Administrative Policies

Student Disabilities Support Services

1. Purpose

This policy describes the rights and responsibilities of the students and KCTCS and its colleges in ensuring the provision of educational opportunity and full participation in any KCTCS program or activity for students and prospective students with disabilities.

2. Scope

This policy applies to KCTCS and all its colleges.

3. Policy 

KCTCS is committed to ensuring that no otherwise qualified person with a disability be excluded from participating in any KCTCS program or activity, be denied the benefits of any KCTCS program or activity, or otherwise be subject to discrimination with regard to any KCTCS program or activity.

As a postsecondary education institution, KCTCS is required to provide academic adjustments, also referred to as reasonable accommodations, as necessary to prevent discrimination and provide equal access to programs and activities.  A reasonable accommodation is a change or adjustment within an educational program, activity or service that provides a person with a disability opportunity to participate in the educational process, so long as the accommodation does not fundamentally alter the program or place an undue burden on KCTCS.

4. College Rights and Responsibilities Regarding Student Disability Services

1. KCTCS Colleges have the right to: 
   1. Maintain and require academic and technical standards in their individual programs.
      
      
   2. Request that the student identify themselves and provide relevant documentation, completed by an appropriate professional source, to verify the disability and the need for reasonable accommodation(s).
      
      
   3. Discuss a student’s need for reasonable accommodations with the professional source of his/her documentation after obtaining the student’s signed consent authorizing such discussion.
      
      
   4. Provide reasonable accommodation(s) to KCTCS students on a case-by-case basis.
      
      
   5. Deny a request for accommodations if the documentation does not identify a specific disability, the documentation fails to verify the need for the requested services, or the documentation is not provided in a timely manner.
      
      
   6. Deny an accommodation request that is inappropriate or unreasonable and would create an undue hardship on the college.
2. KCTCS Colleges have the responsibility to:
   1. Provide appropriate settings for our courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities.
      
      
   2. Make available information regarding policies and procedures to students with disabilities.
      
      
   3. Evaluate students on their abilities.
      
      
   4. Provide reasonable and appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities upon request.
      
      
   5. Provide access to distance learning courses, web-enhanced courses, and web sites, including forms and other documents made available for download through those web sites and courses.
      
      
   6. Maintain appropriate confidentiality of records and communication concerning students with disabilities.
      
      
   7. Develop or maintain a working relationship with the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, where possible, to help students with disabilities maximize opportunities for academic and economic success.
      
      
   8. Provide mandatory annual ADA training for faculty and staff for review and updates.

5. Student Rights and Responsibilities Regarding Student Disability Services

1. Every student with a documented disability has the right to:
   1. Access courses, programs, services, jobs, activities, and facilities available through KCTCS colleges.
      
      
   2. Access websites and web developed forms, web enhanced courses and distance learning courses.
      
      
   3. Reasonable and appropriate accommodations determined on a case-by-case basis.
      
      
   4. Appropriate confidentiality of all information pertaining to his/her disability with the choice of whom to disclose his/her disability to except as required by law.
      
      
   5. Access information.
2. Every student with a disability has the responsibility to:
   1. Meet KCTCS college and program qualifications and essential technical, academic, and institutional standards.
      
      
   2. Identify him/herself to the representative of disability services in a timely manner as an individual with a disability when seeking an accommodation.
      
      
   3. Provide documentation from an appropriate professional source that verifies the nature of the disability and functional limitations.
      
      
   4. Follow specific procedures for obtaining and using reasonable and appropriate accommodations.