Accommodations are based on a student's experience with their disability and must be considered “reasonable” in the context of the academic environment.

Reasonable accommodations are provided by the college at no cost to the student.

No. You only need to request accommodations if you want to use them in your studies. Accommodations will not be suggested or offered unless you identify yourself as a student with a disability and requesting them.

You will need to complete the Request for ADA Accommodations (click here) form and submit documentation.

At the beginning of every semester, you will need to request your letters through the Office of Retention and Student Advocacy.  Accommodation letters will be emailed to you (and printed at your request) and you are encouraged to set up an appointment with each of your professors to discuss the specifics of your accommodations.  The letter will not state your disability.

Some professors might but they are not required to. In fact, they are not obligated to provide accommodations unless they receive the accommodation letter from the Office of Retention and Student Advocacy.

No. It is the student’s responsibility to determine whether or not a disability is present. The law does not require the university to identify and evaluate students who may have disabilities.

It is the student’s responsibility to obtain medical documentation needed for registering with the Office of Retention and Student Advocacy.

Textbook publishers require that the student purchase the print version of the textbook in order to obtain a free electronic text copy of the book. This is done to protect the publisher’s and author’s copyright interests. If you need to use an audio version of a textbook, it is recommended that you make that request as soon as you know what text is needed. It may take a few weeks to receive audio books from the publisher.

No. Universities are not required to administer retroactive accommodations. Students must inform the university of their disability in order to receive accommodations.

Accommodations are not meant to make courses easier. You are still required to do the same work as your peers and to submit college-level work. What accommodations do is level the playing field and gives a student with a disability the same opportunity to demonstrate his or her own knowledge as his or her non-disabled peers. Accommodations guarantee equal ACCESS not SUCCESS.