Editing Herzing Issues: ADA and Disability Accommodations (section)

=== HU-192: Dr. Raywattie Prashad told the reporting student he could access required virtual clinical materials only through course postings rather than receiving them directly ===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%"
! style="width:14em" | Severity
| Critical
! Status
| CONFIRMED. The entire exchange is documented in the parties' own written emails
|-
! Issue type
| Denial of Direct Provision of a Documented Accommodation; Confidentiality and Accreditation Rationale Offered in Lieu of Compliance; Escalation to Associate Vice President Pending
! Date added
| 2026-08-05
|-
! Owner
| colspan="3" | Dr. Raywattie Prashad (Program Chair) / Dr. Jessica Tressler / Dr. Sarah Bell / Heather Gregg / Dr. Danielle Laban (Associate Vice President, Student Affairs)
|}
'''Finding.''' On July 29, 2026 at 8:31 AM, the reporting student emailed Dr. Tressler, Heather Gregg, and Dr. Bell, copying Dr. Prashad, Dr. Laban, the ADA office, Emilie Thompson, and David Steele, stating that he is supposed to receive the slideshow 24 hours in advance of his virtual clinical in accordance with his accommodations, that he had not received them, that it was vital given how small the screen is, and that he was also supposed to receive a recording and transcript of the prior week's session, which did not happen. Dr. Tressler responded within the thread providing that week's slideshow, stating she would send the prior week's slides as a resource during a break, asking Dr. Bell to provide the recording and transcript, and instructing that the materials not be shared with other students for confidentiality purposes. Dr. Prashad then wrote directly to the reporting student, stating that the relevant materials had been in NSG523 and NSG524 since the start of the course, that NSG525 Clinical II is the application of that material, and that the reporting student should locate the recordings and slides already posted in those other courses, including materials prepared as part of the Sherpath suite, rather than being sent the virtual clinical materials directly. She stated that the specific virtual clinical patient scenarios are treated the same as protected patient data in an in-person clinical and would not be shared, including the recordings, and separately explained that she had personally provided make-up materials to the reporting student the prior semester only because the scenarios used that day were being retired and he was the only student doing a make-up session with her. The reporting student replied that he had learned disability services had not communicated his accommodations to Dr. Bell, which he stated was why he had not received the materials previously, and asked that this be handled more proactively going forward, noting it had been a struggle to complete the prior week's assignment without them. Dr. Prashad followed up stating she had sent a further email and asking that the materials not be shared until new patient scenarios could be created, citing a need to create authentic experiences for each virtual clinical to meet accreditation standards. The reporting student's final message in the thread, sent while on a work break, confirmed he had the weekly slides and the V-Sim slide but stated this did not resolve the underlying accommodation issue: he quoted his written accommodation directly, that the instructor should provide PowerPoint slides for any synchronous session at least 24 hours prior and should record and transcribe any live or synchronous session, stated the V-Sim is a synchronous session, and explained that unlike an in-person clinical where he can zoom, pause, and return to a physical chart as long as needed, a virtual simulation displayed only as a small, time-limited screen share does not allow him to read the material in time before the presenter advances, and that being able to zoom and use a screen reader would be a reasonable accommodation already built into most electronic health record systems used at his workplace. He stated he was not going to share the materials with others but needed them properly accommodated. Separately, on August 5, 2026, in an unrelated thread concerning exam scheduling, Dr. Danielle Laban wrote to the reporting student: "I am working with Dr. Prashad to determine what happened with the materials." This is the first written confirmation from Herzing leadership above the Program Chair level that the materials issue is being reviewed, though as of the date this entry was added no further written update, resolution, or documented outcome of that review has been provided to the reporting student. UPDATE: the reporting student did not participate in the most recent virtual clinical day because he did not have the documentation, the required advance materials described above, needed to take part.

'''Evidence.''' Email, the reporting student to Jessica Tressler, Heather Gregg, and Sarah Bell, cc Raywattie Prashad, Danielle Laban, ADA, Emilie Thompson, and David Steele, subject "Slides/Accommodations," July 29, 2026, 8:31 AM. Email, Jessica Tressler, same thread, July 29, 2026, 8:37 AM (providing partial materials, instructing confidentiality, requesting the recording and transcript from Sarah Bell). Email, Raywattie Prashad, same thread, July 29, 2026, 10:12 AM (directing the reporting student to locate materials in NSG523 and NSG524, describing virtual clinical scenarios as protected patient data, referencing a prior-semester exception tied to retiring scenarios). Email, the reporting student, same thread, July 29, 2026, 10:26 AM (learned ADA had not communicated accommodations to Dr. Bell). Email, Raywattie Prashad, same thread, July 29, 2026, 10:26 AM (citing accreditation authenticity requirements and asking the materials not be shared until new scenarios are created). Email, the reporting student, same thread, July 29, 2026, 10:35 AM (quoting the written accommodation verbatim, explaining the V-Sim is a synchronous session, describing the small screen and advancing-slide problem, and the reasonable-accommodation comparison to workplace EHR zoom and screen reader functionality). Email, Danielle Laban to the reporting student, subject "Re: [EXTERNAL]," August 5, 2026, 11:19 AM ("I am working with Dr. Prashad to determine what happened with the materials"). (Source Group: email thread, subject "Slides/Accommodations," between the reporting student, Dr. Jessica Tressler, Heather Gregg, Dr. Sarah Bell, and Dr. Raywattie Prashad, cc Dr. Danielle Laban, ADA, Emilie Thompson, and David Steele, July 29, 2026, 8:31 AM through 10:35 AM Central; and email thread, subject "Re: [EXTERNAL]," between the reporting student and Dr. Danielle Laban, August 4 through August 5, 2026, specifically Dr. Laban's message of August 5, 2026, 11:19 AM Central.)

'''Reported statement.'''
<blockquote>The accommodation reads "Instructor should provide the powerpoint slides for any synchronous session to the student at least 24 hours prior to any synchronous session... The VSim is a synchronous session." [Dr. Prashad, Jul 29, 2026:] For us to meet accreditation standards we have to create authentic experiences for each virtual clinical so please do not share these until we are able to create new patient scenarios for this content. [Dr. Laban, Aug 5, 2026:] I'm working with Dr. Prashad to determine what happened with the materials.</blockquote>

'''Standards.''' Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. §794, and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. §12181 et seq., together with 34 C.F.R. §104.44 (academic adjustments), require that an approved accommodation be delivered as written rather than substituted with a different arrangement the institution finds more convenient. Directing a student to locate substitute materials in other, related courses does not satisfy a written requirement that the instructor provide the specific synchronous session materials to the student at least 24 hours in advance, particularly where, as here, the student and faculty member (Heather Gregg, per {{HU|HU-189}}) were both uncertain the substitute materials matched the session content. An institutional interest in accreditation authenticity and protection of retiring patient simulation scenarios, comparable in Dr. Prashad's framing to protected patient data, is a legitimate institutional interest, but is not on its face a stated exception to a written ADA and Section 504 accommodation, and the record does not reflect that Herzing offered an alternative compliant means of providing the accommodation, such as timed or supervised access, a confidentiality agreement, or redacted materials, before declining to provide the slides directly. This entry should be read together with {{HU|HU-189}}, which documents the same underlying accommodation and its failure for the August 5, 2026 session; this entry documents the preceding written exchange in which the institution's rationale for withholding the materials was first stated by Dr. Prashad and is now under review by Dr. Laban.

'''Impact.''' The reporting student was required, across at least two consecutive virtual clinical sessions, to complete graded work based on materials he states he could not read in the format and timeframe provided, notwithstanding a specific, written 24-hour advance provision requirement. The stated rationale, that disability services had not communicated his accommodations to Dr. Bell, is itself a separate internal communication failure layered on top of the substantive dispute over whether Dr. Prashad's proposed alternative, locating materials in other courses, satisfies the letter's terms at all. The matter is now under review at the Associate Vice President level as of August 5, 2026, which is a positive development, but no written resolution, corrective process, or confirmation that future sessions will comply with the 24-hour requirement has been documented as of this entry. This is not a hypothetical risk: the reporting student has already missed a scheduled virtual clinical day because he lacked the required documentation, a direct, concrete instance of the harm this entry describes rather than a projected one.

'''Notes.''' It is recommended that a written, dated resolution be requested from Dr. Laban once her review with Dr. Prashad concludes, specifically confirming: whether the 24-hour advance slide requirement will be met directly for all future virtual clinical sessions, whether the recording and transcript requirement is being met, and what caused the disability services communication failure to Dr. Bell referenced by the reporting student on July 29, 2026. This entry should be updated once that resolution is received. Cross-References: {{HU|HU-189}} (the August 5, 2026 virtual simulation session for which the required materials were not provided, and the February 3, 2026 accommodation letter establishing the 24-hour advance slide requirement), {{HU|HU-187}} (the same period's compressed examination schedule), and the broader pattern in this tracker of accommodation requirements being met with institutional-convenience-based alternatives rather than direct compliance.

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