Academic Support Services

Student Academic Support Services--Policy and Procedure

Disability Support Services arranges appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities under the following conditions:

Each student must have a documented disability as defined by state and federal regulations.
DSS must have sufficient documentation of the disability from a qualified professional not related to the student. When disabilities are documented using standardized tests, these tests must use adult norms.
DSS determines the appropriate academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and services that are made available to the student based on the specific disability and academic activities the student pursues while enrolled.
Students receiving in-class support services must attend classes on a regular basis or risk losing those services.

Coordination of Programs and Services for Students with Disabilities

Disability Support Services is responsible for the coordination of programs and services for qualified students with disabilities.

A.) Termination of Appropriate Accommodations

DSS staff will discuss the student’s request for services with the student to determine appropriate accommodations and/or consult with the faculty member of the involved office regarding the request. When there is any question about the appropriateness of a student’s requested accommodations, the DSS coordinator will inform the student of the decision.

B.) Confidentiality

To the limits of the law, the Office of Disability Support Services protects each student’s right to privacy, except as permitted by the student expressly for providing support services to that student. The student may sign a Release of Confidential Information for this purpose.

Disability information is to be treated as medical information and held to the same strict rules of confidentiality as is any other medical information. This rule applies to both the comprehensive documentation that students are required to produce in order to establish the existence of a disability and the student’s need for accommodation.

The disability documentation that students provide to the University is kept in secure files with limited access. Disability information is shared on a very limited basis within St. Bonaventure University and only when there is a compelling reason from the faculty or staff regarding some specific aspects of this confidential information.

C.) Record Keeping

The coordinator of Disability Support Services establishes such record-keeping procedures as are necessary to document institutional responses for requests for accommodation. DSS recognizes the highly confidential nature of disability related information and restricts access to this information.

D.) Increased Disability Awareness in the Campus Setting

Disability Support Services makes regular efforts to provide current and up-to-date information to faculty, staff, and students regarding disabilities and the available programs and services relating to them at St. Bonaventure University.

Academic Adjustments

A.) Academic Requirements

Academic requirements will be modified, as necessary, to ensure that they do not discriminate against qualified applicants of enrolled students with disabilities. Academic requirements that are essential to programs of instruction are not considered discriminatory. These modifications shall not affect the substance of the educational programs or compromise educational standards.

Modifications may include changes in the length of time permitted for the completion of degrees, and adaptation of the manner in which specific courses are conducted. Because of the diversity of individual needs relating to disabilities and the uniqueness of each class, students must discuss their requests for course modifications with their instructors each semester.

B.) Program Examinations and Evaluations

Examinations or other procedures for evaluating students’ academic achievement shall be adapted, when necessary, to permit evaluating the achievement of students who have a disability. The results of the evaluation must represent the student’s achievement in the program or activity, rather than reflecting the student’s disability. Questions regarding appropriate evaluations may be addressed to the coordinator of Disability Support Services.

It is the student’s responsibility to request test accommodations according to the procedures outlined by this policy. Accommodations may include but are not limited to:

Extended time (50% or 100%)
Distraction-reduced alternate location
Oral testing
Test readers (Kurzweil © software)·
Use of scribe for testing (dictated answers)
Alternate texts
Interpreter
Use of calculator as appropriate
Enlarged print/magnifier for printed materials
Use of a word processor and spell check

C.) Services NOT Available

Disability Support Services does not provide the following:

Medical or psychological assessments and diagnosis
Attendant/personal-care aides
Aids of equipment for personal study
Fundamental alteration of the nature or purpose of programs, services, and activities
Reduction of academic standards
Waiver of program essentials
Services that would pose a direct threat to the health or safety to self or others
Supplemental learning services

Guidelines for Faculty

Provision for accommodations for a student in class should be made only when the accommodations have been specifically recommended by the coordinator of Disability Support Services at St. Bonaventure University. In order to qualify for appropriate accommodations, students must appropriately document their need. Students who request accommodations from an instructor without a specific accommodation letter from the coordinator of Disability Support Services should be directed to the coordinator of such services in the Teaching and Learning Center before any accommodations are made.

Students will provide instructors with a verification form to sign acknowledging receipt of the accommodation letter. Any questions about accommodations should be addressed to the coordinator of Disability Support Services.

Please visit E-Resources for additional information about working with Students with Disabilities.

Exam Proctoring Policy and Procedure

In keeping with “reasonable accommodations” for students with disabilities as mandated by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the Teaching and Learning Center’s staff will do its best to provide a distraction-reduced environment in conjunction with extended time for testing.

For those students who qualify for extended time and alternate location, and who have set up appropriate accommodations through the Disability Support Services Office, the Teaching and Learning Center will provide exam proctoring provided the following guidelines are adhered to:

The student must contact the coordinator of Disability Support Services (DSS) at least five business days in advance of the exam and obtain an Exam Proctoring Form. At that time, the student and the coordinator will set a tentative exam time for the student to take the exam in the Teaching and Learning Center. When possible, the regularly scheduled exam date and time will be used; only if the regularly scheduled exam date and time conflict with the accommodation of extended time, and/or incurs an academic overload, will an alternate date and time be proposed.
The student must contact the instructor and submit the Exam Proctoring Form for completion and approval. The instructor has the option to accept or reject the proposed exam schedule. If the instructor rejects the exam schedule, he/she is to modify the exam schedule as needed; all modifications must meet the accommodation needs of the student as well as fall within the operational hours of the Teaching and Learning Center.
(If an acceptable exam date and time for exam proctoring in the Teaching and Learning Center cannot be agreed upon, then the instructor must offer an alternative way to accommodate the needs of the student by providing the student with extended time and a distraction-reduced environment.)
After the Exam Proctoring Form is completed and approved by the instructor, the student must return the completed form (white copy) to the coordinator of DSS 24 hours prior to the scheduled exam time. The student must understand the testing instructions, especially the method of exam delivery and return. (In some instances it is the student’s responsibility to pick up the exam from the instructor before the exam time and/or return the exam after completion.)
The student must arrive to take the exam at the allocated date and time; the student acknowledges that if he/she does not show up within 30 minutes of the designated date and time, the exam will be automatically returned to the instructor and alternate arrangements will need to be made.
If the student opts to take the exam with the class at the regular time after arrangements have been made to take it in the Teaching and Learning Center, it is the student’s responsibility to notify the coordinator of DSS and the instructor of the cancellation 24 hours in advance of the pre-arranged test time.

Proctoring will NOT be provided in the Teaching & Learning Center if:

The student does not qualify to receive special testing accommodations.
Prior arrangements have not been instituted.
The final (white) copy of the Exam Proctoring Form is not received prior to the exam date.
The final copy of the Exam Proctoring Form is not completely filled out by the instructor and signed by all parties (coordinator of DSS, student, and instructor).

Final Exams

Final exams are proctored in the Teaching and Learning Center during two blocks of time on scheduled exam days; 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., and 1-5 p.m. There is no proctoring of Saturday exams.
Students are provided with a time frame to pick up exam forms based on the university calendar.

Reader Services Policy and Procedure

A.) Who can use these services

In testing situations, students with print disabilities, such as visual impairments and learning disabilities, may be eligible to use reader services. Students must check with the coordinator of Disability Support Services to see if they are eligible. The Kurzweil software is available for students to use, or a reader can be a DSS staff person, except in special cases where technical subjects require more expertise. Decisions on who shall be a reader are made on a case-by-case basis by the coordinator of Disability Support Services.

B.) Bookshare

Eligible students are encouraged to enroll in their own individual account with Bookshare. This is a free service and students maintain their own accounts. Students will contact academic departments for required textbook information for the courses they enroll in. (www.bookshare.com)

C.) Recording for the blind and dyslexic

Eligible students are encouraged to enroll in their own individual account with RFB&D. If there is a membership fee, the student is responsible for the payment. Students may also contact the State Commission for the Blind to see if they are eligible for financial assistance. Students will contact academic departments for required textbook information for the courses they enroll in. Students are responsible for ordering and returning the recordings they will need.

D.) Getting Help

If the student has difficulty obtaining textbook information from course instructors, the student must contact the coordinator of Disability Support Services.

Note-Taking Policy and Procedure

Student Responsibilities

The student must provide appropriate documentation verifying the need for note-taking services.
The student must initiate contact with the coordinator of Disability Support Services to request note-taking services. Students will be assigned a number to ensure confidentiality.
The student must attempt to take notes. Note-taking services are a supplement, not a substitute.
The student must pick up his/her notes from the Teaching and Learning Center on a weekly basis. If notes are not picked up in a timely fashion -- more than 2 weeks’ accumulation -- the student will be notified and note-taking services may be terminated.
The student must notify the coordinator of Disability Support Services if he/she is dissatisfied with the quality of notes received, so that appropriate changes can be made, if necessary.

Foreign Language Substitution Policy

Title II of the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act do not state that an institution must make course substitutions as reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities; rather, these laws state that the institution must consider whether making such a substitution would be a reasonable accommodation. A substitution is not reasonable if it would result in lowering academic standards or requiring substantial program alteration. Therefore, while a course substitution could be a possibility, it is not an obligation.

To initiate a request for a foreign language substitution, students must meet with the coordinator of Disability Support Services (DSS) and provide appropriate documentation of a severe, language-based learning disability that would warrant a course substitution as a reasonable accommodation. The student must also fill out a Course Substitution Request Form and sign the Consent for Release of Confidential Information.

The request needs to be completed by the spring semester of the student’s junior year. Once the documentation has been reviewed by the coordinator of DSS, a recommendation will be sent to the dean. The dean will review the recommendation and make the final decision whether or not to grant the substitution. If the dean approves the substitution, a copy will be sent to the student, the student’s adviser, and the Registrar’s office.

Students who are granted a foreign language substitution must take 2 courses (6 credits) chosen from a list of recommended courses, available from the coordinator of DSS. Chosen courses may not be requirements of the student’s major(s) or minor(s). The chosen courses must be approved by the dean.

Math Substitution Policy

There are no substitutions for quantitative reasoning classes. Within the quantitative reasoning classes there are a wide variety of options available.

Return to Disability Services Home Page