Changes in the Game from High School
If you are a person who benefited from disability accommodation as a child/young adult, you may be used to parents and specialists making arrangements to ensure your success. Now that you are in college, you will be expected to be more self-sufficient and responsible for self-advocating.
Some High School-College Differences
| High School | University | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Disability Legislation | Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 | Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and 2008 |
| Assessment | School conducts assessment and provides documentation of disability | Student must provide current documentation of disability by a qualified professional |
| Getting Accommodations | School initiates services and sets up meetings | Student initiates requests for meetings with Office of Academic Success staff and accommodations |
| Educational Goals | School determine goals and monitors progress of student | Student sets own goals and monitors progress* |
| Course Workload | May be modified or reduced | Will not be modified* |
| Homework | May consist of 1-2 hours per day, much of it done in class | Student should expect to spend an additional 2-3 hours of study for each hour spent in class* |
| Reading | Minimal outside reading | Reading-intensive environment; reading requires analytical skills and retention of information* |
| Accommodations | Determined by broad educational and legal mandates | Determined by current impact of disability, student request, and essential requirements of the course |
University of Minnesota Duluth - Augmented for University of Minnesota Morris 2012
* This does not mean you won’t receive assistance from our office! Students at the UMM are expected to advocate for themselves, however the Office of Academic Assistance is open for questions and any additional support that they can provide to help make an easier transition.
Additional Explanations
- Although your IEP (individualized education plans) from K-12 may be part of your file in UMM Disability Services, you do not have an IEP or other specialists at UMM, and your parents may be far away. UMM Office of Academic Success is an advocacy office that can discuss and arrange appropriate accommodations for you and assist in coordinating services.
- For information on releasing student’s information to parents, check out the FERPA (Federal Education Right to Privacy Act) release of information form.
- One of the hallmarks of the UMM experience is a very friendly, collaborative learning atmosphere. If you are beginning to struggle in a course,please contact your professor, first. Your instructors are there to help you and they want feedback about what is going well and what might improve a course. Chances are, that other students share similar feelings and struggles. If you only discuss these concerns among yourselves and not with an instructor, you may not be receiving all the benefits UMM has to offer.