California State University, Fullerton (Cal State Fullerton or CSUF) hosts tens of thousands of enrollees at any given time. A single Titan with disabilities who is underserved, neglected, or mistreated is one too many.
CSUF’s website advertises a host of student-support services. From supplemental instruction to academic success and support programs and academic advising, the university suggests an above-and-beyond approach to fostering students’ success. Unfortunately, the reality for students with disabilities at Fullerton does not always mesh with this rosy first impression.
Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requiring CSUF faculty to serve and accommodate students with disabilities, this doesn’t always happen. Poor administrative oversight, instructors who refuse to implement accommodations, technological breakdowns, and grading and disciplinary decisions that don’t reflect a student’s disability—these are circumstances that cause harm to students with disabilities more often than we should.
Here is the bottom line: If you or your student faces (or has already suffered) disciplinary action, an adverse grading decision, an order of remediation, or any other outcome you deem unfair, it’s time to speak with us. This is particularly true if you believe a lack of accommodations or resources for a disability is relevant to the circumstances.
Cal State Fullerton’s instructors and administrators must recognize that a student’s disability cannot be separated from their academic performance or behavior. We will make sure they recognize this.
Do not wait to call the LLF National Law Firm Education Law Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online.
Fullerton Is Beholden to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Here Is What That Means.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is federal legislation that unequivocally applies to public educational institutions, including Cal State Fullerton. As the law’s name suggests, this is a wide-ranging form of protection for disabled individuals (including students), and it compels CSUF faculty to:
- Root out discrimination and harassment of students with disabilities
- Provide academic resources, like alternate-format textbooks and lectures, to accommodate students’ disabilities
- Provide assistive technology for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, visually impaired, or physically impaired in any other way
- Ensure students with disabilities have physical access to classrooms, housing, libraries, student common areas, and other areas of the Fullerton campus
- Provide transportation for students with disabilities who need it
- Put in place the systems for students to receive personalized accommodations each semester
The ADA is sweeping legislation intended to address long-standing barriers to the equal participation of Americans with disabilities in society, including college life. These are just a few of the many ways CSUF is required to comply with the ADA.
Fullerton is known for its diverse student base, having been designated as a Hispanic-Serving Institution due to a student body that is more than 25% Latin. CSUF leadership should take pride in this fact, but it should be just as vocal—and proactive—about being a school that proudly serves its students with disabilities.
Most Cal State Fullerton students with disabilities would probably say they feel accommodated and cared for. It’s those who do not feel this way that our Student Defense Team advocates for.
Fullerton’s Disability Support Services (DSS) Office Is the Headquarters for All Things Disability-Related (Including Accommodations)
Cal State Fullerton’s Disability Support Services (DSS) office serves as the hub between students with disabilities and those who implement accommodations for them. Through its “Students” tab, the DSS helps students:
- With some tips for “incoming students” with disabilities
- Apply for accommodations
- Schedule examinations (presumably in a low-distraction testing environment)
- Book an appointment with a specialist
- Obtain Course Accommodation Letters
Students can also log in through the DSS webpage, presumably to access their Course Accommodations Letters and other disability-related materials.
From information to accommodations and services, CSUF’s DSS is the epicenter of students’ disability-related needs.
Doing Their Part: How Titans with Disabilities Apply for Accommodations
While Fullerton faculty have a responsibility to implement underlying systems and provide students with accommodations, students must take the lead.
The steps for students to apply for accommodations at CSUF are:
- Self-identify as a student with a disability by submitting a DSS Application for Accommodations
- Provide supporting information, which may include a self-report from the student about their disability and the limitations it imposes, a Disability Verification Form completed by a medical provider or mental health provider, a learning disability assessment, or other proof of the disability (and its effects)
- Attend a new student appointment with a DSS representative, which should be used to identify necessary accommodations, answer any open questions, and learn the next steps
Ideally, this would be a collaborative, good-faith process between the student seeking accommodations and representatives of the DSS office.
Once a Student Completes Their End, It’s Faculty’s Duty to Hold Up Theirs
CSUF’s literature acknowledges that faculty members have questions about students with disabilities—and the accommodations those students so often need.
Rather than evaluating every question faculty members come across, here are some key takeaways that you should know:
- It is not an instructor’s place to judge or evaluate a student’s disabilities or the necessity for accommodations—it’s their job to implement accommodations once the DSS has approved them
- Instructors cannot implement any accommodations unless the student has gone through the DSS for approval of those accommodations
- Even if a student requests accommodations “late in the semester,” faculty members are generally expected to implement approved accommodations
- If an instructor ever refuses to implement an accommodation that the student has been approved for, the instructor is most likely violating CSUF policy and likely the ADA, too
Fullerton’s policies are clear: If you are approved for any accommodation and you provide the letter confirming it to your instructor, they must implement the accommodation.
What Is a “Reasonable Accommodation” for Students with Disabilities at Cal State Fullerton?
DSS’s Accommodations Glossary gives us a comprehensive look at how CSUF helps students with disabilities succeed. These can all be considered reasonable accommodations:
- Classroom accommodations: Extended deadlines, medical absences, accessible furniture, and regular breaks
- Course access accommodations: Permission to record lectures, permission to use a laptop, a service animal, human aids, and physical copies of course materials
- Testing accommodations: Alternate testing environments, alternate-format exams, and extended testing time
Specialized (or preferential) housing and assistive resources for students with physical disabilities are two more important categories of accommodations that are available to Titans with disabilities.
We Have Seen How Inadequate (or Nonexistent) Resources Can Push Students to Academic Failure and Aberrant Behavior
Let’s talk about why you may be reading this article: How students suffer when they are not provided the accommodations they deserve and need.
Our Student Defense Team has witnessed firsthand how inadequate accommodations can:
- Cause students’ academic performance to dip (and possibly nosedive)
- Contribute to students’ tardiness and absenteeism
- Cause instructors and others to judge the student based on symptoms of their disability (symptoms that may be worsened due to the inadequate accommodations)
- Lead to students being accused of behavioral misconduct
Students’ “behavioral misconduct” can be symptoms of a disability. They could also be conscious or unconscious responses to feelings of frustration or helplessness that arise when students with disabilities are dismissed, neglected, ignored, or worse.
Can I Cite Accommodations Issues If I Am Facing Disciplinary Proceedings at Fullerton?
Students might read this line from CSUF’s guidance to instructors and get the wrong idea: “The student with a disability has the same right to fail as anyone else. Their work should be equivalent to his or her peers.”
Yes, a student with disabilities can fail academically, just as peers without disabilities can. However, a student with disabilities should not fail a course because they were deprived of reasonable accommodations they were entitled to receive.
It is always relevant when a student’s disability, or a failure to accommodate that disability, plays a role in:
- Failure of a significant assignment or course
- Academic probation, suspension, or dismissal related to poor academic performance
- Alleged behavioral misconduct
The cause-and-effect relationship between accommodations and students’ performance and behavior is undeniable. Therefore, a lack of accommodations needs to be brought up when a student faces adverse academic or disciplinary circumstances.
Feeling Like You’ve Been Treated Unfairly as a Fullerton Student with a Disability? Contact the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team Today
Cal State Fullerton’s storied history of competing in Division-1 college baseball is no solace when students find that instructors or administrators play hardball with their disciplinary cases.
Rather than showing students the compassion they deserve and recognizing any failures that may have put the student in an untenable position, we too often see university officials deny, deny, deny.
Our Student Defense Team does not stand for this. We believe that students with disabilities deserve accommodations and should not have to fight for them. When they are denied reasonable accommodations, the student should not have to suffer further insult to injury.
We will advocate for you. Whether you are contesting an adverse academic outcome or fighting possible discipline, our team will tell the story of how you were let down. If we need to engage CSUF’s general counsel to pursue a fair resolution, we will.
Do not wait to call the LLF National Law Firm Education Law Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online. Your case is urgent, and we are ready to help right now.