What kinds of accommodations might be unreasonable?

First, accommodations must not jeopardize the health or safety of the student or others. Second, accommodations must not create an undue hardship to the institution. However, these are generally administrative decisions.

Third, and most applicable to faculty, is how accommodations relate to academic integrity. The key to maintaining academic integrity is to identify the critical skills and knowledge that a course or academic program is intended to teach. This relates to what is called essential skills or essential functions. Essential skills are the skills that an individual must have to be competent in the program of study. For example, anthropologists are expected to be able to identify rock art and cave paintings. Thus, it would be unreasonable to waive these field assignments. By working together, the professor, TA, DSO counselor, and Marc were able to develop alternatives and maintain the integrity of the course.

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