OSA Accommodations
The Office of Student Accessibility (OSA) seeks to accommodate students with documented disabilities to allow equal opportunities in educational endeavors. Before a student can receive accommodation for a documented learning, health, or housing issue, students must first register with OSA and provide confirmed documentation from an approved professional. To learn more about the registration process, click here.
Overseas, the nature of international program facilities and resources poses certain challenges for OSA accommodations that might normally be granted in Malibu. It is important for students to take these limitations into consideration before they apply for international programs and to work closely with program staff to understand the implications of their accommodations. In our context in Switzerland, OSA accommodations tend to take the following forms:
Academic Accommodations
As in Malibu, all academic-related accommodations can ONLY be granted with an official letter from the Office of Student Accessibility (OSA). Students seeking academic accommodations in Switzerland should note:
No academic accommodations can be arranged without an official OSA letter.
OSA accommodations must be renewed each year. Even if students have previously received an accommodation, they must renew their OSA status by July 15, even if they believe they will not “activate” them while they are abroad.
Students must present their official OSA letter to each professor before accommodations can be arranged.
Students must work with the Academic Coordinator in Switzerland to ensure accommodations are implemented in each class.
HOUSING ACCOMMODATIONS
In the abroad context, housing options are extremely limited, and local cultural/legal norms sometimes prohibit granting certain accommodations. As an example, single-room accommodations are impossible to honor due to demand and space constraints. Other commonly accommodated amenities, such as air-conditioning, violate Swiss law. If you have an OSA-approved housing accommodation, please do the following:
Be sure you register/renew your accommodation with OSA. No accommodation requests can be granted without an official OSA letter.
Carefully consider your program options. Some programs are better equipped to deal with housing accommodations than others. Please reach out to the Office of International Programs to discuss what option might be best suited for your needs.
Reach out to the Switzerland Program before you sign your contract to discuss your accommodations. Program staff can help you understand the practical implications of your accommodation request and attempt to find the best way to serve your needs.
DIETARY ACCOMMODATIONS
Please note that dietary accommodations are only given for medical reasons and requests can only be granted without an official OSA letter. If dietary requests are not supported by medical documentation, they are considered “preferences” and cannot be accommodated.
Student medical dietary restrictions and the need for dietary accommodations have steadily increased and diversified. While our food service team will endeavor to assist our students with their dietary needs, many accommodation requests are impossible to fulfill or might result in certain repercussions in the Swiss context. As students consider their needs, it will be important to consider the following.
VEGAN DIETS: The program cannot accommodate strictly vegan diet requirements. However, vegetarian diets can be accommodated.
FOOD ALLERGENS: Students traveling independently, combined with the difficulty of cross-cultural communication and different working definitions of “cross-contamination” across cultures, makes avoiding exposure to potential food allergens challenging and potentially impossible. It will be imperative for students to prepare for potential “worst-case scenarios” while they travel with, and without, program support. We suggest that you avoid problematic food categories, as well as carry Epipens and a card with your food allergens requirements written in multiple languages (our staff can aid you with French, German, Italian).
NUT ALLERGIES: In addition to the recommendations above, students with nut allergies should be aware of the risks they assume while abroad. While we endeavor to honor OSA-approved student dietary restrictions during our normal meal service, it is impossible for our food service provider to guarantee that a student will not encounter tree nuts at any time during our program, even if it is confirmed that nuts are not an ingredient in food served to students. In addition, students in our program routinely travel to areas of the world where tree nuts feature prominently in the local cuisine in ways that are very difficult to control.
Please be aware that the use of tree nuts (almonds, pistachios, etc) in powdered form is very common throughout Europe and especially in Greece and Morocco, two countries where the program frequently travels. In these contexts and many others like them, cross-contamination is a real and ever-present reality. Program staff support and meal coordination will be provided, but students will also need to be personally prepared (i.e. carrying an Epipen), be familiar with local emergency numbers/protocols, and will need to be ready to accept a certain level of unavoidable risk if they choose to participate in this program.
GLUTEN-FREE: People are becoming more aware of gluten intolerances across Europe. Gluten-free products are frequently available in most major grocery stores and items containing gluten are often marked on menus in newer restaurants. However, students should note that European diets heavily feature bread, pasta, and other gluten-containing products. Many times, these products are invisible or used in ways that might seem unusual (e.g. flour used as a thickening agent in soup). With an OSA accommodation, our food service coordinator and other program staff will make sure you have options available and will interface with other food providers on our educational field trips to ensure there is adequate food for students with dietary restrictions.