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ADA and Residence Hall Requirements(The following posts were culled from the DSSHE-L archives. Some editing has been done to consolidate space and exclude extraneous remarks, but no changes have been made the to content shown. Not all posts on a given subject are necessarily included here. Information about the date(s) of appearance and subject headings are provided for those who wish to return to the full archives to research this issue in more detail.) From: "DuTemple, Nikole" This question was posed to me by a friend on another list. I have some thoughts on this issue, but thought I'd pose the question here, also, to see what you all come up with. Thanks in advance for your help. Nikole DuTemple ------------------------- At Abilene Christian University we have a 2-year on-campus living requirement. We have just had a spohomore request to live off campus, stating his rights according to the American Disabilities Act. He is claiming that being ADHD and having allergies (both documented by physicians) require that he live off campus. My question is this: Are these two situations, or either one separately, covered by ADA? If so, what does this mean? Wayne Barnard Wayne C. Barnard, LPC, LMFT, NCC E-mail: barnardw@nicanor.acu.edu From: Peter Lau Let me try. The student does not have a right to live off campus. He does have a right to receive reasonable accommodations for his disabilities. Living off campus could be one of the reasonable accommodations. Others may include quiet room, etc. As to allergies, what are we talking about? Chemical sensitivities or Hay Fever? And how is living off campus suppose to be better for the student? You need to do an analysis of these issues based on his doctor's diagnosis. From: Bernita Nutt Nikole, The alternative is to put him in a quieter room or area for the ADHD since the school requires a 2 year live on campus program. I don't think it is covered under ADA if an alternative room can be had. The allergies are another thing. If the allergies go as far as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, then he may need to have an off campus place due to pesticides and such. If there is a room with several windows that he can open for air and circulation, I don't know if an off-campus place is required. I have a multiple chemical senstivity person who is a commuter and the head of housing says he isn't going to lose a full pay student for three days a week for a commuter. This person has many, many health problems. So I am not sure what to do. Bernita Nutt From: CodyOh@AOL.COM my two cents... just a thought but it seems like a silly requirement anyway... and how can a school dictate where someone lives... and how can they get away with doing so... regardless of the ada issue or not...(which is not what it was posted for i realize but it bugged me so i had to say something)... i can understand rules for those under 18 etc etc... but two years... does that rule apply to returning adult students...or arent there any? and married students? or is there a bias? just something to think about cody From: Peter Lau Well Cody it's not a "silly" requirement for certain colleges. It is their overall educational experience, and it distinguishes them from other universities (such as the large impersonal one I work for). There is legitimate educational reasons for such requirements. If you don't like it, don't go there. They don't hide the requirement from students. In fact a lot of them use these requirements as a recruiting tool. peter From: Marcia Carlson There are a number of disabilities that, depending on the campus situation, *may* be such that an individual would be healthier living off campus. This may be the case with allergies, but probably not with ADHD. The real issue is how this was presented. The student does not have the "right" under the ADA to live off campus. The student has a right under the ADA to request a variance in campus policy (i.e., to live off campus). The student also has a responsibility to present documentation supporting the request. I would think that except in the most unusual of situations, you would be able to accommodate this student on campus. If the allergies are so severe that he cannot live on campus, then they are so severe that there should be some manifestation of the allergies in other, academic situations - that is, you would expect to see some sort of reaction, be it sniffling, sneezing, drowsiness, disorientation or any other typical severe allergy symptoms. However, there are two dorm-only situations that may be causing his problem, one that can be easily fixed, the other is a bit more tricky. At those schools where the students are required to maintain their own rooms and maybe the common halls, students (especially men, in my experience) tend to forego things like cleaning and vacuuming. This results in a buildup of dust. Simply having more administrative controls on the cleaning as an accommodation should take care of problems for allergic students. If this is the problem for your student, the problem is apt to move with the student to an off campus living situation. If the problem is food allergies, there may be a legitimate reason to allow the student to live off campus. But in this case, why is there an issue now, and there wasn't one in the freshman year? If this is the reason and he managed his freshman year, even with problems, it suggests that food service can make adjustments for this student. There is always the possibility that this student has severe allergies that have more hidden symptomsand has had a problem, but has not come to DSS. This is why you ask for documentation that is very strong and that can support the student's request. The student has a responsibility to show you cannot accommodate him on campus. Marcia From: Susan Quinby Many of you may have seen the articles in the NYTimes is recent weeks re: what has come to be known as the "Yale 5"...a group of Jewish students who have demanded to be exempted from the Yale two-year residence requirement and Yale has stated that it would be a fundamental alteration of their program (I agree). If the Yale DSS director is on the DSSHE list serve (hello to Sally Esposito!), I would be curious to see Sally's response to the disability/exemption issue... Keep us posted! From: JaneJarrow@aol.com Yesterday, there was some discussion of the following post: I think Peter Lau gave some excellent advice when he suggested that the student has a right to reasonable accommodation, not a right to live off-campus, but that living off-campus MIGHT be a reasonable accommodation if we knew more about the circumstances and why off-campus was see as necessary. I would certainly want to try to find an on-campus placement that met accommodation needs before I considered alteration to the policy. JUST A REMINDER, THOUGH... The school in question is Abilene Christian University. They would certainly not be covered under Title II of the ADA and depending upon how tight the affiliation is with a religious entity, there may be some question about their Title III coverage. They would almost certainly be covered under 504, however (remember - a single student going to school on a Pell grant triggers coverage under 504) -- and it is under Subpart E of Section 504 (NOT the ADA) that you will find pertinent legal precedents to help sort this one out. The first question to be asked any time there is a question of "Does the individual have a right to..." should always be, "Is the entity involved covered under the statute in question?" For what it is worth, From: Brian Rose I had wanted to respond when I saw the original post, but did not have the time. Since then, there have been a number of responses that can be summarized by the following analysis: 1. As a threshhold matter, is the school covered by a pertinent statute? Jane Jarrow handles that analysis and the answer would seem to be "almost certainly" under 504. 2. Next, is the on campus living requirement an essential element of the program at Texas Abilene such that it would not need to be modified as an accommodation to a student with a disability? Susan Quimby raises that question by her analogy to the Yale 5 case. For quick background, this case involves Orthodox Jewish students who are asserting that the permissive environment in Yale dorms relative to the sexual activity of residents runs so contrary to their religious beliefs as to interfere with their right to live in accordance with the tenets of their faith. Accordingly, they should not have to be subject to the on-campus living requirement (also two years I believe). 3. If it is not an essential element of the program, is off-campus living a reasonable accommodation / are there alternatives? Marcia Carlson and Peter Lau among others have provided good advice on this issue. I wish to amplify a little on #2 and maybe in the process begin to address Steve Pudlo's question about the "essentialness" of a residency program. Residency requirements are often viewed cynically as a money-grabbing scheme. Fixed costs are high when running a residence life system; accordingly, even near-solvency requires a very high occupancy rate. If there is off-campus housing available in the area immediately adjacent to campus, it is often cheaper and always more fun (no rules, no RA's, you can live with who you want to). Faced with these realities, colleges and universities certainly have incentive to manipulate the housing market by imposing residency requirements. If money is the only issue, it is going to be hard to argue "essentialness". However, whatever the original justification for the residency requirement, may colleges and universities have developed some fairly broad co-curricular and even curricular programmatic initiatives based in residence halls. Some examples: a. "diversity programming" - residents of each "house" or "college" may be expected to attend a series of programs offered throughout the year(s) in the residence halls to address topics like multiculturalism, lesbian/gay/bisexual issues, sexual harassment and assault and heck, the rights of people with disabilities. Depending upon how aggressive the programming, floor populations may be "engineered" to reflect the diversity of the institution's community; students may be expected to make an occasional presentation, participate in an electronic discussion group, etc. b. "educational mentoring" - there are members of the faculty in residence who formally and informally attempt to engage resident students in intellectual diuscussions, co-curricular research and other tweedy, high brow stuff. They may facilitate programs from academic advising staff on the selection of majors, programs of individualized study, joint degree programs, internship opportunities and the like. They may also assist students in networking with other faculty who teach in areas of the student's educational interest. c. "residence based curricular initiatives" - there are some for-credit programs where typically first year students take a semester or year long orientation program to introduce them to the culture of the institution and the various services and activities available there. In a different model classes from the standard curriculum are taught in the residence halls - they are small section, class discussion based with the purpose being the creation of a "living-learning environment" within the residence halls. I'll stop there, but there are other twists on the same theme. Whatever you (or the students) may think of the merits or utility of such initiatives, an institution can develop a strong argument that the objectives of these in-residence programs are fundamental to its educational mission. With respect to the question at hand, I think there has to be an examination as to the stated objectives of the Texas Abilene residency requirement. If it is intended to be a fundamental part of the educational experience, you are on your way to saying that it does not need to be "waived" as an accommodation to a student with a disability. The next part of the analysis is to review what, if any exceptions have been made to the residency requirement in the past and do those exceptions undecut the argument of "essentialness". In the Yale case, there were early reports that some students had bought themselves ought of the requirement by paying for a room in the residence halls, but still living off-campus. If true (and I don't know it to be so), this would hurt the Yale position. It suggests that revenue, not program was essential. Similarly, other exceptions for non-traditional students, intercollegiate athletes, et cetera could erode the essentialness of the requirment. For that reason, if the residency requirement really is in support of a broader educational mission, I would be careful about granting exceptions whether to students with diabilities or otherwise lest you hop on to the proverbial slippery slope. Brian Rose From: Peter Lau What an excellent, reasoned, and detailed analysis (as opposed to my usual flippant hit and run). Let me add my cynical 2 cents before the Friday/Thursday run to the mountains. I have heard that the inter-marriage rate of these colleges that have residential requirements are very high (above 80%?). Thus the financial incentives for the colleges extend beyond the undergraduate years. They have a set of built-in alumni base and a second generation of students coming in in 18 years. peter From: "Steven E. Pudlo, Dept of Computer Services" Sue; What is Yale doing that living on campus is a fundamental part of their program? I don't get it. Could some of those who advocate that living on campus is so fundamental talk to me? Would Dan permit a dialogue on this subject? I'm not trying to pick a fight, but rather to understand a viewpoint that differs from mine. Steve From: Susan Quinby Yale has a longstanding "house" system in which incoming first-years are assigned to a specific "college" (e.g. Branford College, Morse College, etc.) which is a residence hall, and everything revolves around that house..your living, dining, etc. It is an essential aspect of the Yale experience...again, Sally Esposito could speak more directly here. I went to Connecticut College in neighboring New London so have some familiarity with Yale from my days there as a student in the 60's... I'll give you a Barnard analog on the meal plan/eating issues situation which also intrigues me...We have a mandatory meal plan for some of our residence halls and we RARELY ..if ever...exempt. I have served on the Food and Health Services Committee and we work VERY closely to work out individual plans with the Director of Food Services and the student with a disability...since we have lots of students with chronic illnesses. The only exemption I can think of was maybe 10 years ago and we were working with a student who was a cancer survivor and was on an experimental kelp/seaweed diet and she DID get an exemption because our previous food service couldn't access the kelp. We've had ARA for awhile now and they have been wonderful and quite supportive of individual diet/disability accommodations... A little food for thought ;) --------------------------- From: Susan Quinby Thank you, Brian for that thoughtful analysis of the housing situation! Just another little analogy re: fundamental alteration..as you all know, Judge Patty Sarris has just ruled that Boston University has the right to hold onto its 4-semester foreign language requirement, and that the Dec 1997 recommendation of the BU faculty task force was that modifications/substitutions of the BU f/l requirement would constitute a fundamental alteration. By the way, you are right on the "sticky" issue of the fact that Yale in fact did allow a few students to pay for a room on campus and then live separately (good grief, paying twice) in an off-campus apartment. Then again, two wrongs don't make a right! Thanks for your post! From: Charley Tiggs Dear Colleagues, I had a couple of thoughts on this issue. Does the college view living in a dorm a significant part of the students education and development? If so, then you should find a way to accommodate the student on campus IN CONJUNCTION WITH the housing office. While I was at Texas Tech, this particular situation presented itself and the student could not give me any reason other than allergies. I asked for specifics on the allergies and ways they would be addressed off campus. In most instances, all of those allergy issues could be addressed by the housing office. There are, of course, some students who require that we consider the off campus housing seriously for students with allergy issues. But is that really a disabling condition as defined by ADA? Or is that something that the housing office should address for students with severe allergies anyway? As someone pointed out in another thread, the student living in on campus housing and interacting with others on campus exposes the student to opportunities to meet future colleagues/ceo's that may be more important than the student living off-campus. Usually, when I point that out to parents, there was a significant shift in thinking. Charley From: "Steven E. Pudlo, Dept of Computer Services" Brian; Thank you for your response to my plea. It seems from your explanation, which does make some sense, that the residency requirement, aside from the financial aspect, serves to assure an audience for various and sundry social conditioning programs. So the "Education" includes adjusting the way people think, as well as what they learn. I never had the opportunity to avail myself of such institutions, therefore, I retain the belief system and social awareness my parents taught me. Hmm...explains a lot, doesn't it? Correct me if I'm wrong. From: Keith Leafdale Steven, Me thinks that a bit of a sharp distinction, setting aside "...the way we think..." as opposed to or unaffected by "...what we learn." As one who commuted to campus from home all of those undergraduate years, trusting my old used Studebaker for mile after mile, I always envied those who lived on campus and immersed themselves in the academic world (as Thomas Jefferson intended with the design of a campus with the quad, a safe atmosphere for scholars). Of course, being a commuter doesn't absolutely prevent one from becoming immersed in campus life, so we don't want to make hard and stereotyped labels out of this. It is just more difficult and more unlikely. For what its worth, I think Yale and small liberal arts colleges who emphasize the importance of residence hall life as a part of the total academic experience may have a point, and arguments in support of that as an institutional philosophy can be quite persuasive. We have a different kind of strength in commuter colleges, and we can capitalize on that. Our strength is the variety of ages and depth of and varied experiences that the students bring to our classroom discussions. (Another strength may be that we usually don't have the distraction of big-business athletic departments... my bias. Chuckle) Keith Leafdale From: DEBORAH MCCUNE At my university we also have a mandatory meal plan for those living in the residence halls, with very few exceptions. We had a student who recently requested an exception based on a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome and some other digestive disorder. Doctor stated that the student needed to avoid greasy, fast food type items. Student stated she got sick when she ate in the cafeteria and so "she had to spend extra money to eat at McDonald's, Hardee's, KFC, etc". The doctor withdrew the recommendation letter after hearing this quote! Have a good 4th everyone! NOTE: (This thread was culled from the archives by Charley L. Tiggs, DAIS Webmaster, webmaster@janejarrow.com ********************************************************** |
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