Washington State University Procedures

FACULTY

Faculty members may raise questions and concerns about disability services/accommodations, especially when they believe a requested accommodation may fundamentally alter their course. If a faculty member reasonably believes an accommodation constitutes a fundamental alteration of their academic requirements or program, the faculty member should contact the student’s Access Advisor (the person listed in the faculty notification letter) and not to the student seeking the accommodation. If communication between the faculty member and the Access Advisor does not resolve the concern of a fundamental alteration, an ad hoc committee will be formed. The ad hoc committee may include: the faculty member, department chair, associate dean, Access Advisor, ADA Coordinator, and/or others with knowledge of the academic area, related licensing requirements, applicable accreditation standards, the student’s disability, and accommodation methods. This committee will decide whether the requested accommodation constitutes a fundamental alteration of the academic requirements or program. This committee is considered a part of the interactive process, which is required by law. In the meantime, faculty members are still obligated to provide all uncontested accommodations as stated in the faculty notification letter until resolution is reached. If the ad hoc committee decides an accommodation is not a fundamental alteration, the accommodation will be provided retroactively to the date of the faculty notification.

STUDENT 

Students registered with the WSU Access Center who believe they have been negatively impacted by Access Center staff, policies, or procedures or that an assigned accommodation is not appropriately provided should contact their Access Advisor first. If the concern is about your Access Advisor, please contact the Director of the Access Center, Matthew Jeffries, at matthew.jeffries@wsu.edu or 509-335-3417. Students who believe they have been discriminated against due to a disability may file a report or formal complaint with WSU Compliance and Civil Rights office or contact the ADA Coordinator: Holly Ashkannejhad (Director, Compliance and Civil Rights, French Administration Building, Room 225)  at ccr@wsu.edu 509-335-8288

The Access Advisor or the Director of the Access Center will inform students if their concerns may fall under Executive Policy 15, WSU’s policy prohibiting discrimination and discriminatory harassment, and must be forwarded to Compliance and Civil Rights (CCR). The Access Center will inform the student that they have a right to file a complaint with CCR at any time.

A student, who is not satisfied with this first-level response or whose grievance is against the director of the Access Center, has a right to file a formal grievance. This grievance should be made as soon as possible after the action that triggers the concern, and the grievance will be timely resolved based on the procedures stated herein. As stated above, some concerns may be routed to Compliance and Civil Rights.

Procedures

Students who want to file a formal grievance should complete the Access Center grievance form. This form is not a report or formal complaint to CCR. After submitting this form, three Access Center staff members from across the WSU system will review the grievance. Students will be notified of the resolution or with follow-up questions within a reasonable timeframe. If students are unsatisfied with the outcome, they will receive the supervisor’s information for any possible follow-up.

If students are not satisfied with any outcome or wish to file a complaint or grievance with applicable federal and/or state agencies, they may contact the following at any time:

  • Washington State Human Rights Commission -The Commission enforces Washington State’s Law Against Discrimination (RCW49.60). (http://www.hum.wa.gov/).
  • U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights - The Office for Civil Rights is within the U.S. Department of Education and addresses alleged civil rights violations.  Information can be found at the Office for Civil Rights website.
  • Contact for the Seattle Office can be found below: Office for Civil Rights, Seattle Office, U.S. Department of Education, 915 Second Avenue, Room 3310, Seattle, WA 98174-1099, Telephone: 206-607-1600, Fax: 206-607-1601, Email: OCR.Seattle@ed.gov