SR 06-07 - SR 06-07 Resolution on the Timely Adoption of Text-Based Materials for Students with Disabilities

1. Textbook orders will be submitted no later than two weeks before the end of finals week in the spring semester for courses the following fall semester, and four weeks before the end of finals week in the fall semester for the following spring semester.  This shall apply to tenured/ tenure-track faculty members and to lecturers hired two weeks prior to this textbook adoption deadline. Faculty members hired less than two weeks prior to or after the deadline shall submit their text book requests within two weeks after they have been provided a teaching contract.
2. Courses added to the schedule six weeks or fewer before the beginning of the semester shall have their texts identified at the time of addition of the course to the schedule of classes.
3. If a student with a need for an alternative format enrolls in a course in which a textbook has not yet been adopted after the textbook adoption deadline, every attempt should be made to obtain a textbook request from the instructor.  If efforts to obtain a textbook request from the instructor are unsuccessful, the Chair or designee should identify a textbook for this course no later than six weeks prior to the beginning of the semester so that an alternative format can be provided to the student in a timely manner. 
4. Additional text-based course materials (i.e., optional textbooks, course packs, readers, and course reserves) to be utilized in a course in which a student needing an alternative format is enrolled should be identified no later than one-month prior to the date when they will be made available to the class so that a student with a disability in the class can obtain his/her text-based materials at the same time as students without a disability.

In addition, faculty members are encouraged to

• Consider the availability of accessible electronic versions of textbooks/ text-based materials in selecting text-based materials for their classes, and
• Request an additional desk copy or, preferably, an electronic version of textbooks for the courses they teach.

Both of these approaches will assist DAS in providing alternative formats of text-based materials in a timely manner. 

RATIONALE:   The Disability Accommodation Services (DAS) office at CSU Channel Islands is tasked with generating accessible versions of text-based materials for CSU Channel Islands students.  Generating accessible versions of text-based materials is a time-consuming process which involves working with vendors and publishers and which can typically take 8 - 10 weeks to complete.  As a campus, we have a moral, ethical, and legal obligation to provide text-based materials to CSUCI students with disabilities on the same timeframe as students without disabilities.  Failure to provide alternative formatting of textbooks was the basis of a recent Office of Civil Rights finding against CSU Fullerton[1] and resulted in Executive Order 926 and Coded Memorandum AA-206-41 which require campuses to develop a process for the timely adoption of textbooks. [2] ^,[3] 

The CSU Board of Trustees Policy on Disability Support and Accommodations (Executive Order 926) states: 

“…it is the policy of the CSU to make information technology resources and services accessible to all CSU students, faculty, staff and the general public regardless of disability.”

Coded Memorandum AA-2006-41 of the CSU Chancellor’s Office states:

“By June 2007 … each campus will create a plan to support faculty and staff practices that will ensure timely access to instructional materials … includ[ing]: [1] Timely adoption of textbooks by faculty, and [2] Strategy for identification of textbooks for late-hire faculty”

This resolution is designed to provide a mechanism by which CSU Channel Islands meets a portion of the provisions of Executive Order 926 and Coded Memorandum AA-206-41, specifically, the timely adoption of textbooks.