Accommodations for Students with Specific Needs

Main idea

Outline

For some students, the general student guidance offered by Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) isn’t sufficient. AUAS makes sure that no student is left behind by offering accommodations to students with specific needs.

This support initiative has two phases:

• The application
  The students apply digitally to receive accommodations. Part of this application is uploading documents wherein, for example, a psychiatrist states that they have ADHD. This application can either be approved or rejected. This is done by a central decision-making body.
• The implementation
  The students talk to a diversity coach about their needs and which accommodations are fitting. Different diversity coaches have a different way of working, for example, some coaches have a standard set of accommodations for each diagnosis, while others take the needs of the specific student as a starting point.

AUAS has compiled a list of standard accommodations from which diversity coaches can choose depending on the needs of the students. There are two types of accommodations: general accommodations for during the academic year and accommodations for during exams. These accommodations are valid for one academic year, because the student’s needs can change (e.g., when a student received accommodations due to their depression, but is no longer depressed the year after). Depending on the situation, it might (not) be possible to re-apply for certain accommodations.

Which students are eligible for accommodations?

• Students with a mental or physical functional limitation
• Students with children
• Students that are top athletes
• Students who are in paid employment for at least 20 hours per week
• Students whose first language isn’t Dutch
• Students who are entrepreneurs
• Student representatives
• Students who find themselves in other difficult or peculiar circumstances (e.g., students with a mental or physical functional limitation who don’t have an official diagnosis, students with caring responsibilities,…)

Goals

Offering support to students that is tailored to their specific needs to make sure that all students can begin their academic year from the same starting line.

Target group

• Students experiencing obstacles based on ethnic-cultural differences
• Students experiencing educational difficulties
• Students experiencing socioeconomic obstacles
• Students from other communities
• Students with (mental) health problems
• Students with caring responsibilities

Obstacles targetted:

• Health problems
• Social obstacles
• Disability
• Economic obstacles
• Educational difficulties
• Migrant background obstacle

Students involvement

Students are not involved in the design/delivery of this initiative.

Success criteria

• The process is reasonably clear-cut and uniform due to the fact that there’s a central decision-making body.
• The diversity coaches are motivated and involved.
• Many students choose to study at AUAS specifically because of its diversity policy and student support.

Points of attention

• The official guidelines in Flanders state that students with a mental or physical functional limitation need an official diagnosis in order to receive accommodations. While AUAS tries to find solutions for students who were not officially diagnosed (e.g., because of financial reasons), there needs to be more flexibility in the official guidelines as well.
• Taking into account the different students’ needs and specific accommodations takes a lot of time and energy for lecturers. It might be better to implement some of the accommodations for all students regardless of their specific situation (e.g., more time during exams).
• Currently, the decisions about which students receive which accommodations are made on the level of the departments, meaning that one student might not receive the same accommodations as before if they decide to switch study programmes.
• Ideally, students would be more involved in the design and evaluation of this initiative.
• There isn’t a set procedure in place to evaluate (the effectiveness of) this initiative.
• There are still students who don’t know about this type of support, and some find out about it when it’s too late.

Do you feel you can effectively provide the support that students require?

Would you recommend this to other institutions?

somewhat agree

Communication

• There’s a lot of information on the website of AUAS
• There are leaflets about the initiative
• The support is mentioned during the introduction days

Timing

The accommodations are valid for one academic year, because the student’s needs can change (e.g., when a student received accommodations due to their depression, but is no longer depressed the year after). Depending on the situation, it might (not) be possible to re-apply for certain accommodations.

Day information

During regular ‘school’ hours.

Resources

You need diversity coaches who are motivated and who have enough time and skills to adequately assist students. Apart from the diversity coaches doing the practical work, it would also be valuable for the institution as a whole to have a diversity expert.

Extra information

• Tailor-made guidance
• Reasonable Accommodations Guide (pdf)

Transferability

We think it is quite easily transferable to other contexts or groups.

Is it easily transferable to other contexts/groups?

The procedure itself is easily transferable, but the type and number of accommodations that are necessary could vary greatly depending on the context, for instance, if there is already a lot of support for students in general.

Universal design

Although this service wasn’t designed with the principles of universal design in mind, AUAS tries to adjust its support to better align with the principles of universal design. The better the general support for students, the less need there is for specific accommodations.

Specific context

The Flemish Education Council has published specific guidelines on which students can be considered students with specific needs. Universities and university colleges are obligated to follow these guidelines, but each institution has a different approach.