Access Center Grievances
Students
Washington State University Procedures
Students registered with a WSU Access Center/Access Services, who believe they have been negatively impacted by Access Center/Access Services staff, policies, or procedures, or who believe that an assigned accommodation is not being appropriately provided, should first contact their Access Advisor/Coordinator. If the concern is about their Access Advisor/Coordinator, students should contact the director of the Pullman Access Center, Matthew Jeffries, at matthew.jeffries@wsu.edu or 509-335-3417. Students who believe they have been discriminated against due to a disability may file a report or formal complaint with WSU Compliance and Civil Rights (CCR) or contact the ADA Coordinator:
Kiara Drake, ADA Coordinator
509-335-8288
French Administration Building, Room 225
The Access Advisor/Coordinator or the director of the Pullman Access Center will inform students if their concerns may fall under Executive Policy 15, WSU’s policy prohibiting discrimination and discriminatory harassment, and must be forwarded to CCR. The Access Center will inform the student that they have a right to file a complaint with CCR at any time.
A student who is not satisfied with this first-level response or whose grievance is against the director of the Pullman Access Center, has a right to file an Access Center Grievance. This grievance should be made as soon as possible after the action that triggers the concern, and the grievance will be timely resolved based on the procedures stated herein. As stated above, some concerns may be routed to CCR.
A student who wants to file an Access Center Grievance should complete the Access Center Grievance Form. This form is not a report or formal complaint to CCR. After this form is submitted, three Access Center/Access Services staff members from across the WSU system will review the grievance. Students will be notified of resolution or with follow-up questions within a reasonable timeframe. If a student is not satisfied with the outcome, they will be provided the supervisor’s information for any possible follow-up.
If students are not satisfied with any outcome or wish to file a complaint or grievance with applicable federal and/or state agencies they may contact the following at any time:
U.S. Department of Education for Civil Rights Contact
The Office for Civil Rights is within the U.S. Department of Education and responds to alleged civil rights violations. Information can be found at the Office for Civil Rights website.
Office for Civil Rights, Seattle Office
U.S. Department of Education
915 Second Avenue, Room 3310
Seattle, WA 98174-1099
Telephone: 206-607-1600
Fax: 206-607-1601
Email: OCR.Seattle@ed.gov
Washington State Human Rights Commission Contact
The Commission enforces RCW49.60, Washington State’s Law Against Discrimination. Visit the Commission’s website for information about how to file a complaint.
Faculty
Faculty members may raise questions and concerns about disability services/accommodations, especially when they believe a requested accommodation may be a fundamental alteration to their course. If a faculty member reasonably believes an accommodation constitutes a fundamental alteration of their academic requirements or program, the faculty member should contact the student’s Access Advisor (the person listed in the faculty notification letter) and not the student seeking the accommodation. If communication between the faculty member and the Access Advisor does not resolve the concern of a fundamental alteration, an ad hoc committee will be formed.
The ad hoc committee may include: the faculty member, department chair, associate dean, Access Advisor, ADA Coordinator, and/or others with knowledge of the academic area, related licensing requirements, applicable accreditation standards, the student’s disability, and accommodation methods. This committee will decide whether the requested accommodation constitutes a fundamental alteration of the academic requirements or program. This committee is considered a part of the interactive process, which is required by law. In the meantime, faculty members are still obligated to provide all uncontested accommodations as stated in the faculty notification letter until resolution is reached. If the ad hoc committee decides an accommodation is not a fundamental alteration, the accommodation will be provided retroactively to the date of the faculty notification.