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Faculty Resources

Welcome to the Access-Ability Services Faculty Resource page

Kingsborough Community College is committed to promoting student learning and development as well as strengthening and serving its diverse community. In keeping with this mission, Access-Ability Services (AAS) promotes a learning environment that emphasizes education, empowerment, informed participation, and equal access for students with disabilities. Faculty play an important role in creating an academic setting in which students with disabilities are full and valued participants. The purpose of this resource page is to support faculty in this role by disseminating relevant AAS and other disability-related information.

We begin with a brief introduction to the laws that form the foundation of the postsecondary commitment to equal access. We then consider faculty, student and AAS rights and responsibilities as they pertain to accommodations and services for students with disabilities. Finally, scroll down for specific information on how our office works (Access Nuts and Bolts for Faculty) and how to work with students with disabilities and accommodate their specific disabilities (Reasonable Accommodations: A Faculty Guide to Teaching Students with Disabilities).

Principles of Access:

Accessibility:

Faculty play a major role in making their classrooms accessible to all students.

Communication:

It is imperative that students with disabilities, faculty members, and AAS communicate on a regular basis.

Confidentiality:

Faculty and AAS must respect a student's right to confidentiality.

Eligibility

AAS is the office designated to determine student eligibility for academic accommodations and services.

Shared Responsibility:

Inclusion and full participation are the shared responsibility of AAS, Faculty and Students.

Support:

Faculty and AAS work together to remove barriers and support all students' right to an inclusive educational environment.

The Laws

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 , and  the Americans with Disabilities Act of  1990, as amended in 2008protect students with disabilities from discrimination that may occur as a result of misconceptions, attitudinal barriers, and/or failure of the institution to provide appropriate accommodations, auxiliary aids, or services.

Section 504 of the Federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states that

No otherwise qualified person with a disability ......shall, solely on the basis of disability, be denied access to, or the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity provided by any institution receiving federal financial assistance.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees people with disabilities access to employment, public accommodations, transportation, public services and telecommunications. Section or Title II applies to the public services of state and local governments, which include public educational institutions.

Faculty Rights and Responsibilities

Faculty have the right to:

  • View AAS as an important consultant in the design of all class environments, rather than just a provider of individual services.
  • Design and deliver courses in a way that suit their teaching style while also planning for access.
  • Hold all students to the same academic and behavioral standards.
  • Expect students to verify their requests for accommodations by means of a current letter of notification of accommodations written by an AAS counselor and delivered to the professor by the students.
  • Expect the student to initiate the request to use accommodations.

Faculty Have The Responsibility To:

  • Promote parity by designing courses according to the Universal Design for Learning framework.
  • Provide accommodations to students who present a current letter of notification of accommodations from AAS.
  • Act immediately upon getting a student's request for accommodations by providing the service, or by contacting AAS (if unsure about request).
  • Treat and protect all disability-related information as confidential.

PLEASE NOTE: Faculty do NOT have the right to ask students if they have a disability or to ask about the nature of the disability. However, if students choose to disclose their disability, this information should be treated as confidential.

Students Rights and Responsibilities

Students have the right to:

  • Expect an accessible and equitable educational environment.
  • Expect all disability-related information to be treated confidentially.
  • Receive appropriate accommodations in a timely manner.
  • Meet privately with faculty to discuss needed accommodations and any other concerns.
  • Appeal decisions regarding accommodations and auxiliary aids.

Students Have The Responsibility To:

  • Self-disclose their need for accommodations to AAS and provide appropriate supporting documentation.
  • Self-advocate. Students may work with AAS counselors to develop advocacy skills.
  • Make an appointment with the instructor to facilitate privacy when requesting accommodations.
  • Follow procedures with faculty and AAS to request and receive specific approved accommodations in a timely manner.
  • Notify faculty/AAS immediately when an accommodation is not being provided correctly, or if the accommodation is no longer needed.
  • Provide for their own personal disability-related needs. For example, coordinating services of personal care attendants or acquiring homework assistance is not the responsibility of AAS.

AAS Rights and Responsibilities

AAS has the right to:

  • Expect an accessible and equitable educational environment.
  • Receive the appropriate supporting documentation from the student prior to the services being initiated.
  • Expect students and faculty to work cooperatively with AAS to facilitate accessibility and equity in the academic environment.
  • Deny unreasonable academic accommodations, adjustments, and/or auxiliary services. Accommodations cannot impose undue hardship to, or fundamentally alter, a program or activity of the college.         

AAS Has The Responsibility To:

  • Serve as a resource to the KCC community regarding disability issues.
  • Promote campus-wide parity.
  • Make every reasonable effort to provide appropriate accommodations and assistance in collaboration with the instructor and student.
  • Collect, evaluate, securely house disability documentation and determine eligibility for services.
  • Treat and protect all disability-related information as confidential.
  • Communicate procedures clearly to the student and the faculty.
  • Administer exams in a secure and monitored environment.
  • Provide supportive counseling to promote student academic/career/life skills development.

For general inquiries please email AAS@kbcc.cuny.edu or call 718-368-5175 or drop in to room D-205 in the West Academic Clusters