Do not let the tranquil setting fool you. Colorado State University (CSU) can be a rigorous intellectual gauntlet, as this Carnegie Class 1 research institution has deep ties to influential institutions in both the public and private sectors. If a student has a disability that CSU does not accommodate appropriately, that student faces a grave risk of falling behind—and potentially even dropping out.

We don’t use hyperbole or engage in exaggeration. As a team dedicated to students’ success, the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense and Education Law Teams have seen real students face unfair (and tangibly harmful) adversity when legitimate disabilities are not taken seriously.

Have you or your CSU student failed to receive fair accommodations, services, concessions, or attention from school officials? Has this contributed to poor academic performance, behavioral struggles, or other issues that have caused harm (or could soon cause harm)?

The next step is clear: Contact the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team at 888-535-3686 or contact us online today. Whatever the problem is, we want to help you resolve it.

How the Americans with Disabilities Act Applies to Every Qualifying Ram

The name says it all: Colorado State University. As a state university, CSU is unambiguously required to honor the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The ADA is meant to cover virtually every aspect of civic life. Colorado State Rams with disabilities should know that the ADA requires their school to:

  • Put in place reasonable academic accommodations specific to their disabilities and symptoms
  • Ensure students can physically access the physical areas of the Fort Collins campus, including but not limited to classrooms, libraries, stadiums and arenas, and common areas
  • Facilitate access to course materials (which can be particularly important for students who are visually impaired, hard of hearing, or limited in other ways that are not conducive to standard learning platforms of materials)
  • Provide housing that reflects a student’s disability (which might mean placing a student in a first-floor dorm room, providing their own room, or taking other measures that improve their accessibility and quality of life)
  • Remain flexible, pragmatic, proactive, and committed in seeking to help the student succeed in all aspects of CSU life, despite their having one or more disabilities

Critically, no Colorado State official should make a student feel as if:

  • They are making an unreasonable request in seeking a disability-related service or accommodation
  • They are a burden on the university
  • They are alone in fighting for reasonable services or accommodations
  • They have to fight for services or accommodations that the ADA legally (and clearly) entitles them to

Yet, too many students at Colorado State and other universities nationwide do feel this way. When a university falls short of ADA compliance, the student suffers—but we step in with the resolute intention of alleviating that suffering, and preventing it when possible.

Which Rams Are Eligible for Accommodations and Services Under the ADA?

Federal law considers those to whom the ADA applies as being “protected” by the ADA. In order to have such protection, the law states that a student must have “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.” The law also presents the criteria that:

  1. The person “has a history or record of such an impairment”
  2. The person is “perceived by others as having such an impairment”

This can be a bit confusing. You might ask, “Do I have to be perceived by others as having a disability to qualify for ADA protection?

No. If you have a disability, whether it is apparent to others or not, and that disability impairs one or more major life activities, you almost certainly have ADA protection. This criterion means that eligible Rams may include those with:

  • A physical disability, whether it affects walking, hearing, vision, or any other physical aspect
  • A psychological disability, such as a depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, or other condition that affects your ability to participate fully in CSU life
  • Chronic health conditions, which can be debilitating
  • Learning disabilities, which are one of the most common disabilities requiring accommodations in university settings
  • Neurological conditions and injuries

For traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, and countless other conditions that adversely affect a student’s life, the ADA provides critical protection.

Colorado State’s Student Disability Center Is Supposed to Serve Students Like You

University leadership nationwide knows they must comply with the ADA. They also know that providing personalized services and accommodations to, in some cases, thousands of students with disabilities is quite an undertaking. To serve Rams like you as the ADA requires, Colorado State established the Student Disability Center (SDC).

Rams who know they have a disability, or think they have a disability, should be able to rely on SDC representatives for:

  • Campus resources, including assistive technologies, psychological services, transportation, counseling services, and “adaptive recreation”
  • Community resources, meant to connect students with disabilities with others who may be experiencing similar challenges or can help the student live a more independent life at CSU (and beyond)
  • Career-related services, which involve added considerations for students who must consider their careers in the context of their disability

Of course, the SDC is also where students go to pursue accommodations tailored to their disabilities.

CSU Students Take a Few Simple Steps to Seek Reasonable Accommodations

Colorado State’s Student Disability Center describes the “Initial Process of Requesting Accommodations” as:

  1. The student submitting their new SDC student application to the SDC
  2. The student meeting with an “accommodation specialist” to discuss the disability and how it imposes barriers on their life
  3. The student discussing possible accommodations with the specialist, then providing all relevant documentation of their disability
  4. The student will then “choose which accommodations they’d like to use and for which course or environment they want to use it in,” so long as the accommodation specialist and other involved faculty approve
  5. The student then sends accommodations requests to their instructors via the SDC Student Portal

Of course, one common problem is that students are not approved for accommodations they believe are reasonable and helpful. In such cases, the SDC suggests the student “contact the SDC as soon as possible” about their concern.

If you believe you were denied reasonable and necessary accommodations or services, we will address this fact as part of our advocacy for you. Such an unjust denial could be the centerpiece of our argument in your favor.

What Qualifies as a “Reasonable Accommodation” at Colorado State?

While we previously discussed some of the resources Colorado State’s SDC facilitates, we should examine the topic further. More specifically, we should discuss how students with disabilities suffer when deprived of:

  • Academic accommodations, such as extended testing time and personalized course materials which can damage their academic performance and even contribute to course failure, remediation, dismissal, or withdrawal from the university
  • Assistive technology, without which some students may have no effective means of completing their studies to the standard they would otherwise be capable of
  • Counselors, note-takers, tutors, or other human aids, who may be essential guides for students with disabilities whose limitations prevent them from succeeding without someone else’s helping hand
  • Flexible scheduling, which can include permitting the student to take leaves of absence, miss class under certain conditions, and receive other forms of leeway for difficult circumstances linked to their disability

Virtually every aspect of a CSU student’s life, from housing and dining accommodations to how they get around campus and their academic schedule, can be ripe for services and accommodations. If you feel that any Colorado State official failed to apply the ADA appropriately in any aspect of your life in Fort Collins, let us know right away.

A Few Barriers to Accommodations (Such as Instructors) That You Might Have Faced

When Rams or other college students nationwide do not receive the accommodations or services they are entitled to, they can face myriad problems. From alarming academic problems to uncharacteristic behaviors and absenteeism, the symptoms of inadequate accommodations can be substantial and swift.

When we represent students facing these and other harmful outcomes, we sometimes find that:

  • They were unjustly denied approval for accommodations
  • Approved accommodations were not implemented promptly
  • One or more instructors refused, or otherwise failed, to implement approved accommodations
  • Other barriers (which were not the student’s fault) prevented them from receiving deserved accommodations or services

Students who face these circumstances might also face:

  • Grade failure
  • Course failure
  • Possible remediation, probation, suspension, or dismissal due to academic performance
  • Potential discipline due to alleged misconduct, which can be a direct symptom of a neglected disability

Your next step is to contact the LLF National Law Firm Student Defense Team at 888-535-3686 or contact us online today. We will learn about you (or your student), identify any way in which CSU officials failed to accommodate the disability in question, and provide a personalized strategy for your case.

We are advocates who employ a range of strategies on behalf of the students we represent. Our team is even prepared to address CSU’s General Counsel if other university officials fail to handle your case appropriately. Contact us today.

Colorado

Tell About Your Case

Zero-Tolerance Discipline Policies Can Undermine Students’ Due Process Rights

Colleges and universities have broad authority to maintain campus safety and enforce student conduct policies. However, students accused of misconduct don’t lose their due process rights simply because allegations are serious. At the higher education level, courts have repeatedly recognized that suspension and expulsion can have life-changing academic and professional consequences. As […]

Stopping Expulsions in California: Secondary Findings a Potent Defense

It’s the phone call that every parent dreads: your child has allegedly committed a serious offense at school and is facing the possibility of expulsion. Expulsion is a serious and lasting mark on a student’s record. However, California law requires that schools meet a very high standard before expelling students […]

Can Your Search History Bring You Down? How Schools Can Use Search Histories as Evidence of Misconduct

Students at Princeton University are drawing attention to the school’s policies and access related to students’ search histories on their devices. An article in the Daily Princetonian points out the ways that the university can use students’ search histories as evidence of cheating or other misconduct. Students are worried that […]

When the School Becomes the Problem: What UNC’s Botched Investigation Teaches Every Student

A University of North Carolina (UNC) student lost his scholarship and was permanently expelled from the entire UNC system after the school found him responsible for sexual misconduct. Years of federal litigation followed. And then, quietly, UNC settled. The former student, identified in court records as Jacob Doe, argued that […]