Case Study #4: Recruiting and Admissions

Background

Suzanne is a junior with a psychiatric impairment. She had an episode of depression that resulted in her inability to attend classes for several days. Because of her absence, she fell behind in her coursework and petitioned to drop one of her three classes as a "hardship withdrawal." Suzanne had received a hardship withdrawal three quarters earlier because she missed a week of class as a result of hospitalization related to her disability.

Access Issue

Suzanne's hardship withdrawal petition was denied on the basis of a university policy that prohibited another hardship withdrawal based on the same condition for which a previous hardship withdrawal was approved.

1. Discuss potential solutions to the issue described. There can be more than one good solution.
2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each proposed solution.
3. Clarify the appropriate roles of the student and campus staff in reaching a decision and providing accommodations if needed.
4. After you have completed your discussion, read the access solution that actually occurred in this case. It is printed on the back of this handout. Compare your proposed solutions with this solution. Discuss the conclusions listed, and add at least one more.

Source: The Student Services Conference Room, DO-IT, University of Washington. Permission is granted to reproduce this handout for educational noncommercial purposes.

Solution

Following is the solution that was actually employed in this case:

Suzanne met with the director of disabled student services to voice her concerns about the hardship withdrawal policy. She felt the policy was unfair because it did not consider the special circumstances resulting from her disability. The director contacted the associate registrar to discuss the situation. The associate registrar approved her hardship withdrawal petition as a disability-related accommodation after he received more information about the impact of her psychiatric impairment and the current situation.

Conclusions

This case study illustrates the following:

1. University administrators should consider making exceptions to policies as a disability-related accommodation. Procedures should be put in place for requesting such exceptions.
2. Students with psychiatric and other disabilities may require flexible withdrawal policies as an academic accommodation.
3. Successful accommodations are often best reached through collaboration between the student, disabled student services staff, and campus administrators.