Editing Herzing Issues: ADA and Disability Accommodations (section)

=== HU-145: Eight-hour clinical accommodation characterized by staff as conditional and tied to course-failure risk ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| High
! Status
| CONFIRMED
|-
! Issue type
| Approved Accommodation Framed as Conditional / Course-Failure Warning for Honoring It
! Date added
| 2026-06-04
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Dr. Danielle Laban (AVP) / Emily/Emilie (ADA/Title IX) / Dr. Rachel Powell
|}
'''Finding.''' During the June 4, 2026 meeting, Herzing staff repeatedly characterized the reporting student's approved eight-hour clinical accommodation as conditional rather than guaranteed. Dr. Danielle Laban stated that what the accommodation says related to the eight hours is that, when possible, eight hours can be honored, and that the institution is at the mercy of the clinical sites and cannot make a site honor it. The ADA/Title IX coordinator (Emily/Emilie) stated that this "when possible" language applies for every professor for the rest of the program, and warned that if the reporting student were to leave in the middle of a patient-care activity at his accommodated end time, abandoning patient care, that could potentially lead to a course failure. The reporting student, who has a documented eight-hour accommodation tied to medication timing, ADHD medication, diabetes medication, and a GI medication, and the trade-off that he would not bring his service dog if the eight-hour limit was honored, expressed that this framing did not match his prior understanding that clinicals were eight hours start to finish. The concern documented here is that an approved ADA/Section 504 accommodation is being presented to the student as non-guaranteeable and that honoring his own accommodated end time is linked to a risk of course failure.

'''Evidence.''' Dr. Danielle Laban: "what your accommodation says related to the eight hours is... when possible, eight hours can be honored; we are going to do everything we can to meet that eight hour need, but a site that won't honor that, we can't make them honor." Emily/Emilie: "I want to be clear that what it says [applies] for every professor for the rest of your program; eight hours is not something that is fully within the control of your instructor... there may be a situation that arises where you would need to be there beyond eight hours; if you were to leave in the middle of doing a patient care activity, that could be... potentially lead to a course failure." The reporting student: "that's been my understanding in conversations with you guys... clinicals are eight hours, that's start to finish." (Source: June 4, 2026 recorded meeting, audio and transcript; provided by the reporting student.)

'''Reported statement.'''
<blockquote>[Laban]: what your accommodation says related to the eight hours is... when possible, eight hours can be honored. [Emily/Emilie]: if you are expected... to stay past your exact eight hour end time, that if you were to abandon patient care that that could potentially lead to a course failure.</blockquote>

'''Standards.''' Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. §12131 et seq.) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. §794): once an accommodation is approved as reasonable, the institution is obligated to implement it; characterizing an approved accommodation as honored only "when possible," and warning that adhering to the accommodated limit could cause course failure, risks denying the student the benefit of the approved accommodation. The accommodation letter (see {{HU|HU-142}}) states faculty are required to provide approved accommodations in a timely and consistent manner. If the institution believes an accommodation fundamentally alters an essential clinical requirement, the proper process is a documented interactive review with the ADA/Title IX Coordinator, not an in-meeting warning that honoring the accommodation may lead to failure. OCR guidance: discouraging or penalizing the use of an approved accommodation can constitute a denial of access. Cross-reference {{HU|HU-135}} (the underlying eight-hour dispute with Professor Troy Frazier).

'''Impact.''' The reporting student is placed in the position of being told that the eight-hour limit he relies on for medical reasons may not be honored and that adhering to it during patient care could cause him to fail the course. This creates a chilling effect on the use of an approved accommodation and shifts the risk of the institution's placement limitations onto the student. Because staff stated this framing applies for the rest of the program, the concern is not limited to one course but is presented as the standing posture toward his eight-hour accommodation.

'''Notes.''' Speaker 3 identified by the student as Dr. Danielle Laban (AVP). Speaker 4 is the ADA/Title IX coordinator referred to as Emily/Emilie; note that per {{HU|HU-142}} the online-student ADA/Title IX Coordinator is Rachel Dalmont while Emilie Thompson serves ground students, so an online student's accommodations being handled in this meeting by Emily/Emilie may itself be an inconsistency to verify. Cross-reference: {{HU|HU-135}} (eight-hour accommodation, Troy Frazier), {{HU|HU-142}} (accommodation letter and coordinator structure), {{HU|HU-125}} (accommodation blocked pending approval), {{HU|HU-128}}/{{HU|HU-134}} (at the mercy of the clinical sites language). Part of the June 4, 2026 meeting group ({{HU|HU-145}} through {{HU|HU-152}}).

<span id="HU-146"></span>