General Appeal Procedures

Center for Accessibility and Disability Resources Reasonable Accommodation Decisions

It is the responsibility of CADR to analyze all information when making equal access decisions. On occasion, a student may not agree with the identified accommodations made available and offered to the student. As required by Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act, CADR includes a process for prompt review and resolution in such situations.

If a student does not agree with an approved/not approved accommodation decision made by the student’s CADR Accessibility Specialist, the student may file an appeal through the CADR Appeal Process. The following steps outline this process:

Step 1 (Student Submits an Appeal Request):

If informal discussions with the accessibility specialist have not resolved the issue, the individual shall complete the appeal form received in an email communication from CADR personnel or submit a written complaint to the Director of CADR (molly.mckinnon@ndsu.edu) within ten (10) working days of the event(s) that led to the concern. (In some cases, the Director may need to defer the complaint to a designee if timelines cannot be met). 

Step 2 (CADR Director Reviews Appeal Request):

The Director of CADR, or their designee, shall meet with the individual within seven (7) working days of the receipt of the complaint if the student desires a meeting. The CADR Director, or designee, will provide the student with a written decision via NDSU email within three working days of the meeting with the student.

Process Note: When an appeal is being reviewed during Steps 1 – 2 and the student shares new personal information or documentation that was not provided at an earlier step in the process, the Director, or designee reserves the right to refer the student back to the student’s initial accessibility specialist for reassessment of the situation. The presence of new information may have impacted the original decision if shared initially.

Disability Grievance Procedures

Students may file a Discrimination Grievance with the Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Compliance at any time if the student believes that NDSU’s faculty or staff discriminated against the student on the basis of disability. Information on Accessibility and Discrimination can be found on the NDSU Opportunity and Title IX Compliance webpage or the student may contact them directly via email (ndsu.eoaa@ndsu.edu) or phone (701-231-7708).

Specific Access and Accommodation Use within the Classroom

Students Accessibility Services (CADR) staff members aim to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to participate in educational opportunities at NDSU. Determining equal access requires both consideration of a disability along with consideration of the fundamental aspects of academic programs, courses, policies and practices.
If a professor and/or CADR determines that a specific accommodation would not be reasonable accommodation in the classroom because it would fundamentally alter an academic program or course and the student disagrees with this decision, the student’s appeal will be reviewed pursuant to the Procedure for Conducting Fundamental Alteration Assessments set forth below, which includes having a faculty panel review the situation and render a decision. The student should email the CADR Director (molly.mckinnon@ndsu.edu) to initiate this process. The CADR Director will work with the student through the review process and indicate what, if any, information the student will need to provide as part of the review. More details on the process of a Fundamental Alteration Assessment review can be found below.

Procedure for Conducting Fundamental Alteration Assessments

The North Dakota State University conducts an Individualized Assessment when an accommodation requested by a student presents the issue of whether the accommodation would “fundamentally alter” a course or academic program because the accommodation would result in the student not successfully completing an essential academic requirement of the course or program.

1. CADR (CADR) will be the entity that initially assesses the accommodation question.
2. An accessibility specialist will consult with the student and the faculty member, conducting an interactive, collaborative process to determine accommodation options. When a faculty member is inclined to deny the request on the basis that a requested course or program modification would fundamentally alter the course or academic program, and there is no other effective accommodation that is agreeable to the faculty member, CADR should advise the student of the faculty member’s assessment and their (the student’s and/or CADR’s) ability to submit the request to the CADR Director.
3. The CADR Director will review the following information:
4. The CADR Director will issue a written decision providing the reasons for the decision, including identification of other accommodations discussed with the parties and considered by the panel. This decision will be issued within ten (10) business days of the notification of a request for review. This timeframe may be extended for good cause, which includes but is not limited to the need to obtain additional medical documentation.