Disability Services for Students

Approved by the Student Affairs Committee on Disability Services: April 1995

Policy

Golden Gate University seeks to ensure that its programs and services are fully accessible to students who have special needs. Staff members in Student Affairs work with students to help them clarify their needs and identify and utilize appropriate accommodations. This office also provides guidelines for documentation of a disability that requires academic accommodations.

A "person with a disability" as defined by "The Americans with Disabilities Act," and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973" is someone who:

1. has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities including functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working.
2. has a record of a disability.
3. is regarded as having the disability.
4. Examples include: visually, hearing, and motor impaired and learning disabled.

The following are examples of services provided for students with a documented disability. The Coordinator of Disability Services will work with students to determine the appropriate accommodations and develop a learning contract:

1. Readers, tutors, note-takers, interpreters, qualified lab assistants.
2. Priority registration.
3. Introduction to faculty regarding classroom and academic accommodations including testing alternatives and taping lectures.
4. Tape-recorded textbooks through Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic, Inc. and other agencies.
5. Tutoring and study skills.
6. Individual and group counseling and support.
7. Referral and liaison to state rehabilitation agencies.
8. Access assistance for mobility impaired students.
9. Special testing arrangements (i.e., extended time for exams, separate testing room).
10. Alternative print formats.
11. Other services and advocacy as needs are identified

Procedures for students who have a disability

1. Contact Heidi Meijas, ADA Advisor, University Advising Center, 415-442-7869.
2. Discuss the situation with faculty members if you feel comfortable, informing them about your disability.
3. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Student Affairs or the Coordinator of Disability Services.