Fulbright Applicant Evaluation Process Related to Student Disabilities

More people with disabilities are learning about the Fulbright Program and are eager to benefit from these exchange opportunities like their non-disabled peers.  As applications from candidates with disabilities are submitted following campus deadlines, you can take steps to ensure that application materials are reviewed fairly and campus committee interviews are conducted in an accommodating manner.

Just as not all non-disabled individuals qualify for the Fulbright Program, not all disabled applicants will meet essential program requirements.  In order to determine this, you must provide reasonable and appropriate disability-related accommodations to ensure that people with disabilities have equal opportunities to demonstrate their qualifications.

Review your process to see if it is accessible to people with disabilities.  For example, in-person interviews should be located in a building that is accessible to people with mobility disabilities and information provided to candidates during the evaluation process should be in accessible formats.

Discuss with applicants what they will need in order to participate in an interview:

• A person who is hard of hearing may need committee members to visually indicate when they are about to speak. 
• A person with attention deficit disorder may need time to write down interview question to maintain focus. 
• Review the application assessment process to clarify how eligibility is defined.
• For proof of foreign language mastery, deaf applicants may be appropriately excused from verbal fluency; the applicant, however, would be required to demonstrate proficiency in communicating in the host language through written communication or sign language.
• When considering requirements of good health, disability and health should be considered separate issues.  Most people with disabilities are not unhealthy or sick, and those with chronic illnesses often can maintain stable health with adequate preparations.

You may have answered an applicant's disability-related questions prior to the evaluation process. For legal and ethical reasons, do not share this information with the review committee.  While applicants may choose to volunteer disability information prior to applying, questions during an interview about what type of disability an individual has and what disability-related accommodations are needed for the program are illegal. These questions are appropriate only after an individual has been conditionally or fully accepted for an award.

Be explicit with committee members that qualified applicants should not be evaluated based on perceived limitations related to their disability or a feeling that the disability will be difficult to accommodate because of potential barriers in the country to which they have applied.

• An applicant with a speech disability may speak slowly or repeat words often, making it difficult for interviewers to make a connection in the brief time.
• A person with a vision or physical impairment may not give interviewers the eye contact or body language cues to which they are accustomed.

Equally important, you should inform reviewers of the Fulbright Program's commitment to provide disability-related accommodations after placement, as necessary.

With these considerations in place, all applicants regardless of disability will have an equal opportunity to become a Fulbright participant.

Michele Scheib is Project Specialist with the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (http://www.miusa.org/ncde/fulbright), which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by Mobility International USA.

This was published in the Institute of International Education's Fulbright Program Adviser Newsletter, Issue 34, August 2009.