[Wsssc] Black Student Accommodations Request

[Matthew Campbell]

Can you say more about what types of accommodations? Here are two or three examples and I’m anxious to hear of others.

We have supported students in exercising their rights under the Faith & Conscience Leave policy which uses the term “accommodate” with regard to an expectation that faculty accommodate the leave and that it cannot have a negative impact on grades. Thus, if students need to take time to advance anti-racist work through engaging in personal and/or public activities, we supported that. In a message to faculty (I think we may be planning a more direct message to students), we stated,

“As we seek to advance our anti-racist work and support students in doing the same, some faculty have inquired about how to support and respond to students who have asked to disengage in class activities in order to engage in personal or public work to advance racial and social justice. We believe this fully falls within the Pierce College Policy on Accommodations for Faith/Conscience<https://www.pierce.ctc.edu/policy-faith-conscience>. This policy (WA law) requires faculty to provide accommodations such that grades are not impacted as students engage in actions prompted by their faith or conscience. We believe that the events of the last two weeks (prompted by centuries of racism and oppression) and opportunities for community and civic engagement demonstrate “exceptional and compelling circumstances”* for which students may choose to engage in acts of conscience.

The policy does not excuse students from completing necessary work, but does require that we accommodate absences and do not negatively impact grades. We encourage you to work with students but also ask that you encourage students who are in multiple classes to complete the process in order to provide consistency. That is, you can provide accommodation without the student completing the process, but the process affords institutional support for accommodations in all classes. Students can be directed to the site above or directly to the request form<https://www.pierce.ctc.edu/sites/default/files/2019/09/faith-conscience-policy-student-form-r1.docx>.”

*The phrase about “exceptional and compelling circumstances” negates our usual notification timeline (i.e. that the request is to be made in the first two weeks of the term).

In addition, we are also consolidating/curating mental health resources that provide and/or center therapists of color. These resources will be shared at student activities events (specifically around centering the voices and experiences of Black students specifically and students of color). They resources will also be linked through both our Black Lives Matter website and our Mental Health Resources website.

Not sure if those are the types of accommodation to which you are referring, but hopefully it is helpful.

Kind regards,
Matt

Matthew Campbell, Ed.D. (he/him/his)
Vice President, Learning & Student Success
Pierce College Puyallup



From: wsssc <wsssc-bounces at lists.ctc.edu> on behalf of WSSSC <wsssc at lists.ctc.edu>
Reply-To: Brenda Ivelisse <b.ivelisse at bellevuecollege.edu>
Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 4:39 PM
To: WSSSC <wsssc at lists.ctc.edu>
Subject: [Wsssc] Black Student Accommodations Request

CAUTION: This email originated from outside Pierce College. Do not click links or open attachments unless you have confirmed this is an authentic message from sender and know the content is safe. If you are unsure, contact the Help Desk at 253-964-6373 or email Helpdesk at pierce.ctc.edu
Hi Folks,

Has anyone received a request to faculty/Academic Affairs to provide accommodations to Black students? Trying to get a pulse on what is happening across the state.


Dr. B



__________________________________________________________

Brenda Ivelisse, Ph.D.

Associate Vice President for Student Affairs (she/her/ella)

Office of Student Affairs

[cid:image001.png at 01D63F4A.C6583E50] Chat with me!<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/chat/0/0?users=%3Cb.ivelisse@bellevuecollege.edu%3E>
3000 Landerholm Circle SE, B231B
Bellevue, WA 98007



 [cid:image002.png at 01D63F4A.C6583E50]



We want to hear from you!  Please share your thoughts with us<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.office.com%2FPages%2FResponsePage.aspx%3Fid%3DHCVM-UcTLkKz6orFa-_Wy90PCsaYl51LnFuiLUHiuJxURTVTTVM5SjRZN01VWTBKQzVNNEFWSERONS4u&data=02%7C01%7Cb.ivelisse%40bellevuecollege.edu%7C566ede7e8b27422a0da508d7d0d371f2%7Cf94c251c1347422eb3ea8ac56befd6cb%7C0%7C0%7C637207478885691803&sdata=iIjIfS2J8jljL1Q04ZUVrQXIY80UBWqr72Iij5NBVKc%3D&reserved=0> | Report a concern at www.bellevuecollege.edu/reportconcerns<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fwww.bellevuecollege.edu%2freportconcerns&c=E,1,mdkmBRTfSsS5QRIJ__tEeBr-updcSc1ubheNETJEmLbPhkIf4ONG-CZpZs-TJIvew-sM1jGJsLdZiW4LBBqTdxGDPANINpAyjejvdTbhe-UWDqQvcwTQ&typo=1>
This email and any files transmitted may contain confidential information as protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. §1232g and/or Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2510-2521.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution is prohibited. Furthermore, if you are not the intended recipient, please notify me immediately by telephone or return email and completely delete this message from your system.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ctc.edu/pipermail/wsssc_lists.ctc.edu/attachments/20200611/45914e35/attachment-0002.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 289 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <http://lists.ctc.edu/pipermail/wsssc_lists.ctc.edu/attachments/20200611/45914e35/attachment-0004.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.png
Type: image/png
Size: 49754 bytes
Desc: image002.png
URL: <http://lists.ctc.edu/pipermail/wsssc_lists.ctc.edu/attachments/20200611/45914e35/attachment-0005.png>