Procedure/Guidelines for Receiving Special Accommodations

Students with special needs may qualify for accommodations to help compensate for disabilities which impede their academic progress and lower classroom performance. To receive accommodations a student MUST notify the Office of Student Affairs prior to registration and furnish documentation verifying the need for assistance. Each student bears the responsibility for contacting the appropriate clinician and having objective data supporting the diagnosis and need for service released and forwarded to this office. To avoid delays supporting data should be forwarded on a timely basis; INCOMPLETE FILES WILL NOT BE PROCESSED.

1. Self-identify to the Office of Student Affairs. Fill out a self-identification form which includes the permission to notify instructors of accommodations.
2. Provide the Office of Student Affairs with current documentation (less than three years old) from a licensed psychologist or physician regarding the disability. Documentation should include a list of recommended accommodations. See criteria for Documentation Guidelines.

Examples of frequently used supporting documentation:

• Psychological/educational evaluation listing standard scores for cognitive ability, educational achievement levels and personality assessments.
• Individual education plan (IEP) identifying academic strengths and weaknesses, and educational techniques and accommodations used.
• Summaries of visual and auditory evaluations with evidence to verify the disability.
• Psychiatric evaluation summaries with current DSM diagnosis.
3. Each semester notify Provide the Office of Student Affairs that you are enrolled in classes. If you make a change in your schedule you must inform the OSA as well.

Once a student is enrolled, it is important that the student continue to be proactive. Each semester a notification memo may be sent out to the student’s instructors AT THE STUDENT’S REQUEST. If the student wants the OSA to notify his/her instructors about their accommodations, they must inform the OSA that they are enrolled in classes each semester.