ADA & Disabilities Resource Center | Idaho State University

The Results of The Faculty Survey - 06/07

Survey Results

The following survey was conducted in an effort to help notify the faculty of Idaho State University on the availability of assistance in interacting with students with disabilities. The feedback of the survey can be used to help illustrate areas that the ADA Center can improve communication and interaction with the faculty in regards to the relationships they encounter with students with disabilities.

This report was created to detail the information gathered in as straightforward a manner as possible. Each question is addressed individually. The closed-ended questions are reported numerically. The open ended questions are reported in varying style according to the nature of the question and the appropriate response. Only responses that highlight specific problems or perceptions are addressed. The responses are reported as written on the survey. Other feedback that was less specific is grouped and reported on generally. The responses from the faculty are "as written" with the exception of corrections for spelling errors.

The survey, which was sent to all Idaho State University faculty, returned eighty-two responses for a return rate of under ten per cent. Six surveys were returned with no responses whatsoever and some only answered a few of the questions. The return rate was not considered satisfactory. The difficulty may have been the time of year the survey was sent or the method, (e-mail), utilized to send it. The survey read as follows:

Have you provided a reasonable accommodation for a student with a disability in any of your classes?
1. This academic year
2. Previous academic year
3. Never
Did you seek or receive support from the ADA Center while providing accommodations?
1. Yes
2. No
What can the ADA Center do to provide you with information to ensure reasonable accommodations will be administered without compromising your own academic standards?
Many faculty inform students their willingness to provide accommodations for students with disabilities by proper verification through a written statement in their syllabi or by an oral announcement the first day of class. Do you provide such a notice?
1. Yes
2. No
3. If no, why not?
If you could change anything regarding the providing of accommodations to students with disabilities, what would it be?

Survey Responses

Have you provided a reasonable accommodation for a student with a disability in any of your classes?
1. This academic year = 38
2. Previous academic year = 45
3. Never = 4
Did you seek or receive support from the ADA Center while providing accommodations?
1. Yes = 34
2. No= 36
What can the ADA Center do to provide you with information to ensure reasonable accommodations will be administered without compromising your own academic standards? (Responses to this question are included with responses from Question 5)
Many faculty inform students their willingness to provide accommodations for students with disabilities by proper verification through a written statement in their syllabi or by an oral announcement the first day of class. Do you provide such a notice?
1. Yes - 65
2. No - 6
3. If no, why not?
Yes, I look at it as a requirement by law, not a willingness to provide. I am required to provide. It is required by law that all students with disabilities know that they have a right to accommodations as guaranteed under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

ADA Response: You are absolutely correct.

Yes? I suppose this pertains to learning disabilities as well as actual physical limitations. Are the disabilities verified by me or through some office? Or are you talking about verifying my syllabi? Or do you mean that the students put a statement in my syllabi? Or do the students have a syllabi? Exactly who makes an oral announcement on the first day of class and what is their statement me or the student?

ADA Response: The announcement may be put into the syllabus and/or announced the first day of class as the instructor goes through his/her syllabus with the students. An example of the ADA announcement maybe found on the ADA Center web page at www.isu.edu/ada4isu, under Instructors. Disabilities are verified through the ADA Center. Our checklist for documentation of a disability is also located on our web site. Students with verified disabilities will present instructors with accommodation letters that state what the appropriate accommodations are for their disability.

Information about ADA services is on all my syllabi for undergraduate courses. The Mathematics Department requires that of all its instructors.

ADA Response: It should also be on all graduate level syllabi.

Yes, as part of my syllabus and introductory lecture in every class I teach.

Yes, on my class web page I do because I was told I had to. If it is up to me, as this question implies, then I will remove it.

ADA Response: It is a legal requirement as stated above.

Yes. In addition to including a statement on my syllabi and an oral announcement on the first day of class, I take advantage of Internet resources: my syllabi are posted to WebCT, and I have included a hyperlink to the ADA Center's web site.

ADA Respnse: This is a great idea..

Yes, every course syllabus in our department has a Disabilities Statement. In addition, our department Policies and Procedures Manual has a Disability Statement.

No I have had many people approach me with this verification the first day of class without any prompting. I don't believe a specific announcement is necessary.

We encourage the students to self-advocate. While many do, there are those, who for many reasons, won't without instructor urging. Please encourage students by utilizing an announcement. This lets the student know that people with disabilities are accepted in your classes.

No, I presume students needing such accommodations know of their own need and will take initiative to seek accommodation. They should and are encouraged to do so, however many are intimidated by faculty, especially freshmen and need the boost from the instructor before they will come forward. Some students want to try classes without accommodations. This means they may not contact the ADA Center or faculty until they get in trouble.
If you could change anything regarding the providing of accommodations to students with disabilities, what would it be?

One concern has come up. Faculty are often put off by having to accommodate students. Some members of the faculty and TA's have made statements to other students about having to give the exam to some students in a quiet space or giving them additional time. I believe that at some point all course instructors and TA's should be reminded that it is not their choice. It is the law. Discussing this with other students is not an option.

ADA Response: This is absolutely correct and well said. Discussing the needs of students with disabilities in public or with other students disregards the student's right to confidentiality. If any of the faculty are aware of someone who does this, please ask them to stop or contact the ADA Center and we will speak to them about this.

I would not change anything. In 14 years of teaching at ISU I have provided accommodations to two deaf students in a class held in Twin Falls, and to several legally blind students taking my classes here in Pocatello and in Idaho Falls. Your office has been very helpful to them, and has always kept me well informed about their need for assistance.

ADA Response: Thank you. I would also hope that the students do the same. They know what they need better than any of us ever will. Most of the students with disabilities only come to the ADA Center when they absolutely can't do without the accommodations. Nothing that is considered an essential, functional learning requirement of the course should ever be altered. Students with disabilities need to do the same amount of work as their peers.

Make sure students inform instructors as soon as possible that they will need accommodation. Often I don't see an ADA letter until the day before a first exam.

We always encourage students to present their letters the first few days of class. Even if they do not want to use their accommodations, that is to try to do a particular class without accommodations, we encourage them to share their "possible" need for later if they get in trouble. Other students just have their own ideas and want to go with them. In that case, if you can accommodate, please do. If the timeliness of the request is not reasonable, you are not obligated. In the example used above, I would guess that the letter is asking for extra time, etc. If they have not set up an appointment for testing space and time, they may not get the accommodation for that first test. In yet another scenario, some students only receive their evaluations/documentation for a disability in mid-semester so they are acting as quickly as possible to inform you for their appropriateness for accommodations.

We have had several cases of providing accommodations (in some cases, going to great lengths) for students who sooner or later dropped out of class anyway. I don't know if this reflects a generally higher attrition rate for students with disabilities or if it is particularly higher in Chemistry. With the benefit of more experience, I would now work to schedule a meeting early in the semester between myself, the student, and a representative from the ADA office to discuss in details the realities of the course (and perhaps particularly the lab), for any student needing accommodation beyond extra exam time. In addition, I would be interested to know about how students with physical limitations have fared in our lab courses. To make accommodations for those students, in cases where working in the lab is somewhat physically demanding, we should, at a minimum have a meeting of the instructor, the student, and a knowledgeable representative from the ADA office in the actual lab space before, before the start of the semester, to try and work out the best possible situation for the student without taking anything away from the rest of the class. Possibly a representative from the physical plant would need to be there as well. I know this would acquire a lot of planning ahead but I think it would be worth it. My recollection is that in the past we have kind of muddled through trying to provide an appropriate lab experience based on a verbal description, without the student or any ADA representative actually ever being in the lab-I may well be wrong in this idea, it's been a long time since I have had a student with physical limitations in a lab I was responsible for.

This is a great question and very well describes the idea and need for universal design. Universal design is to allow the most freedom for achievement for as many people as possible, with or without disabilities. The ADA Center would be enthusiastic about meeting with any student and faculty to make lab space more accessible or for any other need. The Physical Plant is also very supportive in these endeavors. Timing is everything and a lot depends on the willingness of the student with disabilities to be proactive and disclose their needs. Again, we encourage them to meet with their instructors so that a rapport can be developed. The ADA Center can encourage, with this good idea, have students who might be challenged in an environment, check out the situation ahead of time.

I would like to take a signing class.

ADA Response: Please speak with a representative of the Interpreter Training Program about this. It is a good idea.

Answer. I don t know. I try to design my courses and assessments with universal design so that everyone can participate equally. In many cases, I find that the sstudents who receive accomodations choose not to use them in my courses as a result, and they do fine. I guess my wish is that more faculty would adopt that attitude so that there are no special accomodations for anyone.

ADA Response: The point is well taken and well said.

Not to have them take my exams in your center. I have had negative experiences dealing with the ADA Center and exams. I always work to have the students take their exams here in the math department in a quiet place.

ADA Response: That is always your choice and we respect the right of any instructor to have control over the exam process. In fact, it is preferable that an instructor find space within the department. That way, the student will have access to the instructor for any questions. Please let the ADA Center know about negative experiences so that we can minimize them if not eliminate them.

I have no suggestions as I ve not utilized the servive. I did call regarding a possible referal and Dennis Toney was very helpful. The student ended up not needed the services in the end.

16 other responses said no changes needed, no suggestions, or fine as is.

I think students with disabilities need to be considerate of their interpreters. Many times the interpreters are here, but the student is not.

ADA Response: The interpreting staff would agree with that statement. Nearly any other student, with or without disabilities could skip class without affecting anyone but themselves. Deaf students, who have the same right to attend class or not, are among the few who do affect others by their attendance.

Physical accommodation of wheel chaired students is not optimal. Table height, space between tables, etc. These cannot be fixed so tight.

ADA Response: In this situation, if the student or the instructor lets the ADA Center know of the problem, sometimes with the help of a given department or the Physical Plant we can make adjustments to the room for the student using the wheelchair. In rare occasions, we may ask the Registrar to change the location of the class.

The only thing I can think of is to try to make the accommodations less apparent to other students.

ADA Response: This is an interesting situation. The ADA Center does its best to maintain every student with disabilities' confidentiality. Every alternative method of informing instructors about a given student's disabilities, has its flaws but the ADA Center thinks that allowing the student to control the aspects of the disability and to self-advocate, such as presenting the accommodation letter to the instructor, is the most effective option.

See my comment on #3 above. Notify faculty as early in the semester, as possible, or even before the semester starts. Sometimes a classroom change will help solve the problem, and it is easier to do this prior to the first day. While providing accommodations, make sure that the accommodations are appropriate and are fair for the rest of the students. Some students and some faculty have the same dilemma, they procrastinate. This includes students not letting anyone know of any particular needs in a timely fashion as well as faculty who wait until the last possible minute to order books.

ADA Response: Accommodations are such that they should never interfere with the academic freedom of any instructor to teach a subject, prioritizing what is important for that class. In some cases, for example, if an accommodation letter contains the accommodation, "instructor notes when possible," that means that the choice belongs to the instructor. If he or she feels that giving the notes to any student is a functional alteration of the course, then it should not be done. Accommodations are designed to level the playing field for students with disabilities. They are not designed to give anyone an advantage. If there is some great advantage given, the accommodation is not reasonable.

Provide at least one automatic-door entrance to both the Lecture Center, Gale Life Sciences, and the Plant Sciences building. Last semester, we had three students who use wheelchairs who required assistance just to get in and out of these buildings, which I believe constitutes a lack of accessibility. I submitted a comment to this effect on the appropriate ISU web site (I believe the ADA site) but did not receive a response to indicate whether my comment was received or whether the matter was being investigated. What more can I do to address the problem?

ADA Response: For some reason not entirely understood, the ADA does not mandate automatic doors. There is a minimum pull that must be maintained for the fire codes. The ADA Center is working with the Student Affairs Developmental Officer as well as the Physical Plant to procure funds to install power doors. They cost about $3,000 each to install. We encourage faculty to consult with their Deans to ascertain if the various departments can come together to fund the installation of an automatic door. On the plus side, the U. S. Access Board, which oversees all Federal government installations, mandated last year that all Federal buildings should have at least one power door. Usually, when the Federal government changes a requirement, the states follow suit within a few years.

My experience with the ADA Center has been positive-I have received the help that I requested at the time I needed it. Thank you for your assistance.

I think this survey is a good idea if it moves us to more uniform classroom policies

To have some students be more forthcoming regarding their disabilities and the accommodations to which they are entitled.

ADA Response: The ADA Center agrees and acknowledges the frustration when the students do not do this. Still, the student has the right to disclose or not and it is their choice of to whom and when they disclose. Some students do not make the best choices regarding their education.

Better information about ADA Activities.

ADA Response: The best information about ADA activities can be found on our web site, located elsewhere in this survey summary.

If I could change anything I would suggest that students have a central place to go prior to testing that would allow them to speak to someone that could begin to file in the ADA office prior to them being sent to counseling and testing, this way if the counseling and testing is delayed, the student is not lost in the system.

ADA Response: If the question is understood, there are a number of resources for the student to connect with. These include Idaho Vocational Rehabilitation, TRIO Student Support Services, and individual faculty members. Legally, if the ADA Center began to serve students without first having the appropriate documentation of a disability, it would present a situation called, "perceived as having a disability." If this were the situation, the student would be within his/her right to receive accommodations without ever verifying a disability that meets the ADA requirements. TRIO and IVR can assist the student while they are waiting to be tested. Any faculty member has the academic freedom to provide accommodations to any student, with or without disabilities as they deem appropriate. Sometimes that is a temporary "fix" and sometimes that starts the process of perceiving the student as a student with a disability. This can be a difficult choice with repercussions. Still each faculty member has the right to do so if they choosev.

Better wheelchair access around campus.

ADA Response: Please let the ADA Center and/or the Physical plant know where access for students using chairs needs to be improved. No students who use chairs have stated any shortcomings with access, (power doors aside), in over a year. ISU is committed to removing all physical barriers on campus. On the ADA web site is a barrier removal request form that can be used to report barriers on campus.

Perhaps the ADA Center could help students who seek accommodations to understand better that reasonable accommodations does not mean they will be successful in meeting academic standards. Many students without accommodations do not meet academic standards or do not meet them at the highest level of excellence. Accommodation does not guarantee success. It only provides a reasonable opportunity for success. Students who receive accommodations must understand that being entitled to accommodations does not warrant the adaptation of an attitude of entitlement to success. Success must still be earned.

ADA Response: This is an excellent statement and is very accurate, but every student at ISU should be allowed to succeed or fail. Accommodations only level the playing field to give students with disabilities the same chance to succeed as their non-disabled peers. Is that reasonable? That depends on the individual student. Some students with disabilities come out of High School with the thought that post secondary education has the same rules as IDEA in the public schools. For a descriptive look at the differences in the law, please visit our web site for the changes in the law between K-12 and college. Due in part to "No Child Left behind," some students with disabilities, (as well as some without), are pushed through the K-12 system without developing the skills needed for a post secondary education. Still, there is no predictive ability that says one student will be successful at ISU and another will not. Those without the necessary skills usually self-eliminate when they find they are not up to the tasks presented them at the University. We are obligated to give each student admitted to the University the best opportunity for an education we can.

I would not change anything. The process has worked well in the past.

In my experience, the system seems to be working well for everyone involved.

I can't think of anything. My only concern would be making sure the students know about the resources available, and so far it seems to me you're doing that.

ADA Response: This is another reason that the announcement about disabilities should be read the first or second day of class. It spreads the word that resources are available. TRIO and the Center for Teaching and Learning are a couple other good resources to share with students.

See above. In some cases it maybe a good idea for the person approving the accommodation to discuss the strategy for profiling the accommodation to the faculty member. I believe that would be a good idea if the accommodation goes beyond providing the student with more time and a quiet place to take the exam.

ADA Response: This is quite correct. Many faculty are quite skilled at providing accommodations of all sorts and need no assistance of that nature. This is one reason behind having the student meet with the professor to discuss any particular accommodations of concern. In the event that there is a problem, the ADA Center will support both parties in working out a solution. The ADA Center supports over 800 students with disabilities on the various ISU campuses. Connecting with a professor can be easy to difficult depending on the individual faculty member involved due to a number of factors. Thus, when a problem arises, logistics suggest that it is easier for the instructor to contact the ADA Center.

I don't recommend changes in accommodation, but I would appreciate a stricter diagnosis of everything that goes under the heading of a learning disability. I believe that some of my students have taken advantage of that, and I sympathize with students of the same abilities who just have to do their best without accommodation. I believe your office should declare learning disability in fewer cases.

ADA Response: First and foremost, the ADA Center does not declare disabilities. We require complete documentation from qualified professionals who do extensive testing. These qualified professionals give us the diagnosis and the recommendations for accommodations. Also, the counselors at the ADA Center read the tests results and when the result is "low borderline, it gives us the information to tailor the accommodations to the student. There may be a few students who use a disability as a method of taking advantage. Every system has some like that. A number of years ago, there was a student at ISU who could hear just fine but demanded interpreters as a sort of deaf-wanna-be. This was not useful to anyone and happened early in this director's tenure. The practice was stopped and the student went elsewhere. For the majority of students with disabilities, accommodations, getting, approving, and using is a big pain in the posterior. Most students with disabilities would gladly not use them if they could. Utilizing accommodations effectively is a lot of work that adds incredibly to the burden of completing a degree. Most students with disabilities struggle with or without accommodations. The ones who succeed should be commended.

I am not sure yet since I have only been here for two years and I have only encountered one student who needs accommodations.

More information about the student's problem so that accommodation can be better provided.

ADA Response: The student has the right to disclose or not, according to the ADA and other laws. We do not have the right to breach a student's confidentiality. A faculty member should talk one on one with the student to make this determination. The ADA Center encourages students to set appointments with instructors during office time to discuss accommodation needs, expectations, and limitations.

The issues involving "more time on exams" with ADD or ADHD are a bit harder to deal with, especially when you have a room for 50 or 75 minutes. You can't stay in the room longer because another class is schedule for the room, so you have to go back to your office and that is not only unfair to other students but might also run against another class/appointment a professor has to keep as well. I have not had many problems with this, but I see it as a potential problem.

ADA Response: There are various places on campus that can effectively proctor a test, including the ADA Center and the testing center. Some instructors prefer to use other department employees or grad students.

Basically what I wrote above. Some disabilities make it impossible for these students to participate in certain occupations, and they should be made aware that your provisions are not going to change that. Companies are not going to allow individuals to take three times as long to complete projects, because there are always deadlines. I have no problem allowing someone extra time to complete an exam, but some of the other disabilities that have come to my attention border on the minor variations that we all face in our differences from each other, and in those cases, it seems unfair to the rest of the students to allow special privileges.

ADA Response: The ADA laws do cover employment as well. Seldom, on the job, is anyone asked to write a five hundred word essay, with certain types of inclusions, such as dates, names, and events, from memory. Most job sites would allow an employee to use, would probably demand that they access references for whatever type of information is required. If an employee can not perform the "essential" requirements of a position, they will not keep that position regardless of what accommodations they might utilize. Is it fair to allow handicaps in golf to equalize play among different calibers of players? Is it fair to spot someone a rook or two in chess? Why should an individual who can not hear so well, see so well, or process information as fast as another be denied an opportunity to earn an education by altering NON-ESSENTIAL aspects of a class? Answer, they should not.

Provide some reasonable evidence that accommodation is necessary. Just a note from your office is inadequate. It feels like you're expecting me to lower my standards without reasonable justification.

ADA Response: These are great statements. First of all, students must present documentation from a qualified medical or psychological professional that states what the disability is, how it affects the ability to learn in postsecondary education, and what reasonable accommodations can level the playing field to give that person the same opportunity to succeed as their non disabled peers. The ADA Center provides a list of accommodations taken from the information provided to us. If the student wants you to have a copy of their documentation or know more about their disability, that is up to them. The second question involves lowering standards and this should not be done for anyone regardless of disability. Anything that is considered a functional, integral requirement for the course should not be altered. In one situation, a math instructor allowed a student to use formula notes when taking her exam as the instructor did not feel that using the note was critical in learning the material. In another situation, a student requested to use notes during a biology exam as his disability caused him severe memory problems. The instructor refused on the basis that the memorization of the terms was essential to learning the material. The ADA Center agreed. The ADA Center believes in and supports academic freedom. This means that every instructor makes the determination of what is important for that course. No accommodation will or should change that, ever.

At this point, I do not have any possible suggestions. I am pleased with all the ADA Center has to offer, the Center's willingness to work with me and offer me advice, and the emphasis on student responsibility.

ADA Response: The ADA Center is a support center for faculty and staff as well as for students. The ADA Center believes the student should be the primary mover in securing his or her education.

Again, I am not sure you are referring to physical barriers, but I believe ISU could do a much better job with accessibility for all facilities on campus. I know of instances when the business building had elevator outages, but a student employee who was totally dependent on a wheelchair could not have made it out of the building without the elevator. When there is only one elevator, this is intolerable.

ADA Response: There is supposed to be 24/7 contact with an elevator repair company to minimize the effect of a broken elevator. Most instructors are very understanding if a student can not get to class due to being unable to reach the appropriate floor. If a student is trapped on a floor, there are emergency plans in place. The Physical Planet is very good about supporting maintenance on the elevators and minimizing problems. ISU has a better record than other Universities I have been associated with.

In the past I have had several students who needed and received accommodations based on working with the ADA Center. The only change I would like to see is related to the student receiving the accommodations. They do not understand that they need to meet individually with each faculty member to discuss the manner in which the accommodations can be made in each course. It is not appropriate for the accommodation letter to be received through campus mail and never meet with the faculty member.
ADA Response: This is apparently the choice of individual students to mail their accommodation letters. The ADA Center advocates a meeting between faculty members and students requesting accommodations. Any students who mail their letter, unless there is some extenuating circumstances, is not supporting themself very well. Any faculty who does not support the accommodations until the student meets with them is within their rights. The ADA Center would not mail accommodations letters as it would be a violation of confidentiality. The student is the person who decides when and if a faculty member gets an accommodation letter.

In Conclusion

The ADA Center would like to thank all the faculty members who participated in our survey. While only 10% of the questionnaires were returned, we feel it was a worthwhile exercise. Both positive and negative comments were expressed. Our center appreciates all feedback and strives to improve. Your comments are invaluable in this process. We plan to repeat this survey during the spring of 2008. Our hope is that more faculty will take the time and opportunity to respond as this improves the climate for the entire university community.

I wish to counter one prevalent misconception about our center. The general feeling seems to be that the ADA Center primarily serves students with disabilities. This is not the entire picture. We are charged with serving everyone on campus: faculty, staff, students and visitors. The ADA is a civil rights law whose mandate is to ensure equal access to everything that happens on campus.

Please remember that Accommodations are to be reasonable in nature. They are not designed to give the student with a disability any advantages beyond providing equal access to educational services. Only the nonessential elements of a class may be accommodated. Whatever is an essential, required learning element of any particular class must be respected and adhered to by all students. Each instructor has the right to choose what is considered essential for that class. Students with disabilities have the same right and equality to fail a class as any other student.

Thank you again for your participation in our survey. We welcome the opportunity to answer any additional questions you may have concerning the ADA or the services our office provides.