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What is the difference between DAS accommodations and OIE supports?

Dear Aggie Banner

Dear Aggie,

I am used to receiving memos from Disability Access Services (DAS) about accommodations for students. I recently received a request for accommodations for a student from Office of Institutional Equity (OIE). Do you know why OIE would also be requesting accommodations for students?

~Understanding Accommodations

Dear Understanding,

Thank you for asking. This is an important issue, as we all want to support our students. DAS does indeed request accommodations for students with disabilities. Requests from OIE are for “supportive measures” for students involved in a Title IX event. While Dear Aggie is not an expert in these matters, let me try to summarize some key points that are important for us instructors to be aware of.

Office of Institutional Equity (OIE)

NMSU’s obligation under Title IX is to remedy the impact of a Title IX event on a student, with the overall goal of keeping them in school through  graduation. Title IX events broadly deal with discrimination in education programs and activities on the basis of sex, including sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, domestic violence and sexual misconduct.  NMSU’s obligation under federal law; including: Title IX, VAWA and the Campus SaVE Act is to keep students who have experienced a Title IX event in school, using supportive measures. Supportive measures should be applied as broadly as necessary to remedy any impact of a Title IX qualifying event.  As instructors, the supportive measures we need to be particularly aware of include the need to provide extensions on deadlines for course work (both assignments and exams), and to work with students regarding absences. Incompletes may be necessary, as well, even if the student did not meet the 50% threshold generally required for an incomplete. We need to be prepared to work with students and OIE to avoid an unnecessary withdrawal precipitated by the Title IX event.  Keep in mind, if OIE is issuing a notice regarding supportive measures, the student has reported a traumatic event.  Instructors should not ask questions about the event or why the student is involved with OIE.  Rather, the instructor should find time to speak to the student about the support they may need to complete the class.  One last note:  OIE handles all supportive measures for pregnant and parenting students, which fall under Title IX as well.

Disability Access Services (DAS)

NMSU has an obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act to provide reasonable accommodations for students with qualifying disabilities/medical conditions. DAS works with students to review their documentation and determine reasonable accommodations. The pandemic pushed various systems to adapt quickly to remote work and schooling and gave us more tools and ideas to incorporate into learning strategies at the university level. This has led to the DAS office working more frequently with faculty about what can be “reasonable”. Things like virtual participation in courses, providing recordings of lectures, designing alternative assignments used during the pandemic have helped students with injuries or significant relapses in health conditions finish a semester. DAS seeks to get faculty feedback before approving complex course accommodations to improve collaboration and success in implementing the accommodations.

We instructors then receive a memo that lists the accommodations, often with links to supporting information that provides additional details to help clarify the accommodations. As noted on the memo, not every student will use every accommodation in every class, so we should check in with students, if only to ask them to let us know which accommodations they anticipate using. This allows us to be prepared (e.g. with adding time to online exams, or working with the student to schedule extended time or a distraction-free area for in-person exams).

DAS accommodations may include

As a note, designing your course with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and including some built-in flexibility may allow a student to function perfectly well in your class without having to rely on accommodations (e.g. if you routinely provide closed captions for videos, or have an attendance and absence policy that already allows for some flexibility and make-ups). To the extent possible, we should try to design our courses so that students do not require any particular accommodation. Please keep in mind that designing your course with UDL does not guarantee that a student will not need to use their approved accommodations, and a student is always entitled to use their approved accommodations when needed.

OIE serves as the neutral investigatory unit for complaints of discrimination.  If a student with a disability believes that they have been discriminated against, based on their disability, or believes that an instructor has failed to accommodate the student, in accordance with their memo from DAS – the student may file a complaint with OIE (your syllabus likely has this language included).  Additionally, the Executive Director of OIE serves as the ADA Coordinator for the NMSU system – OIE and DAS consult on student matters.  OIE handles all employee requests for accommodation.

As a final consideration, we all need to do our best to work with all our students so that they can be successful. If you encounter a situation in which a student with a documented disability/accommodations or supportive measures is struggling to meet your course objectives, reach out to DAS or OIE to discuss the situation. They are more than willing to work with faculty, and, in some circumstances, may be able to assist with things like late or retroactive or medical withdrawals. It is  never appropriate for an instructor to tell a student with an accommodation or supportive measures to withdraw from their class.  Such a step should be considered only as a last resort, or at the request of the student, and always done in consultation with DAS or OIE as appropriate.

Sincerely,

Aggie


If you have a teaching question for Dear Aggie, please e-mail her at dearaggie@nmsu.edu