Rights and Responsibilities
Boise State University has the responsibility to:
- Provide reasonable and appropriate access to all educational and co-curricular programs, services, activities, and facilities.
- Check out Accessibility at Boise State
The Educational Access Center (EAC) has the right and responsibility to:
- Maintain the integrity and rigor of the University’s academic standards.
- Establish what constitutes qualifying documentation of a disability.
- Require students requesting accommodations to provide documentation of a disability.
- Determine appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities.
- Deny requests for academic accommodations that are not supported by the documentation provided to the Educational Access Center.
Students with disabilities have the right and responsibility to:
- Meet university academic, technical, and institutional standards.
- Have equal access to educational and co-curricular programs, services, activities, and facilities.
- Inform the EAC in a timely manner that you are an individual with a disability and that you are requesting accommodations.
- Follow specific procedures for obtaining reasonable and appropriate accommodations, academic adjustments, and/or auxiliary aids as outlined.
- File a complaint by following the steps outlined in the Grievance Procedure on EAC’s webpage if you feel that you have been treated unfairly.
Faculty has the right and responsibility to:
- Hold the same academic standards for students with disabilities as held for students without disabilities.
- Provide accommodations determined by the EAC.
- Understand how a student with a disability receives/processes information and/or demonstrates mastery of a subject might vary due to reasonable accommodations.
- Consult with the EAC staff if questions arise regarding accommodations.
- Maintain the confidentiality of students’ accommodations and disability-related information.
The Basics of the Law
Because Boise State University receives federal funding, we are held to civil rights laws—The American’s With Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973—prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities.
Americans with Disabilities Act
The American’s With Disabilities Act (ADA) is civil rights legislation that “guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in employment, public accommodations, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunications.”
- Under Title II of the ADA, no qualified individual with a disability shall be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of Boise State or be subjected to discrimination.
- Under Title III of the ADA, Boise State is considered a public accommodation and may not discriminate against people with disabilities and must provide equal access by removal of physical barriers, provision of auxiliary aids, and “make reasonable changes in policies, practices, and procedures to avoid discrimination.”
Source: US Department of Education
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Subpart E-Postsecondary Education is more specific legislation guiding how Boise State provides accommodations for students with disabilities.
- Under Section 504, Boise State may not discriminate against a student with a disability in the admissions process and must provide equal access to qualified students.
- Qualified means that the student, with or without accommodations, has met the university and/or program admissions requirements.
What does Section 504 say?
Boise State must provide appropriate academic adjustments for qualified students. The appropriate academic adjustment must be determined based on the student’s disability and individual needs. Academic adjustments may include auxiliary aids and services, as well as modifications to academic requirements as necessary to ensure equal educational opportunity. Examples of adjustments are: arranging for priority registration, reducing a course load, substituting one course for another, providing note-takers, recording devices, sign language interpreters, extended time for testing, and equipping school computers with screen-reading voice recognition, or other adaptive software or hardware.
In providing an academic adjustment, Boise State is not required to lower or substantially modify essential requirements. For example, although faculty may be required to provide extended testing time, they are not required to change the substantive content of the test. In addition, you do not have to make adjustments that would fundamentally alter the nature of a service, program, or activity or that would result in an undue financial or administrative burden. Finally, Boise State does not have to provide personal attendants, individually prescribed devices, readers for personal use or study, or other devices or services of a personal nature, such as tutoring and typing.
Source: US Department of Education