Legal Requirements & Reporting

Definition of Disability

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Links to an external site., a person with a disability is someone who:

  • has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,
  • has a history or record of such an impairment (such as cancer that is in remission), or
  • is perceived by others as having such an impairment (such as a person who has scars from a severe burn).

If a person has a condition that falls into any of these categories, the ADA protects them. If the ADA qualifying condition presents a functional limitation in an educational setting, then the ASC serves them! Please check out the "Who We Are & Who We Serve" page to learn more about the wide array of disabilities that our students experience. 

ADA Requirements and Beyond

Basic Accessibility 

Accessible course materials are requirements Links to an external site. for all faculty regardless of any incidence of disability in the classroom. It's not an accommodation, it's just the baseline requirement for accessibility for all students. If you're choosing books or media for your class, you will of course filter for several things: Does it have the right content? Is it teaching at the correct level? Is there diverse representation? In your process, please also include a filter for ensuring it is accessible.   

You can also find helpful resources at the California Community Colleges Accessibility Center Links to an external site. and the Chancellor's Office has a great FAQ document Links to an external site. about accessibility.  

Accommodations

Accommodations go beyond baseline requirements and necessitate some sort of change in access or approach. Accommodations are legally required academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and/or services that are designed to provide full and equitable access to the community college experience for students with qualifying disabilities. Detailed information about which students qualify, how they qualify, and the requirements of implementation of accommodations can be found in the Title 5 Guidelines Links to an external site. or you can refer back to Accommodation Basics. There is also helpful information about legal requirements at the CCC DSPS Training and Resources website Links to an external site.. 

Accommodations should always go through the ASC office (or on more rare occasions, the Title IX or ADA Coordinator Links to an external site.). It's important that students are connected to the ASC office for support beyond your class and throughout their educational journey. Additionally, accommodating in the classroom without going through the ASC, and therefore the interactive process, as required by law can become a legal liability. As Paul Grossman, disability legal expert, said recently at a conference, "Don't accommodate out of the kindness of your heart - refer to DSPS out of the kindness of your heart." This doesn't mean you can't be compassionate and flexible with students on the fly! What is the difference? If you would do it for any student for non-disability related reasons, then extend that to the student with a disability as well. If you are changing things up because of the impact of a disability and would not do the same for other students, please refer to the ASC. For example, if you would extend a deadline, change the timeline of an exam, or provide an alternate assignment for any student that was faced with an obstacle (e.g., got a flat tire on the way to class, their kid got sick, etc.), then that's just compassionate teaching. If you're excusing a student from an assignment or specific aspect of class due to their disability and wouldn't do it for another student and/or reason, we recommend you refer to ASC instead. 

Universal Design Links to an external site.

To be clear, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Links to an external site. is not a legal requirement. However, we do want to mention it here as one of the gold standards for accessibility. UDL is a framework approach that offers flexibility in learning and assessment in the classroom. As defined by Links to an external site.Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D Links to an external site., it "is the design of teaching and learning products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design". UDL applies to both the physical space and pedagogy Links to an external site. in a class. For example: lab stations that are able to accommodate people that are left or right handed and/or use a wheelchair; or using multiple methods to deliver course content such as a visual representation, audio version, and written explanation. Using UDL often eliminates the need for accommodation because the environment and/or material is already accessible! 

You can explore more about Universal Design through the new EDUC 400 - Universal Design for Learning class available at Cabrillo. You can even apply for alternate credit for salary advancement by taking the credited version of the class. 

Accommodation Conflicts

What do you do if you don't agree with an accommodation or you feel like it's not appropriate for your class? Talk to us! We're here to help support you and are happy to work with you to troubleshoot any issues that arise. The interactive process of meeting with us to discuss any issues is also part of the legal guidelines set up by both state and national governing bodies. It protects you, the student, and the college. Here's some more information about the lens the ASC uses to brainstorm solutions in these cases: 

The Implementing Guidelines for Title 5 Regulations Links to an external site. provided by the California Community College Chancellor's office is an in-depth handbook for how DSPS services must be implemented across the CCC system. The ASC also uses guidance from the national Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) Links to an external site., the California Association for Postsecondary Education and Disability (CAPED) Links to an external site., and the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights Links to an external site.. All of these resources are informed by the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Links to an external site. and include helpful guidance on how to navigate the situation if an accommodation appears like it may not be reasonable. 

Use of an accommodation is not reasonable if any of the following apply (credit to UCSC DRC Links to an external site.):

  1. It represents a fundamental alteration of the course or program objectives.
  2. It poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. Institutions must be able to document that there is a substantial risk of significant harm to someone other than the individual with a disability as the individual has a right to choose to assume the risk to self just as anyone else who participates does.
  3. It presents an undue financial or administrative burden. However, as a public institution, our financial capabilities for supporting accommodations is examined from the lens of the total resources of the State of California and not simply the campus or department level.

Before determining that an accommodation is not reasonable, we'll usually explore reasonable alternatives with the student and instructor. This is the most common and usually the easiest solution to a conflict with an accommodation. For instance, a student may have severe social anxiety and request an accommodation to not have to speak in class, but their Political Science class requires a presentation to demonstrate one of the SLO's for their course. A reasonable alternative to being excused from speaking in class might be that the student is allowed by the instructor to submit a video presentation instead of presenting in-person in front of the class. Through a conversation with the ASC, the instructor is able to clarify that the course objective was about verbally communicating information clearly and not performing, therefore a video accomplishes the objective without imposing a fundamental alteration to the curriculum. 

A fundamental alteration means any change to a course curriculum or course of study that is so significant that it alters the required objectives or content of the curriculum in the approved course outline. Let's take that same student and enroll her in a Communications public speaking class. The public speaking class explicitly lists performing speeches in front of an audience as a core learning objective for the course. Therefore, the same alternative for the same student who has severe social anxiety may not actually be reasonable and indeed present a fundamental alteration if they were enrolled in a Communications public speaking course. In this case, the ASC would likely work with the student to find a different class that fulfills the same degree requirement but has different learning objectives which don't conflict with the limitations presented by their disability.    

Reporting

If you have concerns about a student or accommodation, there are several avenues to report your concern. The first option, as mentioned several times already in this guide, is to talk to an ASC faculty member. Again, as your colleagues, we want to be your partner in serving Cabrillo students well and supporting them in being successful in their educational journey. We're happy to be on the same team! If a faculty member isn't available or you'd like to elevate your concern, you can also contact the ASC Director Links to an external site.. If you'd like to elevate your concern beyond the ASC office, you can contact the ACCESS dean Links to an external site., VP of Student Services Links to an external site., campus ADA coordinator Links to an external site. or human resources Links to an external site.. 

If your concern is primarily behavior-based, or about the student's basic needs (e.g., the student confides they're experiencing housing or food insecurity), you may want to file a Concern for Student Report with the Just Report It! Links to an external site.tool to refer the student to the Student Support and Care Team (SSCT). Representatives from across the campus including ASC, Student Health Services, Student Employment, Academic Counseling, and more are on the team and able to help connect students to whatever resource is appropriate for them. 

If a student has a concern that they'd like to elevate beyond the ASC office, they can use the Just Report It! student complaint/grievance form, talk to the campus ADA compliance officer, and/or file a complaint with the OCR Links to an external site..