BILL #: SEN-08-18
TITLE: SDS Services for University of Tennessee, Knoxville Students of the FUTURE Program
SPONSOR: Natalie Campbell, Senate Lobbyist (ncampb10@vols.utk.edu)
DATE: 6 February 2018
Whereas, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville is one of five institutions in the state of Tennessee that has a post-secondary inclusion program, FUTURE,
Whereas, the FUTURE Program is designed to give students with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to attend UTK for at least two years in order to work in a program of study that combines FUTURE curriculum classes (such as Life Skills, Digital Literacy, and Career and Life Planning) with audit classes students take across the university to address their areas of interest and career goals, as well as with internships within the campus and larger Knoxville community to those same ends, with the goal upon graduation of the program being successful community job placement,
Whereas, students in the FUTURE Program pay full university tuition and fees, just as every other UTK student, as well as a yearly $5,000.00 program fee,
Whereas, students in the FUTURE Program are admitted to the university as non-credit, non-degree seeking students,
Whereas, the mission statement of the Student Disability Services (SDS) is “…to partner with the campus community in creating equitable access to eligible students while promoting disability-inclusive diversity,”
Whereas, the previously referred to tuition and fees payment that is equal to all other students contributes to the fact that students in FUTURE are eligible for and entitled to all university resources, including, but not limited to, services provided by SDS,
Whereas, the SDS website defines “qualified [for services]” in the following way: “a person who meets the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in the education program or activity,”
Whereas, this definition does include students enrolled in FUTURE, as a special admittance to the university is still an admittance to the university and students do participate in FUTURE’s education program, which has been approved by the university as a legitimate education program,
Whereas, students in the FUTURE Program are currently being denied SDS services, including but not limited to, note taking services and access to assistive technology,
Be it hereby resolved, that the Student Disability Services office will provide, with equal effort and execution to all other students not enrolled in the FUTURE Program, services that students in the FUTURE Program and the FUTURE Program staff reasonably(1) request.
(1) Let reasonably be defined in the way that a request will be considered reasonable if it is consistent with requests made by other students not enrolled in the FUTURE Program and within the purview of SDS.