Academic Policy 1520.10
Reasonable Accommodation and Course Substitution for Students with Disabilities
The University of Arkansas seeks to provide students with disabilities the opportunity to participate fully in its educational programs. In keeping with this philosophy, it is University policy that students who request accommodations for a disability receive such accommodations when proper documentation has been furnished and the accommodation is determined to be reasonable by the institution.
Overview of Reasonable Accommodations Process
The Center for Educational Access (CEA) serves as the central campus resource for students with disabilities covered by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act of 2008.
Students who seek reasonable accommodations for their disabilities must first register and provide documentation to the CEA that meets its approved criteria. The CEA will determine what reasonable accommodations are consistent with each student’s disability and advise academic units regarding those accommodations. Such reasonable accommodation may include extended time for taking exams, a relatively distraction-free environment for testing, various types of auxiliary aids, adaptive devices, and assistive technology. Details on reasonable accommodations for exam administration may be found in Academic Policy 1520.20.
Upon student request, the CEA will generate an official accommodation letter that verifies those accommodations for which the student is eligible and transmit the accommodation letter(s) to the instructor(s). Upon receipt of the accommodation letter, the instructor is required to make contact with the student in a timely and private manner to discuss individualized arrangements for needed accommodations. Not all accommodations that the student is potentially eligible for may be reasonable due to the nature of the class and/or accreditation standards. The instructor and/or the student may seek assistance from the CEA if needed.
Course Substitution Request and Implementation Process
Course substitution may be the appropriate reasonable accommodation in cases in which the student cannot be successful in the course with reasonable accommodation because of the functional limitations imposed by the student’s condition and when an appropriate substitute course can be taken to meet course requirements.
Ultimately, the determination of whether course substitution is reasonable is an academic judgement for the University. While the University is committed to assisting students with disabilities to participate fully in academic programs, the University is not required to fundamentally alter its programs or activities, including academic programs of study. Whether a course substitution is a fundamental alteration is primarily a determination for the academic unit, in consultation with the Provost’s office, as necessary, taking into consideration the subject matter expertise of faculty in identifying and describing the essential elements of academic degree programs. To help inform this process, the University has established a committee that plays an advisory role in assisting academic units to make this determination.
As needed, each college and school will identify courses for which substitutes may be offered and courses that may serve as substitutes. The request process for course substitution and implementation is stated below.
With the undergraduate student’s concurrence, the CEA will forward a request for course substitution to the student’s academic dean for approval. For graduate students and interdisciplinary graduate programs housed in the Graduate School, the academic dean is the dean of the Graduate School.
The academic dean or their designee, following consultation with faculty of the degree program, will make a decision regarding the request.
For all students, the dean will be responsible for communicating to the student and the CEA in a timely way whether course substitution is allowed for the requested course and, if so, the course(s) that may be substituted and the process to be followed for implementing the substitution. The process for implementation will include formal notification to the department chairperson and the Office of the Registrar of the approved substitution.
Student appeals of the denial of course substitution requests must follow any college or school process that has been established for that purpose. If, at the conclusion of any appeals within the college or school, a student believes he or she has been denied a course substitution in violation of law or University policy, the student may follow the procedure described in the University’s Section 504/ADA Grievance Procedures, available on the website of the University’s Center for Educational Access and the Office of Equal Opportunity, Compliance & Title IX.
For other types of academic accommodations, students who believe they have been denied a requested accommodation in violation of law or University policy may pursue the procedure described in the University’s Section 504/ADA Grievance Procedures, available on the website of the University’s Center for Educational Access and the Office of Equal Opportunity, Compliance & Title IX.
Students seeking to report discrimination, discriminatory harassment or inappropriate conduct on the basis of a disability, or to report the inaccessibility of a University program or activity, shall follow the complaint procedures established by the University consistent with Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 214.1 and submit the Complaint Form to the Office of Equal Opportunity, Compliance and Title IX or designee via the OEOC website at https://oeoc.uark.edu/.