Services

The Role of the ADA Office:

• Provides and facilitates reasonable accommodations to qualified students with documented disabilities.
  
  
• Assists The College with compliance with federal and state regulations as mandated in the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
  
  
• Facilitates the development of self-advocacy skills.
  
  
• Maintains and protects records and confidentiality relating to disability provision and compliance
  
  

• Academic, Career and short-term Personal Counseling
  
  
• Assistance with course selection and registration
  
  
• Eligibility determination based on documentation
  
  
• Authorization of accommodations based on documentation
  
  
• Facilitation and assistance with classroom accommodations such as notetakers, readers, scribes, assistive listening devices and sign language interpreters
  
  
• Arrangements for recorded texts through RFB&D
  
  
• FANs (Faculty Accommodations Notices) and liaison with faculty to arrange accommodations
  
  
• Alternate testing (extended time, private setting)
  
  
• Assistive technology
  
  
• Alternative formats for documents
  
  
• Liaison with external agencies
  
  

• Students submit documentation as outlined in the Student Guide for Disability Services
  
  
• The ADA Coordinator reviews the documentation and supporting materials to certify eligibilty for accommodations
  
  
• The Coordinator then meets with student to determine appropriate academic adjustments and/or accommodations
  
  
• Students pay any cost of professional verification
  
  

• Learning Disabilities
  
  
• ADD/ADHD
  
  
• Psychiatric Disabilities
  
  
• Cognitive Disabilities
  
  
• Physical, Sensory or Systemic Disabilities
  
  

• New students who need services need to contact the ADA Office on campus and schedule a meeting with the ADA Coordinator. These forms are also available in Adobe Reader format below. You may download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader at Adobe's Web site at http://www.adobe.com/acrobat/readstep.html
  
  
• Intake Sheet
  
  
• Disability Verification Sheet (short form)
  
  
• Release Form
  
  
• New students need to complete the Intake form, meet with the ADA Coordinator, select courses, request academic accommodations using an Accommodation Request form, at least three weeks prior to the close of regular registration deadlines.
  
  
• Returning students meet with the ADA Coordinator and submit an Accommodation Request form (.pdf) each semester
  
  
• If possible, requests for sign language interpreters should be made before normal registration deadlines
  
  
• Request recorded texts at least six weeks before the semester begins
  
  
• If the above deadlines are not met, some accommodations may be delayed as long as a semester
  
  

If a student believes an accommodation is not appropriate, reasonable, or effective, the following procedure should be followed.

1. Contact the ADA Coordinator and arrange a meeting where the complaint can be discussed and in which reasonable effective accommodations can be explored. (If at any time during the grievance process, the student requires an accommodation to participate in the grievance procedures, the student must communicate that need to the College ADA Coordinator.) If the student is not satisfied with this the results of this meeting, he or she can then proceed to option #2.
   
   
2. A written complaint must be received by the ADA Resolution Committee, One College Avenue, Wise, VA 24293 within thirty days from the time the student knew or could reasonably be expected to have known of the action that is the subject of the complaint. A written complaint must include information regarding the action being complained of and the date it occurred, the grounds upon which the appeal is based, and the relief requested. At a minimum, the investigation should include an interview with the complainant, a review of any relevant written materials, and an effort to obtain information from relevant individuals (i.e. interviews or written statements or documents).
   
   
3. The ADA Resolution Committee should complete its review and notify the student of the outcome of the complaint within thirty days of the date it was received. All time frames referred to in this procedure refer to calendar days. Summer recesses and breaks are not included within these time frames.