Review of Academic Accommodations and Related Procedures at Queen's

October 17-19, 2023

Faculty of Education – October 17, 10-11:30 am

Faculty of Arts and Science – October 18, 12-1:30 pm

Faculty of Arts and Science – October 19, 12-1:30 pm

Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science – October 18, 2-3:30 pm

Faculty of Health Sciences – October 19, 2-3:30 pm

Faculty of Law – October 19, 10-11:30 am

Smith School of Business – October 19, 4-5:30 pm

Additional Evening Drop-In Sessions

External Review of Academic Accommodations and Related Procedures for Students at Queen's, 2023-2024

Scope and Mandate of the Review

Students with disabilities are increasingly seeking institutional services and processes that will enable them to participate fully in the academic environment.  In the past academic year alone, the number of students with disabilities registered with Queen's Student Accessibility Services has increased by 33%.  This upward trend in students requiring services related to accommodation and accessibility is expected to continue in the wake of COVID-19.  Some sector experts predict that more students returning to university and college campuses post-pandemic will present with complex mental health and other disability related concerns.

Considering the high volume of accommodations processed and facilitated by QSAS and academic departments each year, it appears that most student accommodation needs are addressed successfully.  However, each year there are students who raise significant concerns regarding accommodation processes at Queen's, from interactions with instructors through to formal academic appeal processes.  For their part, staff, faculty, and administrators who administer these processes have pointed to a lack of clarity and minimal supports around how to address student accommodation situations that are complex, challenging, and growing in number.

Discussions with the Advisory Committee on Academic Accommodations, the Provost’s Teaching and Learning Advisory Committee, the Annual Queen's Accessibility Congress, and various university partners involved in providing accommodations have revealed:

• Students with complex health and disability issues, and who have challenges with respect to providing timely care provider documentation, may experience difficulty navigating current systems.
• QSAS and Faculties feel under-resourced with respect to doing the work of translating "Letters of Accommodation" (LOAs) into course relevant academic accommodations. 
• Instructors are increasingly overwhelmed by student accommodation requests (volume and/or complexity).  Some are relying on principles of "universal design" as a way of increasing accessibility and minimizing individual requests for accommodation.
• Students with disabilities sometimes meet resistance from course instructors and Faculty based offices with respect to implementing their Letters of Accommodation.
• Students find formal appeal processes burdensome and costly. The university does not have a more immediate appeal system specific to the issue of accommodations.
• Students may not always be well-informed about the distinction between high school level disability accommodations and the aims of university-level disability accommodations.
• Instructors are not always well informed about their responsibilities around accommodations
• Students who face resistance to having their accommodations implemented will often give up and drop courses rather than seeking additional assistance

The Reviewers' Mandate

The mandate of the external reviewers is to consider and make recommendations concerning:

• the need to balance the essential attributes of a course with the institution’s obligations under the law;

• the adequacy and fairness of policies, procedures and programs in relation to student academic accommodations and considerations[1];

• education of community members including students, staff, faculty, and administrators regarding student academic accommodations/considerations and accessibility;

• the resources dedicated to the effective and timely implementation of the policies, procedures and programs in relation to student academic accommodations and considerations;

• any other matter that the reviewers consider relevant in assisting the university to meet its obligations to students with disabilities.

Limitations to reviewer scope

The reviewers will not review:

• individual files related to clinical or administrative decisions made by healthcare providers or Queen's Student Accessibility Services,

• individual files related to administrative or legal decisions in relation to the university's academic appeal processes or any matter before the courts or the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

Review Structure

The review will be co-led, administered, and supported by the offices of the Principal and Provost.

Further to this, the reviewers will receive guidance from an Expert Advisory Panel consisting of four students, two faculty members and one staff member, all of whom identify as persons with disabilities. This panel is advisory only to the reviewers and is to be used at their discretion. Administrative support will be provided by the Office of Principal.

The reviewers will undertake an environmental scan of other institutional structures and practices in addition to a review of Queen’s current practices through an initial document review of stated policy and practice of various offices typically involved in academic accommodations processes (e.g. QSAS, HRAS, Faculty Deans offices, Ombudsperson) that will provide institutional context and assist reviewers in defining the scope of their inquiries. Material from Queen’s will be accompanied by a summary of existing policies and procedures for context to the document review.

In addition to examining policy and procedure documents, it is expected that reviewers will consult widely with community members who interact with student accommodations systems at Queen’s, including key partners involved in administering these systems and service users (undergraduate and graduate students).

Timing of the Review

The review will commence in April of 2023; a preliminary report will be shared with the Principal and Provost’s offices by February 1, 2024, with a final report and recommendations expected in April or May of 2024 and in any event not later than December 31, 2024.

[1] Note: Queen’s also has a policy and procedure related to academic consideration. This can cover issues such as short-term illnesses, a death of a family member or friend, or other significant and/or traumatic life event. In the last two years this process has also managed COVID related academic considerations. While accommodations and considerations are different, they can intersect and an illness or traumatic event may trigger an immediate consideration but the situation may well turn into a mental health disability or issue that requires a longer term accommodation. Students have reported a lack of empathy or flexibility around academic considerations from some instructors - a sense that instructors will only accommodate a disability but are not “required” to make adjustments for other situations. Instructors are often concerned about issues of fairness with respect to considerations and may use the “floodgates argument” as a rationale for not granting considerations.

While this review is primarily focused on accommodations, intersections with consideration policies and practices should be examined.