DRES' Role
Staff at the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) department are available to assist and support faculty, staff, and students in order to provide a successful learning experience. DRES is designated by the Chancellor's Office as the administrative unit responsible for determining a student's eligibility for reasonable accommodations and services. Students with disabilities may not require accommodations in every class. Accommodations for students are determined by the DRES staff on a case-by-case basis, after considering the functional limitations resulting from the disability and the academic standards expected for the course.
Reasonable accommodations from a legal perspective are those accommodations which allow equal access to the educational environment for students with disabilities and do not pose an undue burden on the institution. Faculty are not required to provide students with special advantages in order to help them pass courses or assess them differently than their classmates, as that would not be considered a reasonable accommodation. Instead, steps can be taken without significant difficulty or expense to allow otherwise qualified students reasonable accommodations to fulfill course requirements by limiting the effects of their disabilities on their performance. Staff at DRES are available to help faculty consider ways in which their classes can be made accessible when providing reasonable accommodations.