Disability Accommodations Overview
Webster's Accommodation Process involves four steps which may be repeated multiple times. It can be started or stopped at any point, and students who initially opt out of the accommodations process can reverse their decision at any point in their Webster career. However, we do advise incoming students who know they will require accommodations to consult the ARC or their local site director as early as possible. Student who feel that their disabilities have not been properly accommodated at Webster are invited to view our ADA Grievance Policy.
1. Student Request and Documentation
All students accepted by Webster receive a letter which states that Webster provides services for students with documented disabilities and directs them to contact the ARC Director, the Site Director, or their designees to discuss documentation and to request accommodations. Documentation of the student's disability must be provided by a qualified professional. Students who develop or discover additional disabilities during their time at Webster may need to submit additional documentation to ensure that adequate accommodation is provided for them.
2. Eligibility Evaluation
Decisions regarding accommodations are the result of joint consultation between the student and the ARC or local site staff designated to coordinate disability accommodations. These decisions are based on the student's disability, prior accommodation history, suggestions in the documentation, recommendations of prior instructors, and best practices criteria.
Applications for class waivers and course substitutions are submitted to the Chairman of the student's declared major department and to the Dean of the School in which the department resides. Decisions about class waivers must be submitted to the chair of the student's major department and are subject to the department's designation of the specific class or skill as an essential or a non-essential element of that major.
3. Faculty Notification
After receiving the student's permission, the Webster ARC or the site staff will send each term's current instructors a written notification listing the accommodations and auxiliary aids approved for each student with a disability who is registered in his or her class(es). A similar letter is also sent to the student's academic advisor when s/he is first documented. The purpose of the letter is to prepare the instructor and advisor for auxiliary aids that may impact the classroom (e.g., a guide dog, a sign interpreter), to specify accommodations to which the student is legally entitled (e.g., extended time on tests), to enlist instructor assistance in providing accommodations (e.g., help in locating a volunteer note taker, wearing a lapel microphone), and to provide information that has instructional ramifications (e.g., needs visual cues) or about disabilities that could create crisis situations in the classroom (e.g., diabetes, epilepsy). To avoid the negative attitudes sometimes attached to particular labels, specific diagnostic terminology is used only when obvious (e.g., vision or hearing impairment) or when it provides behavioral management suggestions or information (e.g., Tourette's or Asperger Syndromes).
4. Effectiveness Evaluation
Throughout a student's career at Webster University, information from instructors, from advisors, and from the student is used to assess the effectiveness of his or her current accommodations. Faculty or student feedback indicating that an accommodation is ineffective or unnecessary often results in its elimination and/or the substitution of one that may prove more effective. Amended notification letters are then constructed and sent, and the new accommodations are implemented and subsequently assessed by faculty and students for their effectiveness.
Whenever a student is dissatisfied with the accommodations, aids or waivers provided, that student may file a grievance with the Director of the Academic Resource Center or the Site Director. This grievance should be filed as soon as possible after a specific incident, or within a reasonable amount of time after the services are put in place.
Informal Grievance
If the student is not satisfied with the resolution worked out by the Director of the Academic Resource Center or Site Director, he or she may obtain an Informal Grievance Form in the Academic Resource Center and file an informal grievance with a department chair or higher level administrator. Grievance forms will be held in confidential files in the Academic Resource Center and in the appropriate administrator’s office. The appropriate administrator or a designee will render a decision within ten (10) working days. If the decision is not acceptable to the student, he or she may initiate a Formal Grievance Process.
Formal Grievance
The Formal Grievance Procedure has two steps:
Step One of the Formal Grievance Procedure consists of a decision by the appropriate administrator which is rendered within 10 days of receipt of the formal grievance form. If the student is satisfied with this decision, the process ends here. If not, it proceeds to Step Two.
Step Two of the Formal Grievance Procedure ensues when the resolution of Step One is not satisfactory to the student. If this occurs, the issue will be submitted to an appointed Hearing Committee designated by Webster’s ADA Coordinator. A working appeal will be presented during this meeting and submitted to the President within 10 days. The President or an authorized representative will render a written decision and reasons for the decision within five (5) days following receipt of the appeal. The President’s decision shall be final.
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