Americans with Disabilities Support

The Office of Accessibility Resources, in addition to many other departments at Germanna Community College, support Americans with Disabilities. 

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Section 504) prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities. These laws require Germanna Community College to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. Generally, the term “disability” means that an individual has a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. These laws also protect individuals who have a history of disability.  This policy is intended to guide the student disability accommodation process once a request for an academic accommodation has been made.

Individuals with questions about this policy or who wish to request an accommodation, including prospective students who may need a disability accommodation during the admissions process, should contact the Office of Accessibility Resources (OAR). The Office of Accessibility Resources contact information is as follows:

The Interactive Process Between the College and the Student:

1. At the postsecondary level, students are required to self-identify as a person with a disability and affirmatively make a request for an accommodation to the College. Once a request has been made, the College will engage in an interactive process with the student to determine what, if any, reasonable accommodations are available.
2. The student requesting an accommodation based on a disability must have a disability covered by law and be qualified with or without reasonable accommodation. The College is only obligated to provide reasonable accommodations, and it not required to fundamentally alter its programs to accommodate a student. Thus, not all accommodation requests will be granted.
3. Accommodation requests and supporting documentation are reviewed on an individualized, case-by-case basis. As such, approved accommodations may vary from person to person and from the environment to environment for students with the same disability diagnosis. Documentation of a specific disability does not translate directly into specific accommodations.
4. Temporary accommodations may be available while the College engages in the interactive process to determine whether ongoing accommodations are appropriate and, if so, what reasonable accommodations are needed. However, temporary accommodations do not reflect a determination that ongoing accommodation will be granted and/or what reasonable accommodations are appropriate, nor do they create an obligation on the part of the College to continue accommodating the student.

The College maintains a specific policy for addressing grievances and/or concerns related to this policy.  If a student believes they were wrongfully denied an accommodation(s), believes the final accommodation(s) provided were not reasonable, believes that the approved reasonable accommodation(s) were not provided, or believes for any other reason that unlawful discrimination, harassment, or a violation of rights with respect to the granting or implementation of accommodation(s) under the ADA and/or Section 504 have occurred, they should follow the process set forth in the College’s ADA and Section 504 Grievance Policy for Students.

Students should complete the online student accommodation application process to make a request for accommodations. The Office of Accessibility Resources will contact the student to arrange a meeting to discuss the requested accommodations. Students should not make accommodation requests directly to faculty members; if this occurs, faculty members will refer students to the Office of Accessibility Resources. Similarly, faculty members or other College employees should not provide accommodations to students that have not been approved by the Office of Accessibility Resources through this policy. Faculty members and other College employees are expected to uphold all approved accommodations.

The College encourages the timely request of accommodations before the start of a school term as the documentation and determination process may take some time. Nonetheless, accommodation requests can be made and considered at any time. Please note, however, that granted accommodations are not effective retroactively. Students will not be able to re-do assignments or re-take exams with accommodations that they already completed before receiving accommodations.

Some common accommodation requests include testing services (including extended time on exams and/or reduced distraction rooms), a reader, recording lectures, a note-taker, magnified text, and specific classroom seating. This list is not exhaustive, and students should feel free to request other accommodations for consideration by the College.

Appropriate supporting documentation will be requested. This may vary depending on the circumstances but should generally include (1) a description of the qualified professional's credentials, (2) a description of disability-related impairments as they relate to the student's ability to learn and participate in the academic program, (3) a description of any tests, assessments, facts, observations, records, other materials, and/or evaluations that the professional relied on in arriving at their specific diagnosis, and (4) a list of accommodations which the professional believes would allow the student to fully and equally participate in their educational program and how the professional expects the suggested accommodations to help the student.

Please note that specific accommodations being recommended by a professional do not guarantee that those accommodations will be granted, and the College may provide alternative accommodations instead.

While documentation of past accommodation history is important and will be considered, it is not decisive as to what accommodations will be granted by the College.

The College reserves the right to request additional documentation if the initial documentation does not provide sufficient information.

Implementation of Approved Accommodations

Once a student has been approved for accommodations, the Office of Accessibility Resources will prepare a document outlining these accommodations.  This document will be emailed to the faculty and the student.  It is the student’s responsibility to discuss the approved accommodations with the faculty member in each course for which the student wants the accommodations to be implemented. A student who believes that an approved accommodation is not being appropriately implemented or is otherwise having difficulty with a faculty member related to accommodations should review grievance procedures related to disability accommodations for guidance in handling the situation.

Checking-In, Modifications, and Additional Accommodations

It is the student’s responsibility to contact and engage the Office of Accessibility Resources in a discussion when the need arises to discuss the implementation of the student’s accommodations, identify any issues of concern, discuss the student’s upcoming class schedule, consider whether any additional accommodations are necessary or if current accommodations need to be modified, etc. The Office of Accessibility Resources will presume the approved accommodations are being implemented effectively unless the Office of Accessibility Resources hears otherwise.

It is recommended that students contact the Office of Accessibility Resources with any identified needs prior to the start of a term. However, students who have been granted accommodations may request additional accommodations and/or modifications to their already granted accommodations at any time by contacting the Office of Accessibility Resources.