Students with Disabilities
The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act mandated equal opportunity for students to participate in or benefit from the services offered by a place of public accommodation. This mandate is now inclusive of private universities. A qualified individual under ADA must have a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities. Major life activities involve caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning (which includes any type of diagnosed learning disability), and working. Moreover, a qualified disabled student must meet the academic and technical standards requisite for admission or participation in an education program or activity.
Student Responsibilities:
If a student is aware, or suspects, that s/he is a qualified individual under the ADA, it is s/he responsibility to take the following steps:
1. Fill out the Disability Accommodation Application.
2. Bring the completed form, along with formal documentation (no older than 3 years) from a doctor on letterhead stating the specific disability, to Jen Powell, Assistant to the Academic Dean in the Academics Department.
3. A meeting will be arranged for you with the director of the Life Challenges Program, Gayle Samples, in order to discuss and determine appropriate accomodations.
4. If a student’s disability is long-term, s/he will need to come in and fill out a Disability Accommodation Application at the beginning of each academic year.
If it is necessary for the student to be tested or assessed for a disability, it is the student’s responsibility to obtain this information from an outside source, such as a licensed psychologist or qualified educational therapist.
Office of Academic Affairs Responsibilities:
It is the responsibility of Academic Affairs to serve as the starting point for any student who wishes to file a Disability Accommodation Application.
The Office of Academic Affairs will help any student identified as a qualified individual under the ADA with academic accommodations after they have filled out an application and met with the Assistant to the Academic Dean. Students will be required to meet with the director of the Life Challenges program, who endeavors to provide a link between students and their professors by establishing an in-classroom accommodation plan, and who will assist them in developing their academic accommodation plan and subsequent interaction with 38 individual professors. The director of Life Challenges will assist in contacting and notifying professors as needed.
In the event that a student’s disabilities will affect areas outside of Academics, such as his/her ability to fulfill chapel requirements, the Office of Student Life will be notified in order to provide reasonable accommodations. OSL will not waive the requirements for chapel. Students with severe diet restrictions, documented by a licensed physician, may also fill out the Disability Accommodation Application in regards to accommodations available in the Café or in regards to meal plan adjustments. Note: It is not the responsibility of OSL to provide any testing or assessments for a student who may have a qualifying disability.
Reasonable accommodations include the following:
ACADEMICS:
Allowance for the presence of a note-taker.
Allowance for the presence of a tape recorder.
Allowance for the presence of a scribe for tests.
Oral recitation of test questions.
Additional time for in-class assignments (time and a half for most circumstances; double time is the maximum time allowed for physical disabilities).
Additional time for tests (time and a half for most circumstances; double time the maximum allowed for physical disabilities).
Priority registration.
Taking tests (at no charge) in the Library.
CHAPEL:
Allowance for the presence of an interpreter
Reserved seating for easier access
NOTE: It is not the responsibility of the Academics Office to change any technical requirements of classes or to give course waivers, nor to provide the necessary agents of accommodations. If a student is in need of items such as a tape recorder it will be his/her responsibility to provide one.