Drc 101 Part 4 Fulfilling Your Obligations Related to Accessibility And Inclusion

[MUSIC PLAYING] Hi everybody. I'm Jen Dugger. I'm the director of the Disability Resource Center at Portland State University. Thanks for joining me. This is the last of the four videos about the DRC and how you can help students who are registered with our office. This one here is specifically about fulfilling your other obligations, not about the accommodations on the letter. If you're interested in learning more about the faculty letter, there are a couple of other videos you'll want to check out. So first of all, I want to make sure that you know it is really important to have a syllabus statement about the DRC and accessibility and accommodations on your syllabus. There are a couple of sample statements on the DRC website if you're interested in just copying and pasting them. You'll also just really want to consider what learning outcomes you're gauging and how students will demonstrate that learning. What sometimes happens is we say thing-- we use words like "see" or "hear" or "feel," and really there are other ways that students can get that same learning done even if they aren't able to see, hear, or feel. So really think about the language that you're using in your syllabus. Appropriate referrals. So it's obviously really easy to get a student to the DRC when they say, I have a disability. I know I need to visit the DRC. How do I get there? But usually that doesn't happen. Usually a student has not directly disclosed that they have a disability, but you are noticing that there's something going on. So what I encourage you to do is to talk to the student. Tell them what you've noticed. You know, point out the different things that are concerning to you-- that they're not completing their homework on time, that they're falling asleep in class. Give them all of the resources that you can think of that would be helpful, whether they're all on campus resources are off, maybe even online resources. And then include DRC as one of those. You don't just want to refer to the DRC alone because, of course, then the student may think that you are saying that they have a disability, but including DRC as one of many resources is a really great way to do that. Following up with an email is even better. And if a student has directly disclosed that they have a disability, let them lead the conversation. So you're going to tell them, actually you don't have to tell me anything about disability because there's the Disability Resource Center, and they provide accommodations. But I want you to tell me whatever it is that you feel comfortable telling me because I care, and I want to make sure that you're successful in my course. That's really important to let them know that they don't have to tell you, but they can. OK, so the student has told you some information about their disability, and you're going to need to keep that information confidential. So disability-related information is protected under FERPA and also under the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act. And so we only share disability-related information on a need-to-know basis. That threshold is a little bit higher than other FERPA protected information, and so when I think of need-to-know, I think of, who needs to know this information in order to provide the student with an accommodation? Or, who needs to know this information in order to prevent the student from feeling discriminated against or being harassed? If this information does not need to be known by this other person, even if they are your supervisor, then you really should keep it to yourself. Tell the DRC. Ask us for advice if you're not sure whether to share it or not. We can always learn of information about students with disabilities, so you can always tell us. But it is very important that you keep that to yourself unless someone does have a legitimate need to know. And then finally, I would like to share with you a cartoon that has been especially important to me in my life and that I think will be helpful to those of you watching. And this is a concept called universal design, which is really about making spaces the most accessible for the greatest number of people possible, and in doing that, you inadvertently create accessible spaces for people with disabilities also. So in this cartoon, the student asks the janitor to clear the ramp of snow, and he says that he will do it as soon as he's done clearing off the stairs. And the student again says, actually you know if you clear the ramp, we can all get in. So I just ask that you in your role here at PSU-- whether that be as a janitor, a facilities person, or whether it be as an instructor, a TA, someone who is a chair of a committee. Or think of all the different roles that you have, and think of how you can be making the spaces, the environments, the documents, your communication, all of it more accessible to a greater number of people. So that people with disabilities don't need accommodations quite as often. All right. That's it. Thank you so much for joining me, and I hope that you enjoyed this video.