Services Available to Students with Disabilities

• Maintains confidential student records (e.g. documentation of disability; record of interviews; record of accommodations recommended, etc.)

• Receives and evaluates documentation provided by students verifying disabilities

• Consults with students about appropriate individualized accommodations based upon documentation and arranges individualized accommodations for students (e.g. testing accommodation referrals and recommendations)

• Certifies Eligibility for Accommodation Services

• Serves as an advocate for students with faculty or administrators

• Arranges for and/or refers students to auxiliary aides (devices or services that compensate for a disabling condition; i.e., qualified Interpreters, TTYs, qualified readers, assistive technology, books on tape, etc.)

• Training for assistive technology.

• Provides information, academic advisement, and individual counseling to students regarding disability issues, their legal rights and responsibilities

• Conducts informational and training programs regarding services to persons with disabilities for the university faculty and staff

• Consults with faculty regarding the instructional needs of individual students with disabilities

• Consults with College administrators regarding the needs of students with disabilities (e.g. program directors, divisional deans)

• Consults with other campus departments regarding the needs of students with disabilities (e.g. Facilities Management, Admissions, Registrar’s Office, Student Accounts, Advisement and Counseling, Student Life, etc.)

• Communicates information regarding program services to the campus community (e.g. brochures, relevant paragraphs in College catalog, Student Handbook, newsletters, etc.)

• Maintains a participating membership in the national program, Readers for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D) for student use in obtaining text books on tape

• Follows National Standards for Accommodation Services for information regarding published standards

• Maintains up-to-date references regarding National and Regional trends, decisions by the Office of Civil Rights and court cases regarding disability services in higher education

Examples of Accommodations that are arranged by the Office of Services to Students with Disabilities:

• Development of individualized suggestions for accommodations in the classroom:
• SIGN Language interpretation for deaf students
• Special tables and chairs in the classroom
• Permission to use a tape recorder in lecture classes
• Volunteer peer Notetakers
• Instructions for requesting books on tape
• Coordination of special arrangements to meet individual test-taking needs

Examples of accommodations that are not made or arranged by the Students with Disabilities Program:

ADA does not require colleges to provide personal assistants, individual personal tutors, or personal assistive technology. Whenever possible, the Students with Disabilities Program will refer students to agencies which may provide personal assistance of that nature. Accommodations are not made which would reduce academic expectations, standards, or which would eliminate essential components of any course. Open book testing or exams are not provided as an accommodation, but may be a part of any particular professor’s methodology for instruction and testing.