Disability Resource Center (DRC) Overview
Purpose of the DRC
 To collaborate with the entire EMU campus to offer an accessible
educational experience for all students through inclusive design
 Inclusion and accessibility is a community responsibility, not a DRC
responsibility
Target Audience
 Students, Faculty, Staff, Parents, Guests…essentially any stakeholder is a
potential audience and resource seeker
Primary Resources
 Contact point for students with disabilities (initial meetings; ongoing
guidance; problem-solving)
 Coordinate distribution of accommodation letters
 Information resource and guidance for instructors
 Case-by-case consultations
 Alternative media
 Growing Area of Focus: Recognizing the Power of Design
The Accommodation Letter Process
 DRC gives students a PDF accommodation letter via email
 Students must share letter with instructors in advance of using
accommodations AND students must initiate conversation about
accommodations of interest for class in question (accommodation
process not retroactive)
 Certain accommodations must be implemented without question in
timely manner while other accommodations warrant discussion specific
to the class in question
Instructor responsibility in the process is to:
1. Know what aspects of the course are essential functions (i.e. what must
the student be able to demonstrate in terms of skill, knowledge, and
participation in order to pass the course). Ensure student awareness of
both the essential aspects through information on the syllabus and in
your communication with all students in the classroom.
2. Facilitate dialogue with the student upon student request
3. Listen to the student and get to understand situation, respecting the fact
that disability is often a private matter that is difficult to discuss
4. Be observant of your own beliefs about disability and specific diagnoses
5. Conversations must take place in confidential manner (be observant of
surroundings, such as before or after class)
6. Clearly communicate with students your expectations and requirements
(means and frequency of contact about accommodations, etc.) in the
coordination of accommodations for your course
7. Coordinate accommodations requested assuming the student requests
accommodations within a reasonable time frame and the
accommodations requested are reasonable
8. Collaborate with students with disabilities and the DRC as necessary to
create an accessible class experience. Modifications listed on the
accommodation letter are usually the bare minimum accommodations
that need to be coordinated. However, creativity is welcomed in the
process and instructors are free to consider other outcomes they
believe would be reasonable given the situation.
9. Information students disclose to instructors should not be openly and
freely shared with other colleagues within the department or
elsewhere, as doing so may create a perception that could impact future
student / instructor relationships
** Contact the DRC when uncertain of best way to proceed in certain
situations
Reasonable accommodations do not and should not:
 Substantially alter the educational standards or mission of Eastern
Michigan University;
 Fundamentally alter the nature of the program, course, service and/or
activity;
 Allow access to a program when a student is not otherwise qualified
(with or without accommodations) to meet the academic and technical
standards required for admission or participation in an education
program, course, service and/or activity;
 Pose undue financial or administrative hardship (college-wide) would
be caused by the accommodation;
 Pose a direct threat to the health or safety of the student with a
disability or others as a result of accommodation implementation.
The Problem with the Current Accommodation System
Accommodations are often provided because of a disconnect between the
environment and the disability, not because of the disability alone
Accommodations have been incorrectly framed as a solution to a student need
when it is often a solution to an environmental barrier
The Vision
Everyone will appreciate the power they have in the design of programs,
policies, courses, etc. and will be intentional in the creation of such.
Design connects or disconnects and includes or excludes for a variety of
reasons…the goal should be for inclusive design to the greatest extent possible
Flexibility and multiplicity in:
Presentation and acquisition of information provided
Modes of engagement
Resources, products, and programs
Assessment and evaluation