The Office of Educational Accessibility aims to assist all students with disabilities in the pursuit of their educational objectives.
Office staff work with faculty, administrators, and students toward the goal of complying with legal mandates and integrating the student into a responsive campus community. We strive to coordinate services that will enable students with disabilities to act as independently as possible in a supportive atmosphere that promotes self-reliance.
The Office of Educational Accessibility at Â鶹´«Ã½ works collaboratively with students, faculty, and staff to ensure that students who experience disabilities are able to successfully access and participate in all aspects of University life.
We foster acceptance by designing opportunities which highlight respect, awareness, and understanding for individuals with disabilities. We empower our students to become self advocates in fulfilling their collegiate goals so they can find success at Â鶹´«Ã½ and in their future endeavors.
- Student Success
- Responsiveness
- Collaboration
- Inclusivity
- Advocacy
- Respect
Admission to Â鶹´«Ã½ is based solely on the entrance requirements as described in the college catalog. Disclosure of a disability during the admissions process is not required or requested, and neither the nature nor the severity of an individual's disability is used as criterion for admission. The Office of Educational Accessibility does not participate in the admissions process. For more information about the University and the admissions process, contact the Admissions Office at (757) 683-3685.
Students interested in applying for admission to Â鶹´«Ã½ are encouraged to contact the Office of Educational Accessibility to determine the types of services the University offers to accommodate their particular disability. Once accepted, it is the student's responsibility to request assistance as soon as possible from the Office of Educational Accessibility before any accommodations can be furnished. Reasonable accommodations are arranged in the spirit of equalizing opportunity and are based on the student's individual documentation. Documentation of a disability must meet the established guidelines which are available from the Office of Educational Accessibility.
Information regarding disability and accommodation needs is kept in strict confidence as mandated by FERPA. Students must provide their written permission to share information from their confidential files with people at the University who have an educational need to know.
The campus of Â鶹´«Ã½ is, for the most part, accessible and easy to negotiate. The terrain is flat, and severe weather conditions are rare. The majority of classroom buildings and residence halls are accessible to wheelchair users. Information regarding ramps and power-operated doors is available .
The Office of Educational Accessibility upholds the mandates of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities and ensures that students with documented disabilities are afforded reasonable accommodations so they have equal access to University classes, activities, and resources both in-person and online.
Before an institution awards a degree to a student in an academic program, that student must demonstrate that he/she has met all performance requirements in the program. However, it may be necessary in the admission to a degree program that students understand what skills they must be able to demonstrate to complete the degree requirements.
As part of Â鶹´«Ã½'s commitment to providing equal opportunity to all students, the President's Advisory Committee on Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity recommended to the President that technical standards be established for each academic major. A technical standard provides students with information about programs and material found in the Catalog regarding admission, prerequisite, and course requirements. These technical standards can aid the academic advisor and instructor when confronted with the situation of determining a student's admission to the educational program in a consistent and nondiscriminatory manner.
The handbook of technical standards is designed as a guide for advisors and faculty. The technical standards have been established by the academic departments in conjunction with representatives from Academic Affairs, Affirmative Action, and Student Services. In addition, faculty members from the Department of Early Childhood Speech-Language Pathology and Special Education in the College of Education have reviewed all technical standards.