Student Disability Services: Accommodation Procedures

The Initial Registration Process

Once a student has been accepted to Western New England College, the student should immediately begin the application process for obtaining accommodations. As the review and development of accommodations may take several weeks, students are strongly encouraged to initiate the process well before classes begin. The following steps must be completed:

Documentation and Disability Certification
Western New England College requires that students seeking accommodations provide appropriate documentation of their disability in order for Student Disability Services (SDS) to:

Determine eligibility as a qualified individual with a disability; and
Determine appropriate academic accommodations for that student.

In general, documentation must be provided by a physician or other appropriate professional. For more information on the required qualifications of evaluators, please refer to the Documentation Guidelines webpage. This documentation should consist of a current report or evaluation prepared by the appropriate professional, along with a completed and signed copy of the Registration and Request for Accommodation Form. The documentation must:

Specify the particular diagnosis, including when the diagnosis was made and the likely duration of the condition;
Describe in detail the student's functional limitations created by the diagnosis; and
Indicate accommodations that are recommended for the student, along with explanations as to why these accommodations would be useful.

Evaluators are encouraged to include appropriate medical reports, relevant medical history, test scores, where relevant, and any other medical or educational records or data that would be useful in determining and providing appropriate accommodations and services. Information regarding the contents of documentation may be found in the Registration and Request for Accommodation Form as well as the Documentation Guidelines webpage. In some cases, Student Disability Services may ask you or your physician/evaluator to submit additional information.

SDS Student Registration and Request for Accommodations
In addition to the required documentation and disability certification submitted by a qualified evaluator, Student Disability Services asks that students fill out and submit the following forms to Student Disability Services:

Accommodation Formulation
Once a student's eligibility is established, Student Disability Services will proceed to formulate those academic accommodations that will best assist the student in meeting the requirements of his or her particular academic program. The goal of this process is to ensure equality of access and opportunity for students with disabilities.

Students should schedule an appointment with Student Disability Services before the start of each semester to go over their specific accommodation and support needs for each of their classes. Once this has occurred, Faculty Notification Letters can be disseminated to the appropriate faculty to ensure that students receive their accommodations and support in a timely and effective manner. It is imperative that students meet with their faculty members early in the semester to confirm the nature of and arrangements for accommodations that will be provided.

At the Beginning of Each Semester

Once accommodations have been approved by Student Disability Services (SDS), a student must comply with the following process each and every semester:

SDS Disability Registration and Request for Accommodation Form
At the beginning of each semester, students requesting accommodations for their courses that semester must make an appointment with an SDS staff member in order to discuss accommodations and to pick up their Faculty Notification Letters. Students will then be responsible for distributing these letters to each of their professors to inform them that they are registered with the office of Student Disability Services and to discuss necessary accommodations.

Please note that the requested accommodations are limited to those for which the student has received prior approval through the initial registration process and which should be on file with Student Disability Services.

Accommodation Letters
Once the accommodations are approved and a Registration and Request for Accommodation Form has been submitted, Student Disability Services prepares a Faculty Notification Letter for each faculty member teaching each course in which the student is seeking accommodations. This letter informs the faculty member that the student is registered with SDS and recommends that the student be provided with certain specified academic accommodations. Faculty members are authorized to provide students with accommodations only on the basis of an accommodation letter addressed specifically to that faculty member from Student Disability Services.

The Faculty Notification Letter is disseminated to each of the student’s professors and the student is expected to take the initiative to discuss the implementation of the accommodations with each faculty member. For example, if a student is eligible for extended time on examinations in a separate distraction-reduced environment, the professor and student would discuss the arrangements for taking examinations under these conditions. In the event that the faculty member and student fail to agree on any aspect of an accommodation, Student Disability Services should be contacted immediately for advice and assistance.

Absent extraordinary circumstances, faculty members are not required to provide examination accommodations to students who fail to discuss the implementation of the accommodation at least three days prior to an examination.