Disability Compliance for Higher Education最新文献

Case name: Letter re: Gore Public Schools, No. 07241066 (OCR 08/19/25).

Case name: Rodriguez v. Indiana University School of Medicine, No. 1:23-cv-01697 (S.D. Ind. 09/19/25).

Colleges and universities could often turn to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights for help on how to deal with postsecondary education students with disabilities. OCR published fact sheets, policy guidance, pamphlets, and settlement agreements to help educate both students with disabilities and institutions on the definition of disability, academic modifications, and auxiliary aids and services. Now, the ED/OCR is, for the most part, devoid of this information, making it exceedingly difficult for students to know their legal rights and for schools to remain in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. One of the few areas of guidance is a statement from OCR dated 1995, dealing with the civil rights of students with disabilities. Although 30 years old, this statement offers students and schools valuable information. Original document: U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1995-0-396-916.

Every day, I hear on the news or read on the internet stories about college students’ mental health issues. It appears that it is a national crisis. Some say it started with COVID, as Gen Z students were kept away from school for months or years, depending on where they lived. It seems that being on-screen hours a day has taken a real toll in students’ interaction in-person with others their age. Lately, I’ve heard a lot about students making “friends” and “companions” with AI avatars. I find that really sad.

(Compiled and synthesized from lecture notes at the Medical Education Learning Specialist (MELS) conference. Keynote speaker: Dr. Michael Scullin, Baylor University)

Visioning is a fundamental competency for great leadership. In these times, our ability as leaders to hold to a vision and its underlying values is being tested. There›s no simple answer — given the complexities of funding streams, politics, demographic shifts, and more — for how to stand your ground. Trust your underlying values and principles will be a guide to standing that ground; your vision will help those values and principles manifest and attract energy and resources.

Case name: Williams v. Eastern New Mexico University- Roswell, No. CIV 24-1079 (D. N.M. 09/12/25).

It can feel like a big responsibility to decide whether to support a student's request for a foreign language substitution. Recently, I read “Foreign Language Learning and Learning Disabilities: An Historical, Empirical, and Cultural Perspective for Policies and Procedures” by Dr. Richard Sparks, a researcher who spent decades looking at foreign language learning for students with learning disabilities. You may find his research and recommendations helpful in thinking about these requests.

Case name: Gulla v. Chicago State University, et al., No. 22-cv-04425 (N.D. Ill. 09/25/25).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently revised its public webpage covering the relationship between vaccines and autism. The updated page now states that the long-standing claim that “vaccines do not cause autism” is not an evidence-based conclusion. Instead, the CDC now characterizes the scientific literature as inconclusive, noting that existing studies have not definitively ruled out the possibility that infant and early-childhood vaccination could contribute to autism spectrum disorder. The agency further asserts that some studies suggesting a potential association have not been sufficiently considered by public-health authorities.