies and procedures will ensure that
persons with disabilities arel not subjected to discrimination or denied
full and equal access to programs (academic, co-curricular or employment),
activities, benefits or services offered by the university on the basis of their disability.
Rights and Responsibilities
This document is designed to guide the development of policies and procedures throughout the university and to ensure the full translation of the university's commitment to inclusion at a daily operational level. There are two equally important areas of rights and responsibilities: (a) the right of the students with disabilities to participate in programs based on their qualifications; and (b) the right of the university to set and maintain standards for admitting and evaluating the progress of students.
Unit-level policy and procedure should be congruent with this framework and rely on the Office for Disability Services (ODS) for evaluating student accommodation needs. Procedures for notice, accommodation requests, and dispute resolution should be integrated with existing decision-making channels whenever appropriate. Separate procedures should be developed only when necessary to address the unique nature of access. Students are expected to work with ODS to document and implement accommodations. Questions about disability-related requests, policies or grievances should be directed to: The ADA Coordinator’s Office: (v) (614) 292-6207; (tty) (614) 688-8605 or ADA-OSU@osu.edu.
The
Rights and Responsibilities of Students with Disabilities
A student with a disability
has a right to an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit
from programs offered at The Ohio State University. Students
who choose to exercise these rights have a responsibility to
initiate and participate in the accommodation process. Recognizing
this, students:
- are entitled to an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from the academic community. This includes access to instruction, services, extracurricular activities, housing, and transportation at a level comparable to any student;
- are entitled to an equal opportunity to learn. If the location, delivery system or instructional methodology limits their acces, participation or ability to benefit. They have a right to reasonable alterations in those aspects of the course (or program) to accommodate their disability;
- have a responsibility to identify themselves
as needing accommodation in a timely fashion;
- have a responsibility to provide documentation from an appropriate professional that describes the impact of their disability in the university environment and provides a rationale for the requested accommodation;
- have a responsibility to actively participate in the identification of appropriate accommodations and auxiliary aids;
- have the same obligation as any student to meet and maintain the institution's academic standards, technical standards, and codes of conduct;
- have
a right to be evaluated based on their ability, not their disability. If their disability affects the outcome of an evaluation format, they are entitled to an evaluation by alternate means if the alternative measures the essential skills, knowledge or abilities;
- have a right to appeal decisions concerning accommodations. For information on appeal processes, contact the university’s ADA Coordinator’s Office.
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The
Rights and Responsibilities of the University
The Ohio State University
has a responsibility to identify and maintain the academic and
technical standards that are fundamental in providing quality
academic programs while ensuring access to students with disabilities.
In meeting these obligations the university:
- has the responsibility to insure
that all of its programs (not necessarily all physical facilities)
are accessible;
- has the responsibility
to inform its applicants and students about the availability
and the range of accommodations;
- has the right to request and review documentation in support of accommodation requests. The Office for Disability Services is designated to review student documentation. The university has the right to refuse a request that is unsupported by the documentation;
- and its faculty have a right to select between equally effective methods of accommodating a student with a disability;
- has the right to identify and establish the abilities, skills, and knowledge necessary for successful entrance into its programs and to evaluate applicants on that basis;
- and its faculty have the right to identify and establish the abilities, skills, and knowledge that are fundamental to their academic programs/courses and to evaluate each student's performance on that basis;
- has the responsibility to make reasonable adjustments in the delivery, instructional method, and evaluation format for a course when there is a substantial negative interaction with the impact of a student’s disability;
- has the responsibility to adjust, substitute or waive any course or program requirement in which there is a substantial negative interaction with the impact of a disability and is not fundamental to the student's academic program;
- has the right to refuse a requested accommodation that fundamentally alters an essential course or program requirement or creates an undue hardship as determined by the university’s ADA Coordinator.
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The Classroom Accommodation Request Process for Students can be viewed at:
http://ada.osu.edu/resources/classrequestprocess.
ACCESS IN THE WORKPLACE
Section 4.44 of the University's
policy manual states "It is the policy of The Ohio State University
that discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities
is prohibited"
The draft below is meant
to serve as a starting point for translating the University's policy
into a common understanding of access for individuals with disabilities.
The document is firmly rooted our mission, legal obligations and social
commitment. Once completed, the document will represent the University's
commitment to access and serve as a guide for the development of policies
and procedures. Comments should be directed to the ADA Coordinator's
Office at ada-osu@osu.edu.
Rights
and Responsibilities of Individuals with Disabilities
An individual with
a disability has a right to an equal opportunity to participate
in and benefit from employment, employee benefits, and employee
privileges offered by The Ohio State University. To ensure this
right, individuals with disabilities at The Ohio State University:
- have
the same obligation as any other employee to meet and maintain
the institution's employment, technical, and performance standards;
- have the right to an equal opportunity to work.
They have a right to reasonable modifications in aspects of
their employment
such as location,
equipment or procedures that limit access, participation or ability
to benefit.
- have the right to an equal opportunity to participate
in and benefit from The Ohio State University community.
This includes access to services
and benefits, when viewed in their entirety, that are comparable
to those provided to any employee;
- have the responsibility
to advocate for their own individual needs and to seek information,
counsel, and assistance as
necessary to
be effective self-advocates;
- have the right to confidentiality
of all information and have the right to choose to whom information
about their disabilities
will be
disclosed;
- have the responsibility to demonstrate or document
how their disabilities limit their ability to perform a particular
job
function when they
make a request for a modification. If the disability
is not obvious, the individual
must provide documentation from an appropriate professional;
- have the right to information regarding the availability
of auxiliary aids and possible
modifications as well as procedures for making requests
for either;
- have the responsibility to follow published procedures
for making such requests and to do so in a
timely fashion;
- have the right to be informed of procedures
for initiating an appeal of a decision by the institution
regarding
auxiliary aids or modifications;
- have the responsibility
to follow published procedures for filing an appeal;
- have the
right to be informed of procedures for initiating further
appeal of an institutional
decision
through external
channels. This
typically would be done through filing a complaint
with the Office of Civil Rights
or filing a case through the civil court system.
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Rights
and Responsibilities of the University
The Ohio State University
recognizes that its basic responsibility is to identify and maintain
the technical standards and essential functions that are fundamental
to providing quality academic programs and services while ensuring
the rights of individuals with disabilities. To meet this obligation,
The Ohio State University:
- has the right to identify and establish
the abilities, skills, and knowledge necessary for successful
performance and to evaluate applicants
and employees on this basis;
- has the responsibility to ensure that
its recruitment, application, and training information and
activities are available in accessible
formats and facilities;
- has the responsibility to select and administer
the methods used to evaluate applicants and employees so
as to best ensure that the
results
accurately reflect skills, aptitude, performance or competencies
and do not discriminate against an individual with a disability.
Methods
designed to measure specific skills;
- related to fundamental standards/essential
job functions are allowable even when those skills are impacted
by the disability;
- has the responsibility to ensure that all
of its programs, viewed in their entirety, including but
not limited to, employee
privileges
and benefits are accessible and usable;
- has the responsibility
to adjust, substitute or waive any duties or requirements
that unfairly discriminate against an
employee
with a disability
and that are not essential functions of the employee's
position;
- has the responsibility to make reasonable modifications
for an employee with a disability in the setting, equipment,
and
procedures associated
with the position;
- has the right to request and receive
documentation that supports requests for modifications. The
University has
a right to deny
a request if the
documentation demonstrates that no modification is
necessary or if the individual fails to provide such documentation;
- has the right to select among equally effective
modifications;
- has the right to refuse an unreasonable modification
or one that imposes an undue hardship on the University
- has the responsibility to inform its applicants
and employees about the availability of auxiliary
aids and
the range of
possible modifications
as well as the procedures for requesting them.
If a request for a modification is denied, The Ohio
State
University
has the responsibility
to inform
the individual of his or her right to appeal
the decision and the procedures for initiating an appeal.
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