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.

It is the policy of Rasmussen University that students should have an opportunity to present school-related complaints through grievance procedures. The University will attempt to resolve promptly all grievances that are appropriate for handling under this policy.

An appropriate grievance is defined as a student’s expressed feeling of dissatisfaction regarding any interpretation or application of school-related policies or the University's personnel.

Students should notify the University in a timely fashion of any grievance considered appropriate for handling under this policy. As used in this policy, the terms "timely fashion," "reasonable time" and "promptly" will be 10 days. Students are assured that no adverse action will be taken by the University or by any of its representatives for registering a grievance.

Disability Accommodations: Grievance Procedure
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:

1. Meet with an Accommodations Officer (AO)
   • If the grievance is against the AO, the student should meet with the Campus Executive Director.
2. Submit Grievance
   • The AO (or Campus Executive Director) will work with the student and accept the written grievance on behalf of Rasmussen University. The grievance will be submitted to the Accommodations Committee.
3. Discuss Decision
   • The decision will be delivered to the AO (or Campus Executive Director), who will meet with the student and explain the decision of the committee and any options given.
4. Option to Appeal
   • If the student wishes to appeal the decision of the Accommodations Committee, a written appeal should be submitted to the AO (or Campus Executive Director).
5. Final Decision
   • The AO (or Campus Executive Director) will submit the appeal to the Provost, via the Legal Department. The Provost’s decision will be final and may not be appealed further.