Inherent Requirements for University Course Completion:A Survey Examining the Process of Providing Reasonable Accommodations for Students With Disabilities at Universities in Australia

Abstract

The inherent requirements for completing a university course are the abilities, knowledge, and skills that students need in order to complete the course. It is important that reasonable accommodations be made for students with disabilities, without compromising the inherent and necessary objectives, content, and functions of education for all. For the present study, after multiple Internet searches, quantitative content analyses were conducted on the descriptions of inherent requirements for course completion in the websites of Australian universities. More than 80% of the universities included in the searches had policies that described the inherent requirements for courses and the process for providing reasonable adjustments. Additionally, at some universities, details regarding the inherent requirements had been developed for courses in human health services, such as nursing. Quantitative content analysis revealed that the inherent requirements did not include auditory or motor skills in several courses of study. These results suggest that when Japanese institutions of higher education are considering reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities, it may be useful to clarify the objectives, content, and functions of education with reference to the inherent requirements for course completion that have been specifıed at some universities in Australia.