[Oh-ahead] How do we address housing accommodations and the fee schedules?

[Jane Jarrow]

This seems the appropriate time to remind everyone that I am starting a class on Wednesday (Feb. 22) called "A Room with a View?  Housing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities."
 
The answer to your questions, Deanna, are that there ARE no answers to your questions without a lot more information about the individual circumstances of the request, the student's need, and the housing configurations offered.  the problem is that you are trying to apply precedents that were established when residence halls has hallway upon hallway of double rooms and all students living in the residence hall knew that was what Res Life meant...  having a roommate, going down the hall to the common bathroom, and OCCASIONALLY having an option of a single room (in great demand) for which one could pay extra if they were lucky enough to get one.  Times have changed.  Our housing configurations are significantly more varied.  The precedents and legal advice haven't changed... they just haven't kept up.  You are going to have to make such decisions on the basis of logical review of accommodation needs, documentation, and meeting the spirit of the law.

Janie

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Deanna Arbuckle <darbuckle1 at udayton.edu>
To: OH Mailing List AHEAD <Oh-ahead at ahead-lists.org>
Sent: Fri, Feb 17, 2012 1:01 pm
Subject: [Oh-ahead] How do we address housing accommodations and the fee schedules?


How do we address housing accommodations and the feeschedules?
 
Introduction:  We haveattended sessions regarding housing accommodations and need some additionalclarification regarding fee schedules for housing accommodations.  In some cases, the slides from presentations (givenby credible sources) states “comparable, convenient and accessible housingincluding the variety and range of choices, at the same cost as to non-disabled students.”  However, ‘requests for reasonablemodification of an institution’s room rate structure must be considered if suchis necessary for a student with a disability to receive the full benefits ofparticipation in the housing program’. Another comment was “anything that operates as a surcharge or extra feebased upon disability is impermissible”. With this in mind, we have three examples and would like your opinion.
 
Example 1: A student in a residence hall environment wheretypical accommodations are two students to a room. Student needs anaccommodation of single occupancy.  Thisaccommodation is approved.  
Would the student be charged (a) a single occupancy rate(generally higher) or (b) a double occupancy rate?
 
Example 2: A student in a multiple bedroom house environmentwhere typical accommodations are two students to a room with a total of sixstudents to a house. Student needs an accommodation of single occupancyroom.  This accommodation is approved andthe house status is changed to a five student house.  
How would rates be addressed?  (a) Would the all students be chargedoccupancy rate based on 6 people (e.g. 1/6th) or (b) Would the allstudents be charged occupancy rate based on 5 people (1/5th) or (c)Would the student with a disability be charged double rate (e.g. 2/6th)?
 
Example 3: A student has a history of living in a multiplebedroom house environment.  They havenegotiated with their roommates to have a single bedroom.  They now indicate that they need anaccommodation of a single dwelling (e.g. apartment).  This accommodation is approved.  
·      If the student is placed in a single apartmentas an accommodation, and this single apartment is typically charged a higherfee, does the student pay the higher fee? 
·      If the student is placed in a double apartment,but they do not have a roommate as an accommodation, does the student pay thedouble rate or a higher single rate?
·      If there are only a few single apartments and astudent is given a single apartment as an accommodation, would that change thedecision above? 
Best Regards,
Deanna & Brenda

"One of the key ways to be a leader is not to have to get credit." Richard Kuss
"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke 

Deanna L Arbuckle, MRC, CRC
Disability Services and Assistive Technology Coordinator
Administrative Faculty Member
Office of Student Learning Services (SLS)
Ryan C. Harris Learning & Teaching Center (LTC)

University of Dayton  | 300 College Park  |  Dayton, Ohio 45469-1302  
Room: RL 023 C

Phone: 937-229-2066  
Fax: 937-229-3270
TTY:  937-229-2059 (available for individuals who are deaf and hard-of hearing)

Email: deanna.arbuckle at udayton.edu

On the Web: http://learningservices.udayton.edu/

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