Disability Services

Policies & Procedures for Academic Accommodations
Dana College provides reasonable services and accommodations to meet the needs of qualified students with disabilities to facilitate their pursuit of academic and career goals.

Qualifying for Services
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 provide for reasonable accommodations and services for qualified individuals with disabilities. Individuals who may be eligible for services include, but are not limited to, those with disabilities such as learning, orthopedic, visual, speech, and hearing impairments. These conditions must be of a degree that they seriously impair one or more of life's major activities.

Disclosure of a disability is NOT required, but if special services or accommodations will be needed, then students must provide written documentation to verify their disability. This written documentation should be recent, preferably within the last 3-5 years, and must be provided by a qualified evaluator or agency, such as a school psychologist or an evaluator from the student's state office of Vocational-Rehabilitation Services. The college cannot act on a verbal statement or a written note from a family member, counselor, or teacher. The documentation must describe not only the nature of the disability but also the limitations it presents to the student, with recommendations for coping with and accommodating the disability. (See section below, "Materials to Document a Disability.")

Qualified students with disabilities who require academic support services and/or course accommodations should give their documentation materials to the Director of Disability Services at Dana College.

Confidentiality
A student (and parent, if the student is a minor, under age 19) must sign the "Agreement & Release Form for Students with Disabilities"
1) before the appropriate, affected college personnel--such as professors, Academic Dean, or residence hall staff--can be advised of a student's disability and special needs, and
2) before the Director of Disability Services can arrange any academic support services or course accommodations with the affected faculty or staff personnel.

The student's (and parent's, if applicable) signature on this form permits the Director of Disability Services to disclose information about the student's disability only after the student has asked the Director to arrange a specific course accommodation. Otherwise, the Director does NOT notify professors about the students in their classes who have disabilities. Such disclosure would be illegal, as it does not respect students' rights to confidentiality.

Documentation of a student's disability is kept in a locked file in the office of the Director of Disability Services and is accessible only to the Director. The materials will be destroyed when the student graduates or formally withdraws from the college or upon receipt of the student's written request to return or destroy the materials.

Provision of Services
After the student has provided the Director of Disability Services with acceptable documentation materials and has signed the "Agreement & Release Form for Students with Disabilities," the student must meet with the Director to discuss and arrange necessary academic support services and course accommodations. No accommodations are provided unless the student requests them, and then such requests must be supported by the documentation (see below). Students should realize that it may not be possible to arrange some services and accommodations immediately upon request, so as much advance notification as possible --at least one week--is necessary.

Students are also expected to seek and accept assistance--services, equipment, and/or funding--from federal, state, or local agencies. If students have not tried to qualify for assistance from outside agencies before requesting assistance from Dana College, then students' requests for services and accommodations may be granted only for a limited time or may be denied.

Requests for academic support services and course accommodations will be met as long as they are reasonable, supported in the documentation, and made in a timely manner. The decisions made by the Director of Disability Services to grant or deny students' requests will be made on a case-by-case basis, and all decisions will be discussed with the students. Students who disagree with the Director's decisions or who are not satisfied with the provided accommodations must follow the appeal process, which is available from the Director of Disability Services or from the Learning Resources Director.

Materials to Document a Disability
A student who requests special academic support services or course accommodations for a disability is required by law to provide documentation materials from a qualified professional that identify the disability and that support the student's request for services and/or course accommodations. In the absence of such materials, a student’s request might be denied or minimal accommodations may be provided, such as extended test time.

Students with disabilities must provide a copy of the most recent diagnostic testing results and the report from a qualified, licensed professional such as a school psychologist, a licensed counselor, or a medical doctor.

These materials should:

name the specific disability and describe its effects on the student;
list and describe the student’s strengths and weaknesses as a learner;
provide recommendations for helping the student cope with the disability;
recommend specific, reasonable accommodations that would provide the student with a fair and equal chance to succeed in college classes.

Documentation materials should be submitted to:
Director of Disability Services