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Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) Dr. Mahadeo A. Sukhai

Mythbusting: Deconstructing the Experience of Graduate Students with Disabilities in Canadian Postsecondary Education. Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) Dr. Mahadeo A. Sukhai Chair, National Graduate Experience Taskforce November 05, 2013. Contact Details.

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Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) Dr. Mahadeo A. Sukhai

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  1. Mythbusting:Deconstructing the Experience of Graduate Students with Disabilities in Canadian Postsecondary Education Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) Dr. Mahadeo A. Sukhai Chair, National Graduate Experience Taskforce November 05, 2013

  2. Contact Details • Email: mahadeo.sukhai@neads.ca or m.sukhai@utoronto.ca • Tel: 416-946-4501 x 3498 or 416-848-6841 x 260

  3. Truth or Fiction? • “Graduate students with disabilities take longer to complete their programs of study”

  4. Time to Completion Statistics • Students were asked: • What is the EXPECTED time to completion based on information provided by the Department/School? • What was their program start date? • What was their (projected) program end date? • Preliminary data from NEADS’ National Graduate Student Experience Survey

  5. Time to Completion Statistics • Interpretation: • Student expectation of time to completion (for students in the program) • Actual time to completion (for recent graduates) • Ratio of actual or student expectation vs. institutional expectation

  6. Time to Completion Statistics • Doctoral Students: • Average actual/student expectation of time to completion = 1.1x the institutional requirement • 8% of students take longer than 1.5x to complete • Master’s Students: • Average actual/student expectation of time to completion = 1.3x the institutional requirement • 15% of students take longer than 1.5x to complete

  7. Fiction • “Graduate students with disabilities take longer to complete their programs of study”

  8. About Me • Research fellow, University Health Network • Team Leader, Advanced Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory • Doctorate in cancer biology • Post-doctoral training in cancer genomics and experimental therapeutics • Canada’s first blind biomedical researcher • Chair, NEADS’ National Graduate Experience Taskforce

  9. The NEADS Graduate Experience Taskforce - Rationale • There is a significant need to better understand the overall experiences of disabled students in graduate studies • Currently, there is a critical lack of information in this area • Need to understand the “student experience tapestry” • Need to catalogue institutional leading practices NEADS Summer 2013

  10. Taskforce Mandate • To assemble a multi-stakeholder group of experts, in order to review and discuss the academic experience of graduate students with disabilities, in the context of the last fifteen years' advances in technology, attitudes and legislation NEADS Summer 2013

  11. Stakeholder Membership • Graduate students with disabilities • Disability service providers (IDIA; CADSPPE) • Student financial aid administrators (CASFAA) • Graduate student services (CAGS) • Faculty • Community service agencies • Legal • Council of Ontario Universities • Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada • Graduate deans (advisory capacity) • University senior administration (advisory capacity) NEADS Summer 2013

  12. Project Goals • To examine the experiences of, and barriers faced by, graduate students with disabilities across Canada • To develop a discussion paper outlining the current system issues for graduate students with disabilities • To produce information and develop strategies to facilitate the success of students with disabilities in graduate programs NEADS Summer 2013

  13. Project Goals • To develop recommendations for the continued improvement of graduate experience for students with disabilities, that can be translated into policy at an institutional, provincial, or national level • Long term: To develop “tool-based” approaches for students, faculty and institutions to use in addressing issues faced by graduate students with disabilities NEADS Summer 2013

  14. Project Scope • Comprehensive survey of graduate students with disabilities • Literature and environmental scan: Canada, US and international data • Demographics • Financial aid • Legislation • Institutional practices and policies NEADS Summer 2013

  15. The Graduate Student with Disabilities Experience

  16. Consensus on Definitions • Disability • WHO and OHRC definition • Distinction between “apparent” and “hidden” disabilities • Accommodation • a means of preventing and removing barriers that impede students with disabilities from participating fully in the educational environment in a way that is responsive to their own unique circumstances

  17. Truth or Fiction? • “Academic accommodation for students with disabilities is best delivered using a ‘short term intervention’ model, and don’t change with time.”

  18. Case Example • Student with compound disabilities in physical anthropology doctorate • Beginning of program • Fieldwork • Lab-based follow-up research • Thesis writing and defense

  19. Accommodation is an Iterative Process • Everything evolves with time • A student’s disability(ies) • A student’s research program • A student’s environment • Accommodation cannot be “delivered” in a single intervention and be expected to succeed • Important to consider accommodation as a long-term process framework, requiring continuous monitoring, feedback and evaluation

  20. “Appropriate Accommodation” • Appropriate accommodation • Defined iteratively • Dependent upon a student’s research, environment, disability and needs at any given point • What may be necessary at the beginning of the program may not be appropriate at the half-way point

  21. Fiction • “Academic accommodation for students with disabilities is best delivered using a ‘short term intervention’ model, and don’t change with time.” • Students may not recognize this themselves • Focus on coursework accommodations • Unaware that they could be accommodated to do research

  22. Truth or Fiction? • “Accommodation” = “Crisis Intervention”

  23. Case Example • Student with compound disabilities, including mental health • Student is registered with disability services office and has a long-term accommodation package • Student requires crisis intervention in the research environment during a mental health episode

  24. Case example • The crisis intervention may lead to changes in the accommodations package for the student • The crisis intervention itself is NOT an accommodation

  25. Case Example #2 • For a student who chooses to NOT disclose first, the mental health episode is unexpected and acts as the disclosure • Crisis intervention is now the first point of contact of the student with the institution’s service provision system • Accommodation spins out of crisis intervention

  26. Fiction • “Accommodation” = “Crisis Intervention”

  27. Truth or Fiction? • “Accommodations for graduate students with disabilities contravene the essential requirements of a graduate program.”

  28. Essential Requirements • "Essential requirements of a course or program refer to the knowledge and skills that must be acquired or demonstrated in order for a student to successfully meet the learning objectives of that course or program" (Rose, 2009).

  29. Essential Requirements • Essential requirements are those skills required for qualification in the discipline. • Defined by two factors: • Skills that must be necessarily demonstrated in order to meet the objectives of a course • Skills that must be demonstrated in a prescribed manner

  30. Essential Requirements for Graduate Education • “General” Essential Requirements (applicable across all disciplines) • Discipline-Specific Essential Requirements • Technical Essential Requirements • “Philosophy of graduate education” issue – what are the universal definitions of essential requirements?

  31. Questions for Consideration • What is being tested? • What is the nature of the task? • Does it have to be done in only one way? • If so, why? • Will performing this task in an alternative manner ultimately interfere with the student’s successful performance in the discipline, program or course?

  32. Essential Requirements and Accommodation • To appropriately adapt accommodations to essential requirements: • Clarify the essential requirements of the discipline and what assistance the student will require in order to meet these learning objectives • Clearly outline the role for the use of accommodations in the graduate setting

  33. Measurement of Essential Requirements • It is extremely important to not confound the evaluation method with the actual competency. • For example, if a student must understand how to design, interpret, analyze and troubleshoot a scientific experiment (“competency”), does this mean that the student must perform the experiment unaided (“measurement”)?

  34. Accommodations Appropriately Applied • Appropriate accommodations will enable students to meet the essential requirements of the program successfully, without impact on academic standards or essential requirements • Although compromising the essential requirements of a course or program can be grounds for denying accommodation requests, the institution must be able to demonstrate how the course or program will be compromised through the provision of accommodations.

  35. Fiction • “Accommodations for graduate students with disabilities contravene the essential requirements of a graduate program.”

  36. Truth or Fiction? • “Accommodations for graduate students with disabilities negatively impact the academic integrity of the graduate program.”

  37. Academic Integrity Issues • A student has violated academic integrity if they are guilty of research misconduct, either inadvertently or through deliberate action • Research Misconduct • Data falsification • Data fabrication • Plagiarism • Other questionable research practices • Definition in constant evolution

  38. The Academic Integrity Challenge • Plagiarism is the most challenging issue with respect to disability-related accommodation • Easy to envision scenarios where essential requirements and academic integrity are synonymous

  39. Do Students Identify with Academic Integrity Issues?

  40. Do Students Identify with Academic Integrity Issues?

  41. “Have you experienced any academic integrity or intellectual property challenges due to your disability?”

  42. Are Accommodation/AI Issues Real? • Students not aware of any issues, and students are not experiencing any issues • Student offense at the notion that disability impacts academic integrity • Perception on the part of faculty and administrators is different • If issues really exist, where are they coming from, and why do students not know of them?

  43. Solutions: Student-Directed • Provide appropriate training to the student, so that they understand the relevant issues; • Work with the faculty/administrators and the DSO to understand the potential interfaces between accommodation profile and research misconduct guidelines; • Clarify expectations around research misconduct with the student, in order to ensure that they are appropriately aware and informed of any concerns and their responsibilities/obligations in addressing these issues with the faculty and department;

  44. Solutions: Directed toward Faculty/Administrators • Provide appropriate training to faculty/administrators, so that they understand the relevant issues; • Work with the student and the DSO to understand the potential interfaces between their accommodation profile and research misconduct guidelines; • Clarify expectations around research misconduct with the student, in order to ensure that they are appropriately aware and informed of any concerns and their responsibilities/obligations in addressing these issues with the faculty and department;

  45. Solutions • Ensure that, through this effort, there are no contradictions in the specific application of institutional academic integrity/IP policies between the undergraduate and graduate environments (this is particularly relevant if the student is planning on doing their undergraduate and graduate degrees at the same institution).

  46. Fiction? … Probably more of a (mis-)Perception • Accommodations for graduate students with disabilities negatively impact the academic integrity of the graduate program.”

  47. Truth or Fiction • “Accommodations for graduate students with disabilities are resource-intensive” • Cost • Time • Human Resources

  48. Accommodations and Undue Hardship • The “duty to accommodate” requires that accommodation be provided in a manner that “most respects the dignity of the person, if to do so does not create undue hardship.” • Only three elements may be considered in assessing whether an accommodation would cause undue hardship: cost; outside sources of funding, if any; and, health and safety requirements, if any.

  49. Undue Hardship • The institution cannot argue undue hardship based on: • business inconvenience • employee morale • third-party preference • collective agreements or contracts

  50. Cost of Accommodation COMPLEX MULTIPLE ACCOMMODATIONS EASE OF APPLICATION COST PHYSICAL ACCESSIBILITY FREQUENCY OF REQUEST HR AND ASSISTANTS TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS SOFTWARE/IT SOLUTIONS STUDY FLEXIBILITY QUIET STUDY SPACE

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