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Regents disability‑services offices unify reporting categories as registrations rise in neurodevelopmental and psychological diagnoses
Summary
Directors from the three regent universities described a new, standardized approach to reporting disability registrations and said the largest increases are in neurodevelopmental and psychological diagnoses; universities also updated accommodation categories to presentation, response, setting and timing/scheduling.
Directors of disability support offices from two regent institutions briefed the Board of Regents’ Free Speech and Student Affairs Committee on April 23 about standardized reporting and rising registrations for student accommodations.
Clara Hernandez (Iowa State) and Mike Venzen (University of Iowa) presented a collaborative update to reporting definitions and categories. The offices worked with board staff over the past year to modernize data collection and reporting, align terms with the DSM‑5 text revision and professional best practices, and avoid obsolete technology categories (for example, older audio cassette items previously tracked).
Key changes and data points:
- Diagnosis categories: The offices now report diagnoses grouped as neurodevelopmental (autism, ADHD, dyslexia), psychological (PTSD, anxiety, depression), chronic health (epilepsy, diabetes, Crohn’s) and sensory (deaf/hard‑of‑hearing, blind). Presenters said the largest increases over the past decade are in neurodevelopmental and psychological categories.
- Accommodation categories: To future‑proof reporting, offices now classify accommodations as presentation (e.g., captions, text‑to‑speech), response (e.g., scribe, speech‑to‑text), setting (e.g., low distraction testing location) and timing/scheduling (e.g., early registration, deadline flexibility).
- Process notes: Presenters emphasized that college accommodation processes differ from K‑12 IEP/504 models because students must self‑identify, provide documentation, and manage privacy and access; offices also coordinate with faculty, academic departments and facilities to make classrooms and schedules accessible.
- Volume and services: Panelists described robust campus engagement with disability services across the regent system; at one campus the presenters noted roughly 2,200 students were registered with student disability services (University of Iowa remark) and emphasized collaboration across admissions, orientation and student affairs to identify students who may need help with FAFSA, past‑due accounts or verification steps.
The committee heard that the rising registration and increasing complexity of accommodation requests reinforce the value of coordination across the three universities and the standardized reporting approach.
Speakers: Clara Hernandez (Iowa State disability services director) and Mike Venzen (University of Iowa disability services director). Tiffany Dodd (UNI) contributed to the reporting work but was not present at the committee.
No formal committee action was required; the update was presented for the committee’s information.
