Accommodation Reconsideration Requests
Reasonable and Unreasonable Accommodations
A reasonable accommodation includes actions to eliminate or reduce physical or instructional barriers to learning, such as implementing academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids, or modifying practices, procedures, or policies.
Accommodations are individualized to a student’s needs. Reasonable accommodations are not required to produce the identical result or level of achievement for persons with and without disabilities, but must afford persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to obtain the same result, to gain the same benefit, or to reach the same level of achievement that is provided to others.
Accommodations are reasonable unless they:
- Alter or remove essential requirements
- Fundamentally alter the nature of the program
- Impose undue financial or administrative burden
- Pose an appreciable safety threat to the student or others
Accommodation Reconsideration Requests
Faculty have the right to request reconsideration of an approved academic adjustment or auxiliary aid in their program or course if they have concerns about the impact to the educational delivery or outcome of the course. Approved accommodations may not be unilaterally denied or modified by faculty. Rather, if an instructor believes an accommodation to be unreasonable per the definition above, they should contact DAR immediately. Together, instructors and DAR will engage in a deliberative process to determine whether an accommodation is reasonable.
The determination that an accommodation is unreasonable is an institutional decision that must be made through a deliberative process and within legal parameters. Such determinations require collaboration between faculty, DAR, and sometimes the academic department as well. At times, consultation with external consultants or institutions may be needed to inform the decision.
Unless there is an appreciable threat to the safety of the student or others, the approved accommodation must be active and implemented during the reconsideration process until an alternative decision, if any, is made to modify or alter it.