Vanguard University

Disability Services emails Accommodation Letters to students at the start of each academic year, or at the time a student meets with Disability Services to set up accommodations. The PDF Accommodation Letter is attached to the student’s Vanguard email address and students are instructed to share the letter with their professors.

Direct the student to Disability Services. If you have not been emailed an Accommodation letter by the student, then the student has most likely not registered with our office and received approved accommodations. 

Accommodations should in no way change the course’s goals or alter the academic requirements. If you have a question or a concern, please contact Disability Services.

Students are instructed to follow up with professors if they intend on using the accommodations in that class. Some classes are already accessible, in which case a student may not request accommodations. 

Remember, you may not ask a student what their disability is; however, students may voluntarily disclose their disability to you, which Disability Services supports.

Students have an in-person or virtual intake meeting with Disability Services, and information from a student’s documentation provides information which assists in the determination of reasonable accommodations. Accommodations are meant to provide equal access; they do not guarantee success or necessarily fit a student’s preferred learning style.

Accommodations are adaptations to the ways in which things are usually done in a college course. The purpose of effective accommodations is to provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate and benefit from college.

The following are examples of the most common accommodations that permit a student with a disability to effectively participate in the educational process:

• Changes to a classroom environment or task: extended time for an exam, reduced distraction testing location;
• Removal of architectural barriers: adapting a classroom to meet the needs of a student who uses a wheelchair;
• Exceptions to policies, practices or procedures: an example is priority registration;
• Provision of auxiliary aids and services: providing a sign language interpreter, or providing a note-taker or scribe.

Vanguard University is not required to offer or provide an accommodation, to admit or continue to admit an individual with a disability to any course, program, service or activity or to provide educational opportunities and other services when:

• The educational standards or mission of Vanguard University would be substantially altered;
• The nature of the course, program, service or activity would be fundamentally altered;
• The student is not otherwise qualified (with or without accommodations) to meet the academic and technical standards required for admission or participation in an education course, program, service or activity;
• An undue financial or administrative hardship (university-wide) would be caused by the accommodation; and
• If the individual would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of self or others.
• Additionally, Vanguard University is not required to provide accommodations of a personal nature, such as a personal care attendant or personal use equipment.

Vanguard faculty and staff have a responsibility to satisfy obligations of compliance under ADA statutes and regulations.

Accommodations must be requested within a reasonable timeframe and must be reasonable given the situation. When reasonableness clearly exists, instructors must coordinate the appropriate accommodation. When questions about reasonableness exist, instructors should consult with Disability Services about how to best address the situation: email disabilityservices@vanguard.edu, call 714-619-6550, or stop by Smith Hall 103.

Students often experience a temporary medical condition, such as an injury, surgery, illness, or a concussion. Typically, these do not qualify students for ADA accommodations since they are not permanent disabilities; however, Disability Services recognizes that temporary medical conditions still impact a student’s learning experience. The Athletic training staff notify Disability Services when a student sustains a concussion, and Disability Services will then inform faculty to ask for flexibility as the student recovers.

With regard to injury, surgery, or illness, if students contact or are referred to Disability Services, Disability Services will share with professors any information and documentation a student provides, with student permission. Professors and then students can work together to make academic arrangements. If the injury, surgery, or illness is significant and/or long-term, Disability Services may seek to put temporary accommodations in place.