Index:
Statement of Purpose
Definitions
Accessing Services
Guidelines for Documentation
Student Responsibilities
Confidentiality
Disability Service Providers
QVCC's Responsibilities
Course Substitution Requests

Door to college with blooms

Quinebaug Valley Community College
742 Upper Maple Street
Danielson, CT 06239

Quinebaug Valley Community College

Policies for Service to Students with Disabilities

Learning Disability Services Homepage

Statement of Purpose

Quinebaug Valley Community College (QVCC) is committed to the goal of achieving equal educational opportunity and full participation for individuals with disabilities. To this end, QVCC seeks to ensure that no qualified person is excluded from participation in, is denied the benefit of, or otherwise is subjected to discrimination in any of its programs, services, or activities. Achieving full participation and integration of people with disabilities requires the full cooperation and effort of all QVCC faculty and staff. To this end, the college will strive to maintain excellence in its services and to deliver those services equitably and effectively.

Definitions

Disability. A student’s assurance of equal educational opportunity rests upon foundations of federal law, specifically the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. By federal law, a person with a disability is any person who has a physical or mental impairment; has a record of such impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activity, such as walking, seeing, hearing, speaking or learning.

Qualified. A qualified individual with a disability is a person with a disability who meets essential academic and technical standards for acceptance and participation in the college and its programs with or without reasonable modifications, auxiliary aids and services, or removal of barriers.

Accessing Services

New Students. No questions regarding disabilities appear on the application for admission to QVCC. In the admission process, self-disclosure of a disability is voluntary. The disclosure process must be initiated by the applicant; it cannot be initiated by an advocate (e.g. a parent, school, or community organization ). A Self-Disclosure Form for Students with Disabilities is sent with the application packet and provides details about the disclosure process. The completed form must be delivered or mailed (not faxed or e-mailed) to Learning Disabilities Specialist in the Learning Center. When the form is received, the college will send a letter inviting the student to set up an appointment to talk with a disability service provider. The student will be provided with a copy of the Policies for Service to Students with Disabilities. This document is available in various formats and on the college’s website.

Continuing Students. If the student with a disability did not self-disclose upon application and wishes to do so subsequently, the student must initiate the self-disclosure process that leads to the college’s recognition of the student’s disability. The process cannot be initiated by an advocate (e.g. a parent, school, or community organization). It is the student’s responsibility to disclose his/her disability to the college. The student must fill out and sign a Self-Disclosure Form for Students with Disabilities. The form is available through the Learning and Student Development Office, the Learning Center, the Community and Professional Learning Office, the Willimantic Center, and on the college’s website. The completed form must be delivered or mailed (not faxed or e-mailed) to Learning Disabilities Specialist in the Learning Center. When the form is received, the college will send a letter inviting the student to set up an appointment to talk with a disability service provider. The student will be provided with a copy of the Policies for Service to Students with Disabilities. The document is available in various formats and on the college’s website.

If the student is seeking accommodations, it is the student’s responsibility to provide appropriate and adequate documentation of disability that includes a current, comprehensive medical, psychological, psychoeducational, neuropsychological or other diagnostic evaluation of the disability and an evaluation of the impact of the disability on the individual in a college setting. Guidelines for documentation of a disability are provided in detail below.

While no qualified student will be denied appropriate auxiliary aids or service, such support need not be immediately available at all times. In order to ensure sufficient time to make provision for aids or services, it is the student’s responsibility to request accommodation in a timely manner, following appropriate procedures. Generally, lead-time of three weeks is minimum, with some types of accommodation requiring more. If a request is submitted with less than the minimum time needed to accommodate the request, the college will make a reasonable attempt to provide accommodation but cannot guarantee that the request will be met without delay or substitution.

Guidelines for Documentation

Documentation should include:

A diagnostic statement identifying the disability, date of current diagnostic evaluation, and the date of the original diagnosis. The diagnostic systems used by the Department of Education, the State Department of Rehabilitative Services, and/or the current editions of either the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM) or the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems of the World Health Organization (ICD) are the recommended diagnostic taxonomies.

A description of the diagnostic criteria and or diagnostic test(s) used. This description should include the specific results of diagnostic procedures, diagnostic tests used , and when administered. When available, both summary and specific test scores should be reported as standard scores and the norming population identified. When standard scores are not available, the mean, standard deviation, and the standard error of measurement are requested as appropriate to the construction of the test. Diagnostic methods used should be congruent with the disability and current professional practices within the field. Informal or non-standard evaluations should be described in enough detail to enable an understanding of their role and significance in the diagnostic process.

A current description of the functional impact of the disability. The current functional impact on physical, cognitive, and behavioral abilities should be described either explicitly or through the provision of specific results from the diagnostic procedures. Currency is critical to the applicability of disability information to the context of the request for accommodations.

Medications, treatments, assistive devices/services currently in use or prescribed. A description of all steps taken to ameliorate the impact of the disability and their estimated effectiveness should be noted. Included also should be significant side effects that may impact physical, perceptual, behavioral, or cognitive performance.

A description of the expected progression or stability of the disability over time. This description should provide an estimate of the change in functional limitations of the disability over time and/or recommendations concerning the predictable need for re-evaluation.

The credentials of the diagnosing professional(s). Provide the name, title, and credentials (e.g. licensure or certification) of the individual(s) conducting the evaluation.

Suggestions for accommodations from professionals with a history of working with the individual. It is valuable to have the suggestions of practitioners regarding accommodations, and such information will be given consideration. Recommendations for specific accommodations, adaptive devices, and/or assistive services that may ameliorate the functional impact of the disability and provide fuller access would be helpful in the review process. However, college disability service providers working with students with disabilities will determine appropriate accommodations on a case-by-case basis, based on the specific needs of the individual student.

Whenever possible, documentation of disability should be received directly from the diagnosing professional(s). Disability documentation will be held for three years after the student’s last date of enrollment.

Student Responsibilities

Students with disabilities are responsible for utilizing their accommodations, aids, and services as effectively as possible. Student abuse of these may result in loss of access to the accommodation, aid, or service being abused. For example, in-class support services are not a substitute for class attendance. Therefore, generally, students must attend classes on a regular basis or risk having such services curtailed or altered.

Because course requirements and learning environments vary, students with disabilities are responsible for discussing their needs each semester with disability service providers and with their instructors. Students are responsible for notifying their disability service providers of any problems associated with accommodations as early as possible.

All QVCC students are held to standards of behavior outlined in the Student Handbook and in the handbooks for the specific curricula or programs of study in which they are enrolled. Failure to adhere to these standards will result in the student being referred to the appropriate college official for disciplinary action.

Confidentiality

Quinebaug Valley Community College recognizes the highly confidential nature of disability-related information and shares this information with college personnel only on a “need-to-know” basis, except where disclosure is required by law or authorized by the student. Disability-related information is kept in separate, secure files with restricted access.

QVCC Disability Service Providers

The Director of Learning Services or the Learning Disabilities Specialist shall make appropriate determination of reasonable accommodations for students based upon documentation provided. The authority to make such decisions on behalf of the institution has been assigned by the President of the college. Contact the individuals listed below to discuss QVCC’s services to students with disabilities:

James Grimord, Director of Learning Services (860) 774-1130
Christopher Scarborough, Learning Disabilities Specialist (860) 774-1130

QVCC’s Responsibilities

QVCC will provide accommodations, auxiliary aids, and services that modify the processes by which a student gains equal access to educational opportunity and demonstrates ability and knowledge. The college will not provide accommodations that alter the essential elements of a course or program or that compromise educational standards.

As needed, the disability service provider will interact with faculty to help ensure reasonable and appropriate accommodations for a student with documented disabilities. The disability service provider will complete a memo to faculty and a form detailing appropriate accommodations for the student. Generally, the student will carry this information to faculty. Whenever possible, the student and faculty member will collaborate on the implementation of the student’s accommodations.

If students have followed established procedures but feel that agreed upon accommodations are not being provided appropriately, they should contact the disability service provider as soon as possible to discuss their concerns. If they are not satisfied with the results of this meeting, they should follow grievance procedures outlined in the Policy on Student Rights section of the Student Handbook, available on the college website.

If students feel that accommodations assigned to them by the disability service providers are not adequate or are inappropriate to expressed needs, students should follow grievance procedures outlined in the Policy on Student Rights section of the Student Handbook.

Course Substitution Requests

Rationale. Federal regulations state that, based on any type of documented disability, a “substitution of specific courses required for the completion of degree requirements” is allowable unless the “academic requirements… are essential to the program of instruction being pursued….”

Taking the Course. Absent clear indications that the student cannot complete the course successfully because of a disability, the student is encouraged to take the course with diligent effort and under the ongoing guidance of a disability service provider. Records will be maintained about accommodations utilized by the student while taking the course. All reasonable and appropriate accommodations should be used consistently and diligently by the student to maximize the potential for success in the course. If the student’s good faith effort to pass the course is unsuccessful and the student requests and is granted a substitution, a grade of “AU” (Audit) will be recorded in the place of the initial failing grade.

Requesting a Course Substitution. However, the student may submit a request for a course substitution without attempting the course in those situations where there is clear, strong, objective evidence that the student’s disability precludes academic success for the course in question. For example, students with learning disabilities may present recent letters from high school and/or college personnel attesting to the student’s lack of success in prior attempts to pass similar coursework, despite significant effort and diligence on the part of the student. If the student’s good faith effort to pass the course is unsuccessful or if it has been clearly shown that the student cannot succeed in the course because of a disability, the student may request a substitution if the disability is documented and the documentation supports a course substitution.

Submission of Request. A written request for course substitution must include the student’s name, address, phone number, and program of study and must indicate the course in question and its proposed substitute. The request must explain the relevance of the substitute to the course in question and to the student’s field of study. Generally, the disability service provider and the student (unless the student wishes to maintain confidentiality) should consult with the program coordinator when deciding what course to request as a substitute. The student should initiate the substitution request process in a timely manner, well before the student needs to register for the course in question, and should wait for a response before taking the requested substitute course.

Decision. The disability service provider will inform the program coordinator and/or other appropriate college personnel of the substitution request. If the student wishes, a copy of the request may be submitted to her/his academic advisor as well. The disability service provider will decide whether the substitution is reasonable in light of the disability; that is, whether the student’s documentation of disability indicates significant impairment in areas directly related to the requirements of the course in question. The program coordinator or other appropriate college official will decide whether the substitution is reasonable in light of the curriculum or program of study. Requests for substitutions will be denied for courses that are deemed essential to the student’s curriculum or program of study. In order for the course substitution to be allowed, the approval of both the disability service provider and the program coordinator or other college official is necessary. The student will be notified of the final decision in a timely manner by the disability service provider. The disability service provider will ensure that course substitutions are documented in the student’s academic file. If the student making the request for a course substitution wishes to appeal the decision concerning the course substitution request, the student should follow grievance procedures outlined in the Policy of Student Rights section of the Student Handbook.

(Last updated December, 2006.)
Comments: Christopher Scarborough

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Acknowledgement is hereby gratefully expressed for the consultation and advice of Dr. Jane Jarrow (Disability Access Information and Support) and for information gathered from existing policies at The University of Connecticut, Longwood College, University of Wisconsin – Madison, University of Michigan, and for information gathered via the Disability Support Services and Higher Education (DSSHE) listserv.