Broward College’s lush campus serves tens of thousands of students, and its commuter culture poses a unique risk that students with disabilities will not be adequately served. When faculty and instructors do not make a concerted effort to get to know (and then serve) these students, the students’ academics and behavior may suffer.
Too often, universities paint students with disabilities as the problem. A closer examination often reveals that a lack of reasonable accommodations forced the student into poor academic performance, uncharacteristic behaviors, or both.
Broward College faculty are bound by the federal law that is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you or your student faces an adverse remediation decision, behavioral discipline, or other harmful consequences, we want to evaluate whether the school’s failure to comply with the ADA may have been a contributing factor.
Our team finds solutions to students’ problems. Call the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online to learn about our history defending students with disabilities and how we may serve you or your student.
Broward College, and Most Other Schools, Must Comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act
The university’s literature states explicitly that the school “complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended in 2008 (ADAAA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.” This statement is nice, but it is no guarantee that students with disabilities will actually have their needs met in real-world circumstances.
When we evaluate you or your student’s circumstances, we will determine whether Broward College has fallen short of its duty to:
- Ensure students with physical disabilities have access to housing, classrooms, and other areas throughout the university
- Students are able to access course materials despite their disabilities (with disability-friendly lectures, study materials, and examinations being among the common measures of ensuring this)
- Take adequate measures to evaluate students’ disabilities, understand their limitations, and help those students work around those limitations
- Provide student-specific accommodations to promote students’ academic and social success
- Prevent discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against students with disabilities
- Consider the student’s disabilities in any academic and disciplinary processes
That final point is important, as it may pertain directly to the circumstances you or your student currently face. For example, a student with a behavioral disorder should not generally be disciplined for symptoms of that disorder.
Broward College’s Accessibility Resources Office Facilitates Reasonable Accommodations for Students
Most universities throughout Florida and the United States have an office dedicated to serving students with disabilities. At Broward College, that is the Accessibility Resources office.
This office is the central hub for:
- Formally identifying students with disabilities
- Processing applications for accommodations
- Administering certain accommodations
- Helping the student inform their instructors of university-approved accommodations
- Maintaining student-specific files that track their disabilities and service histories
- Handling various other tasks and issues specific to students with disabilities
Our Student Defense Team will scrutinize how the Accessibility Resources office has handled your case. We may find one or more failures that placed you in an untenable, unfair position.
How Students Seek Accommodations at Broward College
Students at Broward College do have some responsibility to seek reasonable accommodations. A document titled “How to Apply for Services” explains that students should seek services by:
- Self-disclosing their disability to the Accessibility Resources office
- Complete an application for services and “appropriate documentation” of the disability to the campus Accessibility Resources office
- Ensure the documentation explains the disability and its impact on the student in an educational setting
- Await a response from the Accessibility Resources office
It is unclear how long the approval process takes, but the Accessibility Resources office should prioritize the evaluation of students’ accommodation requests. If you experienced unreasonable delays in receiving accommodations, this could be a critical point for us to bring to the school’s attention.
If the Accessibility Resources office denies your request or provides only inadequate accommodations, that decision may have impacted your academic success and behavior. It is a problem we may cite during any current disciplinary or academic proceedings, and one we may help you rectify moving forward.
Do Broward College Instructors Have to Cooperate with the Accessibility Resources Office?
Broward College’s Procedure Manual states that, after a student’s request for accommodations is approved, it is then “the student’s responsibility” to inform instructors of the necessity for those accommodations.
While the Procedure Manual states that instructors have no obligation to provide accommodations retroactively, they are expected to provide approved accommodations once they receive proof that the student is entitled to them.
Instructors are perhaps the most common and substantial barrier to students receiving the accommodations they need. It is all too common for instructors to:
- Dismiss students with legitimate disabilities as seeking an unjustified benefit or advantage over their peers
- Refuse students’ accommodations requests without justification or explanation
- Only partially or occasionally implement students’ accommodations
- Treat students with disabilities in a discriminatory manner, perhaps because they perceive that student as making their job more difficult
Every Broward College employee should be aware of the ADA, the very real effects of disabilities, and their duty to provide students with reasonable accommodations.
Which Students Are Entitled to Accommodations at Broward College
Broward College literature acknowledges the ADA’s guidelines for which students can receive disabilities, and they are those who:
- Have a disability (physical or mental) that “substantially limits one or more major life activities”
- Can prove such impairment through documentation
- “Is regarded as having such an impairment”
There is apparent subjectivity in these guidelines. Questions about whether a disability “substantially limits” a major life activity (like learning) could contribute to unjust denials of accommodations.
So long as you have adequate documentation of your disability at the time you request accommodations from Broward College, it should not matter whether:
- Your disability is apparent to others (many are invisible but very much real)
- You were diagnosed before enrolling at Broward College
- You had accommodations at prior educational institutions
In fact, university policy states that “It is important to understand that accommodations approved in high school do not necessarily carry over into college.” So long as you can prove a disability at the time of request, you should be entitled to reasonable accommodations.
What Are Reasonable Accommodations
Broward College students may benefit from a range of reasonable accommodations, including but not limited to:
- Modified study and testing materials
- Extended testing periods
- Low-distraction testing environments
- Human aids (including but not limited to qualified tutors)
- Transportation to and from university activities
- Reasonable leaves of absence
- Flexible class schedules
- Resources for those with impaired hearing or eyesight
If you or your student believes you were not provided any resource that may have been academically or behaviorally beneficial, this fact should be central to any disciplinary or academic issues you currently face.
Could My Academic Struggles or Behavioral Abnormalities Be the Result of Inadequate Accommodations?
Absolutely.
Accommodations exist for a reason. They are important enough that federal legislation, such as the ADA, ensures they are provided to students with disabilities. When a student does reasonable accommodations consistently, they may be more likely to:
- Underperform academically and even fail courses they may have otherwise excelled in
- Withdraw from courses
- Be tardy or absent
- Act in a disruptive manner (which may be a symptom of their disability or a reasonable response to having their disability dismissed or downplayed)
- Withdraw from school
While accommodations are often viewed in the context of academic work, a student’s entire life may suffer when their disability is not appropriately accounted for.
Are Such Inadequate Accommodations a Defense I Can Use in Disciplinary or Progression-Related Proceedings?
Per the ADA, a disability and related accommodations can absolutely be relevant in:
- Grading decisions
- Decisions affecting a student’s ability to advance in their education and, eventually, graduate
- Disciplinary proceedings
- Other proceedings that have a direct effect on a student’s academic progression, behavioral record, ability to graduate, and overall success and well-being
A disability does not define you. However, it is central to who you are as a person and a student. Therefore, a disability and the issue of reasonable accommodations must never be ignored when Broward College representatives are evaluating your academic performance or behavior.
The LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team Fights for Students with Disabilities
Disabilities make life harder. They can make tasks that others consider “basic” into daunting feats. We are proud to make life a bit easier for students with disabilities, and we may assist you or your student by:
- Familiarizing ourselves with the current challenges and threats facing you, which might include possible discipline or academic rulings that adversely affect your transcript, ability to graduate, and post-graduation ambitions
- Ensuring that Broward College’s failures to accommodate you are brought to the university’s attention
- Guiding you through any disciplinary proceedings or other university-led proceedings ahead
- Negotiating directly with Broward College’s general counsel if you do not receive a fair resolution through other proceedings
We know the ADA, and we understand how Broward College must implement the ADA in its students’ lives. Let us help.
Call the LLF National Law Firm Education Law Team at 888-535-3686 or contact us online as soon as possible.