Aligning Disability Services With
College Cultures: What Will Work
On Your Campus?
Andy Christensen
Carleton College
AHEAD: July 15, 2015
Purpose of Presentation
• What can be generalized across all campuses?
• What is unique to each campus?
• How can that uniqueness be identified and
maintained?
The Easy Part: Federal Law
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.)
defines what we must and must not do
– “Reasonable accommodations…qualified
individuals…undue burden”
• Still leaves a wide area for individual decisions
– The point is to REFRAIN from treating everyone the
same
• Fair Treatment is not Identical Treatment
• Deliberative process v. outcome
Leeway and Discretion Remain
• Other Considerations
– Funding
– Academic Philosophy
– State & Local Law (Housing and animal policies)
Our Job on Our Campuses
• Help Students
• Reduce the degree to which others
(supervisors) need to worry about Disability
Services
– Legal Compliance
• Mostly (but not all) one federal law: The Americans
with Disabilities Act
– Unhappy Students
Carleton College
• Extremely rigorous
• About 2,000 students, all traditional
undergraduates
• Small Minnesota city
• Largely inaccessible campus
Carleton College Disability Services
• 122 students registered in 2013-14
• Almost exclusively invisible disabilities
– No hearing-, visually-, or mobility-impaired
• One staff person (with visible motor disability)
Other Carleton Facts
• 100% of demonstrated financial need is met
for all admitted students
• 91% 4 year graduation rate
• 2.0 FTE on GLBT-related services
• 4.0 FTE on International and Intercultural Life
• 3.0 FTE in TRIO/SSS
• 70%+ to graduate or professional school
within five years of graduation
Still more Carleton Facts
• Career Services 9.0 FTE
• Most Common Employment: K-12 education,
Professor, Attorney, Medicine, Manager,
Analyst, Scientist
What All This Says About Carleton
• Admission is difficult and curriculum is
demanding, but there’s an assumption that all
students not only get through, but go on to
wonderful things
• Various offices plug leaky points toward this
goal
• I’m expected to do the same for students
seeking disability-related services
Disability Services Takeaways
•
•
•
•
Keep students on track
Not just access, but success
We can probably find the money
Everything is on the table
• Bottom Line: I don’t spend much time saying
“no”
What is Disability at Carleton?
• Particular kind on campus
• No formal DS curriculum or culture
• Mitigating circumstance v. identity
• People can’t do things they’re not ready to do
– Assimilation v. Distinction
• “Don’t be the best. Be the only.”—David Carr
Other Things Unique to Carleton
• Not many conversations around programming
compliance
• More about building access issues as we
renovate and update
How Do I Spend My Time?
• Paperwork, notifying, administering accommodations,
advising students and applicants, technical support
• Graduate School Preparation
– Admissions Testing Issues
– Reviewing Applications and Essays
• Career Exploration
– There’s this sense that Carls can do anything
– Many students with disabilities feel this isn’t as true for
them, and don’t know where to turn
– Resume support
What should I do? What can I
delegate?
• Mentoring: How to be a student with a
disability at a demanding college
– Other stuff is less important if I bring someone up
to speed
– Need to be ready for any problem that comes in
the door
• Temporary mobility support
• Matching people to best resources
Tone of My Work and Office
• I want students to see me and my
imperfections
• I want students to see all of me
– Modeling other things than just that I have a
visible disability
– I want students to notice what I take seriously,
and what I don’t
• Every “reprimand” is about life skills, and
working after Carleton
Assessing Your Role on Your Campus
• Mission Statement
• Typical (expected) student outcomes
• Where does your campus spend its money
– How willingly?
– How important is your professional development?
• What kind of support exists for other
students?
Assessing How Your Campus Assesses
You
• How do your superiors spend their time?
– How much leeway do you get?
– What sorts of activities are sponsored by other
campus offices that support students?
– How are budget demands addressed?
• We’re different
Final Thoughts
• Know other campus contexts to know your
own
• Talk with at-risk, retention, specific population
supports
– Know how their $ works
• Take disability out of it
– Would we handle the situation any differently if X
didn’t self-identify?
Contact Information
Andy E. Christensen
Coordinator of Disability Services
Carleton College
anchrist@carleton.edu
Thanks for listening!