By Jane Jarrow*

Rarely a month goes by without someone in higher education facing request to modify attendance requirements to accommodate a student with a disability. Students also occasionally ask to be excused from faculty members’ rules about tardiness. Rather than considering any waiver of attendance requirements, this article focuses on the possibility of modifying existing policies as an accommodation.

Working with Students with Disabilities

1. It is illegal to ask any student what his/her disability is. Instead ask how his/her disability affects the learning process for them and how you can be of assistance.
2. It is important to province a student with a disability a sense of understanding that he/she may need some special accommodations. It is illegal to “single out” a student with a disability, ridicule, or treat him/her in a negative manner.

To ensure Inclusion, Freedom, and Respect for people with disabilities, we must use people first language.

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." 

Mark Twain

Who are “the handicapped” or “the disabled?”

According to stereotypical myths, they are;

Youngstown State University is excited to be the host of the 2018 Ohio Higher Education Computing Council (OHECC) Conference, May 16-18, 2018.  This year’s theme, Higher Education: Innovation Foundry looks to feature higher education’s role in producing innovative and sometimes non-conventional solutions faced in academia. This highly respected conference is a collaborative effort by Ohio universities and their partners to explore various challenges and successes facing Information Technology (IT) professionals in higher education.

In recent years, much attention has been given to the rights of people with disabilities. Legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and efforts of many consumer groups have spurred ramp construction, affirmative action to increase employment opportunities and television programming to include realistic role portrayals for people with disabilities. 

2018 Planning Committee

• Chair: Chris Wentz
• Co-chair: Ryan Geilhard

University of Cincinnati Conference and Event Services

• Amber Lovett

OHECC Steering Committee

The Ohio State University - Tracey Richardson, Senior Director, Service Management Officer | Glenna Zofcin, Administrative Project Coordinator

Accessible

• Any site, building, facility, or portion thereof that is approachable, functional and can be used by people with disabilities independently, safely and with dignity.

ADA

Lodging

The conference have room blocks at the following locations. Please reference OHECC 2018 when calling to make your reservations.

Call for Proposals

The Ohio Higher Education Computing Council (OHECC) fosters communication between higher education IT professionals across the state. Our annual conference is an opportunity for colleges and universities to share IT strategies that work so ideas can be transferred to other campuses to improve education for students across Ohio and beyond.