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600.070 Policy Related to Students with Disabilities

Executive Order No. 21, 11-1-84; Amended 2-25-97; Amended 2-9-17 with an effective date of 3-1-17; Amended 2-10-20; Bd. Min. 9-24-20.

  1. Equality of Access – The University of Missouri strives to assure that no qualified person with a disability shall, solely by reason of the disability, be denied access to, participation in, or the benefits of any program or activity operated by the University. Each such qualified person shall receive reasonable accommodations to provide equally effective access to educational opportunities, programs, and activities in the most integrated setting appropriate unless provision of such reasonable accommodation would constitute an undue hardship on the University or would substantially alter essential elements of the academic program or course of study or would otherwise compromise academic standards. This policy shall apply to all programs, services, and activities of the University, including but not limited to recruitment, admissions, registration, financial aid, academic programs, advising, counseling, student health, housing and employment.
  2. Federal and State Laws – This policy is intended to be consistent with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which states that no recipient of federal financial assistance may discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities solely by reason of disability. This policy is also intended to be consistent with the Americans with Disabilities act of 1990 and the Missouri Human Rights Act.
  3. Facilities – Each program or activity, when viewed in its entirety, shall be accessible to otherwise qualified and eligible students with disabilities. Facilities, or parts of facilities, constructed or renovated for the University’s use will be designed and built so that they are accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, in accordance with the ADA Accessibility Guidelines or other accessibility standards properly adopted by the campus. Accessible on-campus housing and food service will be provided at the same cost and with the same program options to qualified students with disabilities as are afforded to non-disabled students. When any University classes, programs or activities are held in private facilities, thorough efforts shall be made to obtain facilities which are accessible.
  4. Coordination of Programs and Services for Students with Disabilities
    1. Campus disability support service (DSS) offices or other designated campus units are responsible for coordination of programs, services, and classroom accommodations for qualified applicants for admission and qualified enrolled students with disabilities. Such coordination relates solely to disability issues. Determinations as to whether a student is otherwise qualified often will be based on the academic requirements developed by the faculty. Specific services available to qualified students with disabilities will be provided by the University in conformity with the requirements of federal and state law.
    2. All applicants and students seeking disability-related services and/or accommodations must disclose the presence of a specific disability to DSS. Before receiving requested services and/or accommodations, the student will be required to provide the DSS office with current medical or other diagnostic documentation of a disability from a qualified physician or other qualified diagnostician, as well as current documentation of the need for accommodations. In cases where existing documentation is incomplete or outdated, students may be required to provide additional documentation at the student’s expense. All documentation related to an applicant or student’s disability shall be kept confidential and retained by DSS. The DSS file shall be maintained separately from other student records maintained by the University.
    3. It is the applicant/student’s responsibility to self-identify, to provide current and adequate documentation of a disability, and to request accommodations, through the DSS office. The appropriate documentation must be provided in a timely manner to ensure full resolution of accommodations prior to the student’s entrance into the program or course of study. However, a request can be made at any time. Documentation review and accommodations planning by DSS, including consultation with faculty and/or other campus entities that may be affected in providing accommodations, will be done on an individualized case-by-case basis.
    4. Reasonable classroom accommodations will be provided to otherwise qualified and eligible students with disabilities who have self-identified and who have provided satisfactory documentation in support of their timely request for such accommodations, in compliance with federal and state mandates. These accommodations shall not affect the substance of the educational programs or compromise educational standards.
    5. In addition to providing accommodations needed to ensure nondiscrimination in access to educational opportunities by otherwise qualified students with disabilities, the University is responsible for ensuring that no qualified disabled student is denied the benefits of or excluded from participation in a University program because of the absence of auxiliary aids, services, and/or other reasonable accommodations. Auxiliary aids, services, and/or other accommodations include but are not limited to interpreters (sign or oral), readers, scribes, adaptive equipment, and other appropriate services or equipment necessary for course or program accessibility.
    6. Determinations as to whether and what reasonable services and accommodations shall be provided to qualified applicants for admission and qualified enrolled students with disabilities will be made initially by the coordinator of DSS or the coordinator’s designee (hereafter “the Coordinator”). The Coordinator will consult with appropriate faculty members regarding whether the provision of services and/or accommodations would substantially alter essential elements of the educational program or course of study or otherwise compromise academic standards and discuss appropriate methods for implementation of the services and/or accommodations. Faculty members will not be consulted on the issue of whether the student has a disability and the Coordinator will not share documentation of the student’s disability with faculty members. If the Coordinator and faculty member(s) are unable to reach agreement regarding the determination of whether and what reasonable services and accommodations shall be provided and/or the implementation of those services and/or accommodations, such disagreement shall be described in writing promptly and submitted to the Chancellor or Designee for resolution in a prompt manner.
    7. Initial determinations and any disagreements submitted to the Chancellor or Designee (hereafter “the Chancellor”) will take into consideration all relevant factors including, but not limited to, the following:
      1. Current documentation of the specific disability and of the need for the requested services or accommodations;
      2. The essential elements of the academic program or course of study being pursued;
      3. The fact that the law does not require a University to substantially alter essential elements of its academic program or course of study or to otherwise compromise its academic standards.
    8. While funding for accommodations to ensure equally effective access is provided by the University, funding for auxiliary aids, accommodations, and/or services in some instances may be shared with state vocational rehabilitation agencies. The law does not require and the University does not provide prescription devices or other devices/services of a personal nature (e.g. personal attendants) for students with disabilities.
  5. Establishment of Campus Policies – Chancellors are directed to establish campus policies and/or procedures consistent with this order. These should cover, at a minimum, treatment of disability-related information and appropriate regard for confidentiality, responsibilities of students in applying for services through DSS, time lines to assure that students make accommodation requests in a timely manner, guidelines to assure that disability documentation is reasonably current, a description of the process of individualized assessment of each student’s disability documentation and accommodation request(s), the role of faculty in determining the essential elements of the academic program or course of study and the academic standards involved in the accommodations planning and review process within the context of academic program requirements. Any complaints of disability discrimination or failure to accommodate should be processed through the appropriate Title IX or Equity Resolution Process (See Sections 600.030, 600.040, and 600.050).
  6. Retaliation – Retaliation is any adverse action taken against a person because of that person’s participation in protected activity. The University strictly prohibits retaliation against any person for: seeking an accommodation pursuant to this policy, filing a Complaint of discrimination based on disability, or participating in an investigation or proceeding concerning allegations of discrimination based on disability. Any person who engages in such retaliation shall be subject to the disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion or termination, in accordance with applicable procedures. Any person who believes they have been subjected to retaliation is encouraged to promptly notify the Equity Officer or Title IX Coordinator. The University will promptly investigate all complaints of retaliation.

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