Ensuring equal access for all students is a collaborative effort between DALE, students, and faculty/staff. To access the wide range of services and support offered to students with disabilities, students must complete the steps below.
For this purpose, “students with disabilities” also include students who experience a temporary illness or injury, which may occur at any point during their academic year, and are seeking accommodations related to that temporary disability, and students seeking accommodations related to pregnancy or parenting under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (note: pregnancy and related conditions are treated as “temporary disabilities” under Title IX).
It is recommended that students begin the process below as soon after admission as possible, and for temporary disabilities and/or impairments, as soon as practicable.
Please note that the below is a summary of the process to initiate services. For detailed information, see The College of Idaho’s Student Disability Accommodation Policy.
Step One - Complete Application to Initiate Services
Complete the Application to Initiate Services and submit to DALE.
Step Two - Submit Your Documentation
Clinical documentation that is complete and current provides the basis for decisions on appropriate and reasonable accommodations for qualified students. Students requesting accommodations must upload their documentation as part of the Application to Initiate Services or submit it in-person or via email before their initial appointment noted in Step Three below. If the student does not have documentation, DALE can discuss this during their initial appointment.
A student’s documentation must include information from a licensed or otherwise properly credentialed professional that:
- Clearly identifies the diagnosed disability;
- Describes the diagnostic methodology used;
- Describes the current functional limitations resulting from the disability;
- Describes the expected progression or stability of the disability;
- Describes any current/past accommodations, services, and/or medications; and
- Describes the specific accommodation(s) recommended.
As such, students and their qualified professional/treating physician must complete one or more of the following Disability-Related Request for Accommodation forms and submit any additional documentation required to document the student’s disability::
- Disability-Related Academic Accommodations or
- Disability-Related Residential Accommodations, which include:
In the event that flexibility in attendance and/or assignment deadlines is recommended, documentation must also describe the specific connection between the symptoms of the disability and the recommended flexibility.
If testing accommodations are recommended, the documentation must also include complete educational, developmental, and medical history relevant to the disability for which testing accommodations are being requested.
Step Three - Meet with DALE
Students should contact DALE to arrange an in-person or virtual meeting ideally before the start of the term/semester, but no later than the first two weeks of the term/semester, to determine reasonable and appropriate accommodations.
When determining reasonable accommodations, DALE considers a variety of information, including DALE’s interactive interview/meeting with the student, the student’s submitted documentation, recommendations from other professionals, etc.
DALE has the responsibility to determine reasonable and effective accommodations and services in collaboration with the student, and it must provide or arrange for accommodations and services, so the student has an equal opportunity to participate in courses, programs, activities, and services. It may, however, refuse a request for accommodations and services (i) if the documentation fails to verify the need for the student’s request, is not valid or current, or is not provided in advance of need; or (ii) the requested accommodation or service is inappropriate or unreasonable.