To receive accommodations, students must complete a confidential registration process with Accessibility Services. The steps below outline the process for requesting accommodations at Wittenberg University.
After completing the request for accessibility services form, students need to submit appropriate documentation from a licensed health care provider or mental health professional. Students must provide documentation establishing the presence of a substantially limiting condition and describing its current impact on your academic success. This information is necessary for identifying possible accommodations. A clinical diagnosis is not synonymous with a disability. Evidence sufficient to render a clinical diagnosis may not be adequate to determine if an individual is substantially limited in a major life activity.
An Individual Education Program (IEP) or a Summary Of Performance (SOP) might provide sufficient information. The determination of an IEP or SOP as sufficient documentation is on a case-by-case basis as school corporations differ widely regarding the comprehensive nature of those reports.
A possible exception would be an IEP or 504 Plan that meets all of the requirements defined by the above guidelines.
The Accessibility Services office prepares an Academic Accommodation Memorandum (Memo) for each student receiving accommodations. This document explains the reasonable accommodations to be provided to you as a student of Wittenberg University. It is your responsibility to give a copy of our memo to each of your instructors at the beginning of each academic term and discuss it with them. Prior to the start of each semester you will need to renew your accommodations.
Accessibility Services typically does not accept the following documentation:
- Handwritten letters from licensed professionals
- Handwritten patient records or notes from patient charts
- Documentation provided by a member of the student’s family
- Diagnoses and accommodation recommendations on prescription pads
- Self-evaluations
- Research articles
- Individual Education Program (IEP) and 504 Plans (except if it meets the necessary requirements of documentation).
Once a student application has been reviewed (including complete documentation), the Director of Accessibility Services will follow-up with the student:
- to address any needed documentation or if any information is incomplete;
- to schedule a meeting, if the application is complete to discuss various support services available and review students’rights & responsibilities;
- students must provide their professor with a copy of their academic accommodation memorandum and review how the accommodations will be implemented in each course.
Please note: It could take a few weeks to initiate this process, based on a number of factors, such as the availability of appropriate documentation, scheduling availability, and the nature of a student’s request. Accommodations are NOT retroactive. They are only valid from the point the student shares the memo with the professor each semester. It could take a few weeks to initiate this process, based on a number of factors, such as the availability of appropriate documentation, scheduling availability, and the nature of a student’s request.