Southwest Texas Junior College (SWTJC) is committed to the spirit and intent of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The subject of both is nondiscrimination against individuals with disabilities and as such the College has instituted administrative policies, practices and procedures to ensure qualified individuals are provided equal access for its programs, facilities and activities.
To be eligible for disability related services, students must have a documented disability condition as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Under both laws, a person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one of more of major life activities (examples include walking, standing, speaking, and hearing, breathing, writing or reading).
Students Responsibility
Students are encouraged to make arrangements for accommodations well in advance of the semester for which services are being requested. Letters of accommodation are issued at the beginning of each semester for the classes you are taking.
Waiting until the semester begins may cause undo hardship on the student during the period it takes to implement particular accommodations. Initial request for accommodations require a minimum of 30 days to process a student's file and letters. Requests for services (such as an interpreter, readers, scribes) requiring preparation may need at least 60 days to process.
Students with disabilities have the responsibility to:
Identify themselves as needing an accommodation and to seek information, counsel, and assistance as needed;
Meet qualifications and maintain essential institutional standards for courses, programs, services, and activities;
Provide documentation (from an appropriate professional) regarding the nature of the students disability; and
Follow published procedures for obtaining reasonable accommodations, academic/work adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services or when requesting barrier removal.
The following procedure should be followed when requesting support services and/or accommodations as a person with a disability:
1. Meet with a DSS counselor, in a timely manner, (preferably prior to the start of the semester) to discuss the functional limits imposed by the disability and determine accommodations that will be appropriate for a particular semester. As students needs may vary with different courses, services are only authorized for one semester at a time. Students must meet with a DSS counselor each semester services are needed. Requests by phone will not be accepted.
2. Present appropriate documentation of disabilities to determine the nature of the disability and the accommodations needed.
3. The DSS counselor reviews the documentation, information from the intake interview, and information provided by agencies to determine appropriate accommodations for the student. Decisions are made on an individual case-by-case basis.
4. The DSS counselor will contact the student with a disability to come in to receive FACULTY LETTERS to take to the instructors of each class in which the student requires an accommodation.
5. It is the students responsibility to deliver the FACULTY LETTERS in a timely manner to the instructor for each of the students classes where accommodations are required. Failure to provide the LETTERS may result in a delay in implementation of accommodations.
6. If services provided are unsatisfactory, the student with a disability may request a change. A change cannot be guaranteed, but attempts will be made to satisfy reasonable requests from the student.
Students are responsible for delivering the letters to your instructors as early as possible in the semester, preferably on the first week of classes. It may take a few days for the instructor to begin to comply with your requests. Students cannot expect to deliver an accommodation letter on the same day of an exam and expect to have the conditions apply. In all fairness, your instructor needs time to make arrangements for the requested acommodations.
Maintaining Services
To continue receiving services and accommodations from Disability Support Services, students with disabilities are expected to follow the following procedure each semester to continue receiving services and accommodations.
1. Students are responsible for requesting letters of accommodation every semester. Request should be made in person, not by phone.
2. Provide the DSS counselor a copy of their schedule for the semester so that FACULTY LETTERS be prepared.
2. Meet with the DSS counselor(in 2 days) to receive FACULTY LETTERS to take to instructors.
3. Keep the DSS counselor informed about their academic status, needs, problems with services and/or accommodations and/or changes in their disability.
Medical Emergency Response Procedure for Students with Disabilities
It is the students responsibility to notify the DSS counselor and his/her individual instructors of a medical condition that might result in an emergency situation. Medical conditions that a student should give notice of include, but are not limited to, seizure disorders, heart disease, abnormal heart rhythms, diabetes, hypoglycemia, cardiomyopathy, asthma, other breathing disorders, fainting spells, blackouts, chronic fatigue syndrome, severe arthritis, and head injury.
If a medical emergency should occur while a student is on campus, 9-1-1 will be called and an ambulance requested. The student will be transported to an emergency room at a near by hospital.
The DSS counselors are not medical personnel. Therefore, 9-1-1 should be called immediately for the student to receive appropriate medical attention. Campus nurse and the DSS counselor should be called to offer support for the student, which includes notifying designated individuals of the emergency and providing health information if the student is unable to do so.
Disabled Parking
Disabled Parking spaces at SWTJC are designated by appropriate signage and painted identification. Individuals who park on campus must obtain a parking decal from the Business Office. State permits (hang-tag or plate) are required to park in those parking spaces. Any vehicle not displaying the proper disability plate or placard and SWTJC parking permit will result in ticketing.
Disability Support Services
Southwest Texas Junior College
2401 Garner Field Road
Uvalde, TX 78801
Tel: 830-591-7271
Questions/Comments
|
