A student with a disability is entitled to reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as Amended, and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 if

• he or she has disclosed that disability to the OAS,
• provided appropriate documentation to the OAS,
• requested academic adjustments in a timely manner and
• is “otherwise qualified” to participate in the college’s programs and activities.

A “student with a disability” is defined as one “who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person’s major life activities, has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such impairment”. A “qualified” student is one who meets the requisite academic and technical standards required for admission to the college.

Academic adjustments may include:

• physical accessibility arrangements;
• sign language interpretation for deaf students;
• assistive technology access;
• audio taped lectures; Note: Digital recorders are considered personal devices and should be purchased by the student.
• peer note takers/readers/scribes; Note: These services may be provided through the use of technology;
• alternatives to print materials, e.g. text books in digital format; Note: These reformatted text books are not audio books and a text reading software program is required to reformat the printed text to speech;
• reduced course load/full time status;
• course substitutions;
• testing accommodations, such as extra test time, reduced distraction testing environment, alternative formats for exams and learning materials.

Academic Adjustments DO NOT include:

• personal assistants, individual personal tutors or personal assistive technology,
• academic adjustments that are unduly expensive, substantially disruptive, pose a hazard to others or would fundamentally alter the nature of a program, or
• waivers or modifications to the Code of Conduct.

Columbia-Greene Community College is not required to provide requested or preferred academic adjustments, but rather reasonable, appropriate and effective adjustments for disabilities that are adequately documented and for which a request is made.