At a recent meeting with Admissions Tutors at Loughborough University I
sugguested that I wouldn't be afraid to tell a prospective disabled student
unequivically if I thought we couldn't meet their particular needs even
though they might be offered a place at the university on academic grounds
alone. The tutors were shocked to say the least - and I was asked if we
would reject someone like Stephen Hawking.... Whilst such a situation is
very unlikely to happen at Loughborough I believe that we have a
responsibility to think out these situations in relation to the financial
cost of supporting a disabled student with extreme support needs and health
& safety issues relating to supporting such a student both in their
academic life and their personal care needs. To this end, we are preparing
a draft policy document covering these issues in consultation with the
Admissions Tutors Forum at Loughborough.
My questions for discussion are these...... Do any list members
institutions have any specific policy over sugguesting to admissions tutors
that whilst some disabled students might be academically able to benefit
from studying at a particular university, there may be other good reasons
for advising that student that their particular needs cannot be met
adequately? Has anyone any experience of having a student who was accepted
on academic grounds, but was told that the university would be unable to
meet their specific needs but nevertheless decided to take up the
university's offer to them? Are there any legal/health and safety issues
at stake if a HEI makes an offer to a student which they subsequently
accept even though they have been warned that their needs might not be able
to be met? - what would the university's responsibility to the student be
in this situation?
PLEASE free to contact me with copies of any policies which your
institution might already have in place or to discuss these matters
further. Alternatively, if I have introduced an interesting topic here, I
look forward to reading any responses.
Incidently, we would have no qualms about accepting Stephen Hawking at this
university as long as his particular needs were going to be paid for by
somebody!
Chris
Christopher Hopkins MA
Student Advisor
Disabilities and Additional Needs Service
Herbert Manzoni Building
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leicestershire
Direct Line 228339
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