Reasonable Accommodations for Credit Granting Programs

Hispanic Summer Program

Policies Regarding Disability and Reasonable Accommodations

Written in August, 2021

Approved by the HSP Education Committee on September 14, 2021

Adopted by the HSP Board on October 28, 2021

Updated: December 14, 2021

Purpose of this Document

Scholars estimate that roughly 12% of graduate students have disabilities (Harris and Gould, 2). These range from physical disabilities to learning and psychological disabilities that may require accommodations to ensure the student can fully participate in a learning environment. In addition to an ethical imperative to make our classrooms inclusive to a wide range of learners, and a pedagogical reality that accessible classrooms benefit all learners (not just students with disabilities), providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities is required by law. 

As a result, the purpose of this document is to stipulate how the HSP as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with an educational mission will comply with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) within the context of our credit granting academic programs, including, but not limited to, the HSP Summer Session and J-Term. 

Sec. I: Training and Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) seeks to build classrooms that are fully accessible for a wide range of learners, including students with disabilities. Research has shown that faculty trained in UDL better serve all students, leading to greater learning outcomes. In light of this reality:

1. One section of each annual Pedagogical Workshop for HSP faculty will be dedicated to UDL. a. An expert in the field will be hired to provide best practices in UDL and walk HSP faculty through concrete applications of UDL principles in their syllabi and lesson plans.
2. In the event that a Pedagogical Workshop is not held, Sec. I.A. of this policy is null and void.

Sec. II: Responsibilities for Documentation and Reasonable Accommodations

Though the HSP facilitates which courses are taught at our credit granting programs—including, but not limited to, the Summer Session and HSP J-Term—as well as the hiring and training of faculty, each year a different host institution provides credits to students for completing their course. Because the host institution is the credit granting institution, and because our host institutions already have fully functional disability services as required by law, the HSP will work with the host institution and the student’s home institution to facilitate any requests for reasonable accommodations. Policies and procedures for reasonable accommodations are as follows:

Definitions:

1. “Credit granting program” refers to any accredited program that offers credits the student can use towards their degree. Credit granting programs include, but are not limited to, the HSP Summer Session and HSP J-Term.
2. “The HSP” refers to the Hispanic Summer Program. The HSP partners with students and their “home institutions” as well as a “host institution.”
3. The “home institution” refers to the seminary or university a student is enrolled in part or full time. That institution will receive the credits the student earns at an HSP credit granting program and apply them towards the degree of the student.
4. The “host institution” refers to the accredited seminary or university who has partnered with the HSP on any given year to award credits for HSP students enrolled in a credit granting program as well as room, board, and classroom space (room, board, and classroom space are not applicable if the HSP course is held online). The “host institution” signs a memorandum of understanding with the HSP prior to the credit granting program taking place.

Responsibilities of The HSP:

1. The HSP will make available a Request for Academic Accommodations form for students to detail their disability, how it affects their learning, and what associated accommodations they request.
   • • This Request for Accommodations will be made available to the student when they apply to the HSP credit granting program, when they are accepted, and will be openly available at any time on the HSP website.
     • Students will have access to, and the ability to amend, this document at any point upon request.
     • This Request for Academic Accommodations form will be kept confidential and only shared with those parties consented to per Sec. II.B.b. of these policies.
2. The HSP will make available an online “Consent and Authorization to Disclose Disability Information Form” that gives consent to the HSP Director, Associate Director, and disability services manager of the host institution to discuss the student’s disability and accommodation with parties who have a legitimate educational interest in the student’s learning experience.
   • • These parties may include, but are not limited to, disability services staff at the host institution, disability services staff at the student’s home institution, and the HSP faculty member teaching the student’s course.
     • A student, per the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), may amend or withdraw consent at any point.
3. Upon receipt of forms stipulated in Sec. II.B.a. and Sec. II.B.b. of this policy, the HSP Director and/or Associate Director will contact the student’s home institution to request written confirmation of the student’s documented disability and reasonable accommodations offered at the home institution. This documentation will be sent directly to the host institution.
   • In the event that the student has not filed for reasonable accommodation at the home institution, the student will follow the policies and procedures.

Responsibilities of The Host Institution:

1. The host institution will be responsible for receiving and maintaining documentation pertinent to reasonable accommodations.
   • • All documentation will be kept confidential and only shared per consent detailed in Sec. II.B.b. of this policy.
     • Destruction of these documents after an allotted period of time will follow the internal policies of the host institution.
2. Upon the consent of the student as outlined in Sec. II.B.b. of this policy, the host institution will share the nature of reasonable accommodation requests with the HSP Director, Associate Director, and HSP faculty member who is teaching the student’s course during the credit granting program. This team will then make a determination on how to effectively provide reasonable accommodations in accordance with Section 504 and the ADA.
3. If a reasonable accommodation involves the physical premises of the host institution and/or disability services already provided by the host institution, the host institution agrees to provide reasonable accommodation in accordance with Section 504 and the ADA.

Other Stipulations

1. If the reasonable accommodation pertains to pedagogical instruction, then it is the responsibility of the HSP Director, Associate Director, and pertinent faculty member to provide reasonable accommodation in accordance with Section 504 and the ADA.
2. In the event of a lawsuit due to failure to comply with Section 504 and the ADA, responsibility for complaints relative to the physical premises of the host institution and/or disability services provided by the host institution lies with the host institution.
3. In the event of a lawsuit due to failure to comply with Section 504 and the ADA, responsibility for complaints relative to pedagogical instruction lie with the HSP.

Students seeking reasonable accommodations for any credit granting HSP program including, but not limited to, the HSP Summer Session and J-Term should complete this “Request for Academic Accommodations” which includes a “Consent and Authorization to Disclose Disability Information” form. Per Section II:B of our Policies Regarding Disability and Reasonable Accomodations:

1. The HSP will make available a Request for Academic Accommodations form for students to detail their disability, how it affects their learning, and what associated accommodations they request.
   • • This Request for Accommodations will be made available to the student when they apply to the HSP credit granting program, when they are accepted, and will be openly available at any time on the HSP website.
     • Students will have access to, and the ability to amend, this document at any point upon request.
     • This Request for Academic Accommodations form will be kept confidential and only shared with those parties consented to per Sec. II.B.b. of these policies.
2. The HSP will make available an online “Consent and Authorization to Disclose Disability Information Form” that gives consent to the HSP Director, Associate Director, and disability services manager of the host institution to discuss the student’s disability and accommodation with parties who have a legitimate educational interest in the student’s learning experience.
   • • These parties may include, but are not limited to, disability services staff at the host institution, disability services staff at the student’s home institution, and the HSP faculty member teaching the student’s course.
     • A student, per the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), may amend or withdraw consent at any point.
3. Upon receipt of forms stipulated in Sec. II.B.a. and Sec. II.B.b. of this policy, the HSP Director and/or Associate Director will contact the student’s home institution to request written confirmation of the student’s documented disability and reasonable accommodations offered at the home institution. This documentation will be sent directly to the host institution.
   • • In the event that the student has not filed for reasonable accommodation at the home institution, the student will follow the policies and procedures.

See full Policies above.