Disability Services at Taft Law School

Taft Law School’s mission with respect to disability services is to provide equal access to applicants and students with disabilities while maintaining the integrity of the School’s academic standards. Taft’s administration is dedicated to providing accommodations and services to qualified students with disabilities so they may achieve their full educational potential. This includes educating Taft faculty and staff about disabilities, federal regulations, and accommodation methods.

Operating Principles

1.The School prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, and will continue to develop training and resources to encourage and increase sensitivity and awareness of disability issues.

2.The School is dedicated to providing reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Therefore, the School will continue to develop and coordinate policies and procedures, and provide services and access to academic courses, activities and programs.

3.The School respects the independence, rights, and dignity of people with disabilities. Therefore identifying oneself and/or requesting accommodations is completely voluntary.

4.In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),
the School will handle all data on students with disabilities confidentially.

Student’s Rights And Responsibilities

People with disabilities at Taft Law School have the right to:

  • Equal access to courses, programs, services, activities, and facilities offered through the School.

  • Confidentiality of all information regarding disabilities and the ability to choose to whom this information may be disclosed, except as disclosures are required or permitted by law.

  • Information available in accessible formats.

People with disabilities at the School have the responsibility to:

  • Meet qualifications and uphold School standards for courses, programs, services, activities, and facilities.

  • Voluntarily identify oneself as an individual with a disability when an accommodation is needed and to seek information, counsel, and assistance as needed.

  • Contact Disabilities Services to request reasonable accommodations.
  • Provide documentation from an appropriate source that describes the nature of the disability(s), how it limits participation in courses/programs, and suggested academic accommodations.

Taft Law School’s Rights and Responsibilities

The School has the right to:

  • Request current documentation for assessing the need for reasonable accommodations.

  • Deny a request for accommodations if appropriate documentation is not provided on a timely basis, or if the documentation received does not support the need for accommodations.

  • Decide on equally effective accommodations.
  • Refuse an unreasonable accommodation that would impose a fundamental revision on a program or activity of the School.

The School has the responsibility to:

  • Present information to people with disabilities in accessible formats upon request.
  • Provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities in courses, programs, services, activities, and facilities.
  • Maintain confidentiality of records and communication, except where permitted or required by law.
Frequently Asked Questions Icon

Frequently Asked Questions

No. Applicants or students are never required to disclose a disability. Information provided during the admissions process concerning an applicant’s disability are kept in accordance with state and federal laws regarding confidentiality. However, applicants who wish to have their disability considered as a factor in the admissions process, must identify the disability and provide an explanation of why it is a factor at the time of application. If the applicant wishes the disability to be considered as a factor, it will likely be necessary for the applicant to provide appropriate documentation of the disability.

Taft Law School recognizes and fulfills its obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and similar state laws. The School is committed to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified students with disabilities in School programs and activities.

This policy is consistent with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which states that no recipient of federal financial assistance may discriminate against a qualified handicapped individual solely by reason of handicap. This policy is also consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act. The policies and procedures established by the School are the means by which faculty, staff, and students of the School endorse and apply the conditions of Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act to Students.

To request academic and/or testing accommodations complete and submit the Accommodations for Students with Disabilities forms (located in next section of this page).

All documentation must be submitted to:

The Taft University System
Attention: Disability Services
3000 W. MacArthur Blvd. Suite 300
Santa Ana, CA 92704

Documentation and accommodation requests must be received at least three weeks prior to the start of a course in order to allow adequate time to process the request. Requests received later than this will be considered. However there is a risk that the request cannot be reasonably evaluated or implemented before the course commences.

A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a course, program, service, job, activity, or facility that enables a qualified individual with a disability to have an equal opportunity to attain the same level of performance or to enjoy equal benefits and privileges as are available to an individual without a disability.

The determination of reasonable accommodations considers the following:

o Physical barriers and the array of accommodations that might remove the barriers.

o Whether the student has access to the course, program, service, activity, or facility without accommodations.

o Whether essential elements of the course, program, service, activity, or facility are compromised by the accommodations.

The following analysis is used when determining accommodations:

o Does the student have a disability?

o Is the student “otherwise qualified”?

o Is the request reasonable? A request is deemed reasonable if:

 The accommodation does not fundamentally alter the nature of the program or activity.

 The accommodation does not lower academic standards.

 The accommodation does not present an undue financial or administrative burden on the School.

 The accommodation does not pose a threat to personal or public safety.

Taft Law School recognizes and fulfills its obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and similar state laws. The School is committed to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified students with disabilities in School programs and activities.

o Additional time on lesson assignments and postings
o Advance copy of the syllabus for the course
o Textbooks on audiotape or electronic format
o Verbal explanation of assignments
o Closed captioning of videos
o Additional time to complete proctored examinations
o Computer Assisted Real-Time Transmission (CART)

You may send an e-mail to DisabilityServices@TaftU.edu or call 1-800-882-4555 to speak to a staff member. (Telephonic appointments can normally be scheduled in one business day and are recommended.)

Student Success

Our goal is to create a supportive, success-oriented
learning environment, inspire growth and serve our
communities.

Disability Forms for Taft Law School

The links to the forms below can help students with
requests for Disability Accommodations

Disability Accommodations General Instructions

Form A

Petition for testing accomodations

Form B

Physical Disabilities

Form C

Learning Disabilities Verification

Form D

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder (AD/HD) Verification

Form E

Mental Disability Verification

Form F

Visual Disability Verification