Disability Services Individualized Services and Advocacy for Students with Documented Disabilities

Our Office of Disability Services, housed in the Student Success Center, will make reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities using the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

By federal law, a person with a disability is any person who has: a physical or mental impairment; a record of such impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities such as self-care, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, or learning.

Support for Students with Disabilities

Services Available

Faculty members do not lower academic standards, but instead the University provides support to help students demonstrate their academic abilities.

• Personal mentor/academic advisor who works with students with disabilities
• Taped, Braille, large print and electronic textbooks for students with visual impairments
• Interpreters
• Alternative exam arrangements, including a private testing site and extended time
• Liaison with state vocational rehabilitation agencies
• Classroom and facility accommodations
• Readers and note-takers
• Audio recordings of class lectures
• Tutors for individual courses and general study skills assistance
• Supplemental Instruction for traditionally difficult courses

Support Software in the Student Success Center

Kurzweil 3000-Scanning software with speech output

Dragon Systems-Naturally Speaking continuous speech recognition software

Inspiration-Software that strengthens critical thinking, comprehension, and writing skills across the curriculum.

Smart Pens-Enables the student to record the lecture in class or their own thoughts and sends the information directly to a computer

How to Request Our Services

You must request accommodations at the beginning of the semester with Office of Disability Services, located in the Student Success Center.

Provide documentation of your disability in the form of a diagnosis and list of required accommodations from a qualified professional in that field. A recent Individual Education Plan (IEP) from a secondary school will be accepted in most cases and providing information that documents their disability. If you do not have proper documentation, Disability Services will provide you a form.

Once documentation is provided, and student has a conversation with Disability Services about reasonable accommodations, letters of verification will be delivered to faculty within the first two weeks of each semester.