Training Adjunct Faculty on ADA and Accommodations for Students With Disabilities Lois Weiss

1. Training Adjunct Faculty on ADA and Accommodations for Students With Disabilities Lois Weiss EDCC698 Futures Studies Project Ball State University • The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 • Section 504 • Protects students with disabilities who attend schools receiving Federal financial assistance. • Disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. • Source: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html • Facts • Adjunct faculty comprise 75% of higher education faculty. • There is still a negative perception of students with disabilities. • Faculty have little knowledge of the law or disability awareness. • In 2008-20009 there were 707,000 students with disabilities enrolled in college with half of these students enrolled at 2-year institutions. • Sources: Labor Notes; National Center for Educational Statistics Futures Studies is the study of preferable futures. • American with Disabilities Act • Signed into law by President George W. Bush in 1990. • Most comprehensive piece of civil rights legislation. • Prohibits discrimination based on disability. • Guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else. • Modeled after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 -- the ADA is an "equal opportunity" law for people with disabilities. • Source: http://www.ada.gov/ada_intro.htm • Research • Cook, Rumrill, & Tankersley (2009) found that faculty members recognized the need for training on disability awareness and the importance of using the Universal Design for Instruction to make education more accessible. • Milligan (2010) found that providing faculty training on disability awareness, the law, and how to provide accommodations improved faculty attitudes towards students with disabilities. • Sowers & Smith (2004) found that nursing faculty attitudes towards nursing students with disabilities were negative and created barriers for these students. • Faculty recognized the need to have better training on disability awareness and how to provide accommodations. • Sources: Cook, Rumrill & Tankersley (2004); Milligan (2010); and Sowers & Smith (2004). Best Practices