Policy
In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation ACT of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Student Disability Services at Gainesville State College coordinates the provision of reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities ACT of 1990 prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities.
According to these laws, no otherwise qualified individual with a disability shall, solely by reason of his/her disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity of a public entity.
Student Disability Services provides academic and support services to qualified students with disabilities to ensure equal access to all programs and activities at Gainesville State College.
“Qualified” with respect to post-secondary educational services, is defined as “a person who meets the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in the education programs or activities.”
Person with a disability is defined as any person who:
has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities (including walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working)
has a record of such an impairment
is regarded as having such an impairment." Disabilities covered by legislation include (but are not limited to) AIDS, Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Diabetes, Epilepsy, head injuries, hearing impairments, specific learning disabilities, ADHD, loss of limbs, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, psychiatric disorders, speech impairments, spinal cord injuries and visual impairments.
Gainesville State College is committed to providing educational opportunities for students with disabilities and assisting them in making their college experience successful and rewarding.
Procedures
Students with disabilities will contact the Assistant Director of Student Disability Services on their respective campus during the acceptance process to Gainesville State College. Admission to Gainesville State College is based on the requirements outlined in the college catalog. Admissions decisions are made to ensure that applicants with disabilities will not be subjected to discrimination in admissions on the basis of their disability.
Students with disabilities will provide sufficient documentation (as determined by Assistant Director of Student Disability Services) in support of his/her documented disability.
Documentation will be evaluated and reviewed by the Disability Services Assistant Director and/or the Regent's Center for Learning Disorders to determine appropriate accommodations. Accommodations for students with diagnosed and documented disabilities will be made on an individual basis.
Students who are registered with Student Disability Services will need to request services at the beginning of each new semester. Students must meet with the Assistant Director of Student Disability Services to discuss his/her classes and determine which accommodations are needed for the new semester. The Accommodations Notifications (Gainesville Campus) or Accommodations Forms (Oconee Campus) are completed, signed, and provided to the student to give to his/her instructors.
Students may request services at any time during the semester, however, Student Disability Services is under no obligation to provide accommodations for any class work or exams before the request for services was made and the Accommodations Notifications (Gainesville Campus) or Accommodations Form (Oconee Campus) was delivered to the instructor. Students will need to meet with the Assistant Director for Student Disability Services in person. The Assistant Director will not accept requests made over the phone or by email.
Students will sign the Accommodations Notifications (Gainesville Campus) or Accommodations Form (Oconee Campus) with the Assistant Director of Student Disability Services.
Gainesville Campus: It is the student’s responsibility to deliver the Accommodations Notifications letter to their instructor on or near the date it was signed. Oconee Campus: It is the student's responsibility to deliver the Accommodations Form to his/her instructor within 7 days upon receiving and signing the form.
Accommodations Notification/Accommodations Form is only valid for the semester in which it is written.
Faculty are under no obligation to provide accommodations until the Accommodations Notification/Accommodations Form is presented to them.