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Student Disability Policy

  
Disability Policy
       Lewis & Clark College is committed to serving the needs of its disabled students. The College provides a full-time Coordinator of Student Support Services in the Student Development Center who is available to ensure that disabled students receive all of the benefits of a comprehensive selection of services and a formal Student Disability Grievance Procedure which provides prompt and equitable resolution of any complaints arising out the College's responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and other pertinent federal, state, and local disability anti-discrimination laws.
       Lewis & Clark recognizes physical and mental disabilities that included mobility, sensory, health, psychological, and learning disabilities, and provides reasonable accommodations once the disability is adequately documented. While Lewis & Clark's legal obligations only extend to disabilities of a substantial and long term nature, it is also the College's practice to honor reasonable requests for accommodations for temporary disabilities such as a physical injury, illness or pregnancy.
       It is the responsibility of the student to make his or her disability and needs known in a timely fashion and to provide appropriate documentation and evaluations to support the accommodations the student requests. A student with a disability who requires accommodations must notify the Coordinator of Student Support Services in the Student Development Center (in the case of undergraduate and graduate students) or the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (in the case of Law School students) of his or her desire for accommodations as soon after admission as possible. Students must not assume that this information is known to either of these offices because the student's application indicated the presence of a disability. Once the College has been notified and specific accommodations are requested and appropriately documented, the College works with the student to obtain the approved accommodations to ensure the student has the best possible opportunity to succeed.
       The procedures for obtaining accommodations differ among the Northwestern School of Law, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Professional Studies. However, the services each offers are quite similar and the procedures are all intended to effectively provide for the appropriate needs of the disabled student within the structure and policies of each school.

Undergraduate and Graduate Students:
       Requests for accommodations should be routed through the Coordinator of Student Support Services within the Student Development Center in Templeton College Center.

Law Students:
       All arrangements for accommodations for law students must be routed through the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the Law School. In some cases, the adjustments will be made in consultation with faculty but individual faculty members will not make accommodations directly with students. In a like manner, all exam modification requests from law students are also to be directed to the Associated Dean of Academic Affairs of the Law School. Because of the time required to make arrangements to accommodate these requests, Law School students with long term or permanent disabilities must make such requests no later than one month before the last day of classes. Exam accommodation request must be renewed each semester.


Documentation of Disabilities

       Lewis & Clark will honor requests for reasonable accommodations only for adequately documented disabilities. The assessment documentation must provide data that supports the requests for any academic adjustments and must be submitted to the Coordinator of Student Support Services of the Student Development Center or the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the Law School, as appropriate. In the event that a student requests an academic adjustment or accommodation that is not supported by the assessment documentation, or if the initial verification is incomplete or inadequate to determine the extent of the disability, then it is incumbent on the student to obtain supplemental testing or assessment. The cost of obtaining all professional assessment and documentation is borne by the student. Proper documentation includes the following:

1. Physical Disabilities:
  The documentation must reflect the student's present level of functioning in regard to the major life activity that is impaired.

2. Learning Disabilities:
  The student is responsible for providing professional testing and evaluation results which reflect the individual's present level of processing information and present achievement level. Documentation verifying the learning disability must:
(A) be prepared by a professional qualified to diagnose a learning disability, including but not limited to a licensed physician, learning disability specialist, or psychologist;
(B) include the testing procedures followed, the instruments used to assess the disability, the test results, and a written interpretation of the test results by the professional;
(C) reflect the individual's present level of functioning in the achievement areas of: reading comprehension, reading rate, written expression, writing mechanics and vocabulary, writing, grammar, mathematical/nonverbal reasoning and spelling;
(D) reflect the individual's present level of functioning in the areas of intelligence and processing skills.

3. Psychological Disabilities:
 

If a student has a psychological disability which affects academic performance or takes medication which causes a similar effect, documentation from a psychologist or medical doctor is required which details the effects of the disability and/or the medication on the student's academic performance.


Reasonable Accommodations
      Reasonable accommodations may include but are not limited to course load modifications, exam accommodations, readers, interpreters, notetakers, taped textbooks, and additional time to complete assignments. Students may request specific accommodations and professional health care providers who verify the disability may recommend specific accommodations. However, Lewis & Clark will have the responsibility for making the final decision on accommodations. This decision will be made on the basis of the documentation provided and the requirements of the academic program. Accommodations will not be considered reasonable if they fundamentally alter the nature of the program or if they would be unduly burdensome for the College, either financially or administratively.

Arranging for Approved Accommodations
1. Undergraduate and Graduate Students
       The Coordinator of Student Support Services must approve accommodations for a disability. Once accommodations are approved, the Coordinator will work out the requested and approved accommodation arrangements with individual faculty. In each case the professor will receive written notice of the accommodations that have been requested and approved if the student gives permission for the professor to be notified.
       In the case of a student with a documented learning disability, the Coordinator of Student Support Services will complete an official Notice of Disability form which is sent to each faculty member each semester whom the student requests to make accommodations. In all other cases of a documented disability, a letter will be sent to each professor that will explain the accommodations that have been approved by the Coordinator of Student Support Services for that particular class at the student's request. Professors are not permitted to grant accommodations that have not been approved in advance in writing by the Coordinator of Student Support Services.
       All approved accommodations will be implemented as soon as possible by the Student Support Services office. However, students are strongly encouraged to make accommodation requests to the Coordinator of Student Support Services as early in the semester as possible to allow the professor the opportunity to plan for their needs once the requests have been approved and the professor notified. In particular, exam modification requests should be made to the Coordinator of Student Support Services at least two weeks in advance (three weeks in the case of final exams) to allow time to work out appropriate arrangements.
       If a faculty or staff member hesitates to comply with the requested accommodations because of concerns regarding alteration of the academic program or standards, the Coordinator of Student Support Services will work out arrangements which will best meet the needs of the instructor, the student and the College. If agreement between the Coordinator and the faculty member cannot be reached, the matter will be appealed by the Coordinator of Student Support Services to the appropriate department chair or dean.
2. Law Students
       All arrangements for accommodations for law students must be routed through the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the Law School (at extension 6648), as noted above in Section I.