Disability Services

It is the policy of Midwestern University to ensure that persons with disabilities are not subject to discrimination as prohibited by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 504”) and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990(“ADA”). Section 504 prohibits discrimination based on disability in any program or activity operated by Midwestern University. The ADA provides that “no individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations” offered by Midwestern University. Midwestern University will therefore make reasonable accommodations to the physical and mental limitations of students as required by law.

Technical Standards

All students, regardless of disability, must meet the academic and technical standards for the college and program in which the respective student is enrolled. Academic and technical standards are those set by the college and program. Students must always satisfy the applicable academic and technical standards with or without a reasonable accommodation. Individual programs at Midwestern University may include additional requirements related to clinical training. Students are encouraged to request accommodations that are reasonable in the healthcare setting.

Definitions

• Disability: The term “disability” means, with respect to an individual; (a) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of such individual; (b) a record of such an impairment; or (c) being regarded as having such an impairment. Even if a condition is an impairment, it is not automatically a disability. To rise to the level of a disability, a physical or mental impairment must substantially limit one or more major life activities.
• Physical or Mental Impairment: A physical or mental impairment means (a) any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more body systems, such as neurological, musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genitourinary, immune, circulatory, hemic, lymphatic, skin, and endocrine; or (b) any mental or psychological disorder, such as an intellectual disability, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.
• Major Life Activity: Major life activities include, but are not limited to, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. A major life activity also includes the operation of a major bodily function, including but not limited to, functions of the immune system, special sense organs and skin; normal cell growth; and digestive, genitourinary, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, cardiovascular, endocrine, hemic, lymphatic, musculoskeletal, and reproductive functions. The operation of a major bodily function includes the operation of an individual organ within a body system.
• Substantially Limits: The term “substantially limits” is not meant to be a demanding standard; however, the impairment must still substantially limit the ability of an individual to perform a major life activity as compared to most people in the general population. While an impairment need not prevent, or significantly or severely restrict, the individual from performing a major life activity in order to be considered substantially limiting, not every impairment will constitute a disability within the meaning of the law. Considerations include, compared to most people in the general population, the condition under with the individual performs the major life activity, the manner in which the individual performs the major life activity, and/or the duration of time it takes the individual to perform the major life activity, or for which the individual can perform the major life activity.

Policies for Accommodating Students with Disabilities

Midwestern University is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to students with documented disabilities. Toward this end, Midwestern University policies and procedures ensure that students with a disability will not, on the basis of that disability, be denied full and equal access to academic and co-curricular programs or activities or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under programs offered by Midwestern University.

To ensure full implementation, three important areas must be considered:

1. The right of Midwestern University to set and maintain standards for admitting and evaluating the progress of students.
2. The right of the student with a disability to be included on the basis of criteria that does not unfairly discriminate because of the disability.
3. The right of the faculty to establish and monitor standards of academic performance and to assess content domains.

Rights and Responsibilities of Midwestern University

Rights

• To establish and require all students to meet the technical and academic standards for admission, progression, and completion of any Midwestern University program.
• Maintain Midwestern University’s academic and technical standards.
• Request current documentation from a student completed by an appropriate professional source to verify the need for, and make recommendations concerning, reasonable accommodations. MWU policy requires diagnostic testing done within the last 36 months must be provided in the documentation. Self-evaluation questionnaires are not accepted as diagnostic of a disability.
• Engage with the student in an interactive process in an attempt to understand the limitations caused by the impairment and assess the reasonableness of available accommodations.
• Discuss a student’s need for reasonable accommodations with the professional source of their documentation with the student’s signed consent authorizing such discussion.
• Select among equally effective and appropriate accommodations that may be different than any or all recommended accommodations.
• Deny a request for accommodations if the documentation fails to verify the need for the requested services, or the documentation is not provided in a timely manner.
• Refuse to provide an accommodation(s) that is/are inappropriate or unreasonable including any that:
  • Pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others;
  • Constitute a substantial change or alteration to an essential element of a course or program.

Responsibilities

• Ensure that Midwestern University courses, programs, services, job opportunities, activities, and facilities, when viewed in their entirety, are offered in the most integrated and appropriate settings possible.
• Provide information regarding policies and procedures to students with disabilities and assure its availability in accessible formats upon request.
• Evaluate students on their abilities, merit, and aptitude, not their disabilities.
• Provide to a student reasonable and appropriate accommodations following a timely request and submission of all required documentation.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication concerning students with disabilities except where disclosure is required by law or authorized by the student.

Rights and Responsibilities of Students

Rights

• Have equal access to courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities available through Midwestern University.
• Receive reasonable and appropriate accommodations on a case-by-case basis.
• Have appropriate confidentiality of all information pertaining to their disability with the reasonable choice of whom to disclose their disability to except as required by law.
• Have information reasonably available in accessible formats.

Responsibilities

• Meet Midwestern University’s and individual program’s qualifications and essential technical, academic, professional, and institutional standards required of any other student.
• Identify themselves with Student Services as an individual with a disability in advance of needing an accommodation.
• Provide documentation from an appropriate professional source that verifies the nature of the disability, functional limitations, and the need for specific accommodations. MWU policy requires diagnostic testing done within the last 36 months must be provided in the documentation. Self-evaluation questionnaires are not accepted as diagnostic of a disability.
• Follow specific procedures for obtaining the approval for a requested accommodation and taking the self-initiative to ensure the student is implementing the approved accommodation by working with course instructors.
• Informing Student Services—not course instructors or deans—when the student desires to remove, add, or otherwise modify any approved accommodations, which may result in student needing to submit new documentation as needed for Midwestern University to assess the request.
• Have the responsibility to advocate for their own individual needs and to seek information, counsel, and assistance as necessary, and within reason, to be effective self-advocates.

Rights and Responsibilities of the Faculty

Rights

• Identify and establish the abilities, skills, and knowledge that constitute the technical and academic standards for the academic programs/courses and evaluate each student’s performance against those standards. The technical and academic standards are not subject to modifications for purposes of accommodations; however, a student is entitled to reasonable accommodation that will make the student qualified to meet those standards by way of the student’s own merit.
• Work with the student, when the student asks for implementation of approved accommodations, to determine the best application of the approved accommodations.

Responsibilities

• Has the responsibility to make reasonable modifications for a student with approved accommodations for a disability with respect to the manner in which specific courses are conducted.
• Select and administer tests used to evaluate students so as to best ensure that test results accurately reflect aptitudes or competencies. Tests designed to measure specific skills related to technical and academic standards are allowable even when those skills are impacted by the disability.
• Has the responsibility to evaluate students in a nondiscriminatory manner.

Requests for Accommodations

The following FAQ section serves as an overview for students seeking accommodations for documented qualifying disabilities.

How do I request an accommodation and whom do I contact?

A student requesting an accommodation under the ADA for a qualifying disability must begin the interactive process by meeting in person with the Associate Dean of Students/Disability Services representative in Student Services. An appointment can be scheduled by emailing disability_accommodations@midwestern.edu. Please also see the Accommodations Request Infographic for a schematic of the process.

Do I need to have documentation prior to my meeting with Student Services?

No, but it is helpful. Students can utilize the infographic to determine the documentation required to request accommodations, but an initial meeting with Student Services is required.

What happens after I provide documentation and discuss my request with Student Services?

Following receipt of the complete application for accommodations, the Midwestern University Disability Services Committee will consider the request at its next meeting. The student will be advised following the meeting if accommodations are approved, if additional documentation is required, or accommodations are denied. All application documentation is considered confidential.

The Associate Dean of Students/Disability Services representative will advise the student’s college/program of approved accommodations. It is the responsibility of the college/program Dean’s Office to inform all appropriate Course Directors and instructors each quarter of the approved accommodation(s) for student(s) in their program.

What are my responsibilities once the College/Program has been notified of my approved accommodations?

It is the student’s responsibility to notify in writing their individual Course Directors and/or clinical rotation preceptors each quarter if the student chooses to utilize their approved accommodations. Students must advise their Course Directors and/or clinical rotation preceptors of the approved accommodations in advance of receiving accommodations. Students do not need to disclose the nature of their disability in communicating with Course Directors or course instructors.

What if my approved accommodations are somehow unsatisfactory?

If a student discovers that the approved accommodation(s) are in any way unsatisfactory, the student must discuss the issue with the Associate Dean of Students/Disability Services representative in Student Services. The student must not, under any circumstances, discuss amendments to the approved accommodations with a Course Director or others in the student's program or college. Students who require additions, deletions, and/or new accommodations must meet with the Associate Dean of Students/Disability Services representative in Student Services.

Can my Course Director or others in my college/program grant me accommodations?

No. A student’s Course Director or others within the college or program cannot approve or authorize accommodations. Accommodations requests and approvals can only be made by the student through Student Services. While Course Directors may make allowances pursuant to a syllabus or course catalog, those allowances are of uniform applicability to all students, regardless of disability status, and are not accommodations and should not be construed as accommodations for a disability.

Can accommodations be applied retroactively if I have just been diagnosed with a qualifying disability?

No. Accommodations start on the date the student is notified of approved accommodations and cannot be applied retroactively to courses, exams, assignments, or other course work that has already been completed.

Is there an appeal process if my request for accommodations is denied?

Yes, by following the appeal process stated in Appendix 2, Section 1 of the Midwestern University Student Handbook.

Can faculty, staff or college/program Administration access my accommodations application and detailed records?

No, not without the student’s written consent.

What about accommodations for licensing board examinations or other licensing certification examinations?

Receipt of accommodations from Midwestern University does not constitute the granting or guarantee the granting of accommodations from a licensing board or licensing certification exam administration. Students should email their request and documents to: disability_accommodations@midwestern.edu allowing at least seven business days for a response.

Application and Documentation Forms

• Accommodation Request Infographic
• Request for Accommodations for Disability Application (RADA) Form
• Third-Party Form