What Are Technical Standards

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What Are Technical Standards Why Do We Need
Them?

• UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
• GREENSBORO
• Jen Palancia, Associate University Counsel
• Mary Culkin, Director, Disability Services
• Jolene Henning, Director, Athletic Training
  Education Program

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Introduction

• Jen Palancia
• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Mary Culkin
• Why
• Examples
• Jolene Henning
• How
• Resources

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Who?

• All academic departments, including Department
  Heads/Chairs You.
• With assistance from
• University Counsel
• Office of Disability Services
• Other academic programs
• Accreditation Agencies
• National Associations

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What are Technical Standards?

• All non-academic criteria essential for
  participation in an educational program
  including, but not limited to
• physical,
• cognitive, and
• attitudinal abilities
• In addition to academic requirements
• Notice of core curriculum, skills, proficiencies
  and competencies in the academic program
• Should be directly related to licensure,
  certification, accreditation requirements
• Focus on the skills and activities required to
  achieve the intended educational outcome (i.e.
  issue is whether student can assess patients
  vision, not whether student can see the eye chart)

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What Are Technical Standards?

• Myth It is a legal mandate by ADA
• Fact ADA does not require consumer demands to
  understand skills required for admission and will
  learn in program
• Myth It only applies to disabled students
• Fact Applies to all students an abled student
  may have problems effectively communicating or
  creating rapport

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How does disability law apply?

• UNCG complies with ADA Section 504--does not
  discriminate solely based upon a persons
  disability
• Otherwise qualified meets academic and
  technical standards required with or without a
  reasonable accommodation
• Cannot make assumptions about ability/disability
  student right whether to self report unless
  request an accommodation

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Disability Law Technical Standards

• Do NOT have to alter essential aspects of
  curriculum (documented in technical standards)
• Dont have to provide accommodations for
  essential aspects
• If student cannot perform without accommodation,
  he/she is not otherwise qualified can be denied
  admission/ matriculation/graduation without legal
  liability

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When?

• Now.
• Most effective proactively for students, faculty
  and administration
• Mary will explain more in Why

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Where?

• Within every academic department
• Jolene will describe in How

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Why Develop Technical Standards?

• Department communicates/publishes its program
  goals/objectives/expectations and essential
  aspects of curriculum
• Students use standards to
• Make an informed decision whether to
  apply/declare major based on interest ability
• Facilitate self-reporting disabilities allow us
  to effectively support them to accommodate
  non-essential aspects of curriculum
• Faculty use standards to
• Assess applicants student progress/evaluation
• More effectively advise students (declare a
  major course selection)
• Remove a student who is not otherwise qualified

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Why?

• Proactive preparedness for academic and licensure
  success
• May prevent enrollment of student not otherwise
  qualified to complete program avoid lost year(s)
  of matriculation finances
• Creates legally defensible parameters to
  prevent/avoid disability discrimination claims
• Preserves academic freedom without impinging
  student civil rights

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Example 1

• Blind University of Wisconsin-Madison Medical
  School Student graduated in the top sixth of his
  class this month
• Without sight, he had to learn how to identify
  clusters of spaghetti-thin nerves and vessels in
  cadavers, study x-rays, read EKGs and patient
  charts, examine slides showing slices of the
  brain, diagnose rashes and more.

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Accommodations Made to Meet Technical Standards
for Medical Student

He used a variety of special tools, including
raised line drawings, a computer that
simultaneously read into his earpiece whatever he
typed, a visual describer, a portable printer
that allowed him to write notes for patient
charts, and a device called an Opticon that has a
small camera with vibrating pins that help his
fingers feel images.
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Example 2

• Student has Cerebral Palsy and has poor fine
  motor control.
• She must pass a computer test in her curriculum.
• Curriculum also requires an internship in which
  she teaches minimal computer skills to children.

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Proficiencies v. Technical Standards

• Even though student passed computer test, she
  may not be able to teach skills in her internship
  because the test did not measure those skills.
• Proficiency
• Students are required to pass a computer
  competency test in order to matriculate in the
  program.
• Technical Standard
• Able to demonstrate minimal technology skills
  when working in a teaching environment.

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Accommodations Made To Meet Technical Standards
for Education Major

• She used a variety of adaptive technology to
  include
• Speech input software
• Screen readers
• Adaptive keyboard/mouse

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How to Develop Technical Standards?

• Goals objectives of program
• Essential aspects of curriculum
• External requirements
• External resources

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Things to Consider

• Goals objectives of your program
• TS are NOT academic requirements but the goals
  and objectives will give a starting point for
  discussion
• ATEP Example
• Program Goal/Competency
• Provide emergency care for a spinal cord injured
  athlete
• Specific skills instructed/evaluated in academic
  program
• Primary survey, secondary survey, spinal
  stabilization, use of emergency equipment, verbal
  commands

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How Does This Translate Into Technical Standards?

• Essential aspects of your curriculum
• ATEP Example spinal cord injured athlete
• Technical standards
• Mental capacity
• Postural neuromuscular control
• Sensory function
• Coordination to perform physical exam
• Safely efficiently use equipment
• Communicate effectively
• English language
• Maintain composure

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Look Outside Your Program

• National accreditation requirements
• CAAHEP requirement for student health
• Must be evaluated by a physician
• Licensure certification exam requirements
• Will a student be given the appropriate
  accommodation for a national exam?
• Code of Ethics
• Standards of Professional Practice
• Other institutions with similar programs

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Next Step

• Academic departments review curricula
• Identify goals objectives of each curriculum
• Identify essential aspects of each curriculum
• Draft technical standards (with use of resources)
• Publish technical standards (i.e. website)
• Have students sign standards (i.e. see ATEP)
• Review standards regularly in conjunction with
  evolving needs (i.e. accreditation, professional,
  technology)

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Questions Comments?