Elizabethtown College aims to make all its students enjoy their college experience no matter their background by providing disability resources for students and visitors who need assistance. Disability Services has a mission statement to “provide these groups support and to ensure that all individuals in need of assistance can obtain the services necessary to experience our campus to the fullest of their abilities. It is our intent to remove the barriers that may be standing between individuals with disabilities and the supports available to them.” The College provides many resources for students, such as those listed below.
Academic accommodations are to be requested through the academic accommodations request form with supporting documents from a treating healthcare provider’s disability documentation, forms submitted to Disability Services. After submitting this appropriate documentation, the student should arrange a meeting with the Director of Disability Services Lynne Davies, whose office is located on the second floor of Baugher Student Center in office 228.
Housing accommodations also need appropriate documentation submitted to meet with the director of Disability Services to move forward with the procedures. This is for Davies to arrange a meeting with the Director of Community Living and/or the Housing Coordinator to discuss the modifications and options suitable based on the anticipated availability. If there is no suitable accommodation yet, the students will stay on a waiting list and will be notified if there is any available accommodation.
Testing accommodations are to provide concerned students with the opportunity to adjust their test-taking or to gain assistance in the matter. They are to contact the Office of Disability Services at the beginning of each semester to specify which classes/faculty should be informed of their accommodation(s), with a copy of their accommodation letter. After their faculty receives this letter, the student should arrange a meeting with each one of them to discuss accommodations. Students have the right to take exams in an appropriate environment. It could be in a classroom with their peers or in the Learning Zone. It is supposed to be in a suitable place with no distractions or assistance from technology.
Dining accommodations consist of giving students with autoimmune diseases or allergies the ability to make reasonable accommodations in what they will consume at the College. While Dining Services is committed to the dietary health of each student, it is fully the student’s responsibility to verify the ingredients in the food that will be served. It could be done by asking the server or by reviewing the ingredients list in the logbook at the check station or even upon request by reviewing the ingredients in the storage areas.
The procedure to Identify is for students that are with a disability based on the guidelines given by the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) to provide a higher education to the person concerned. The Disability Services at the College requires documentation concerning the student’s condition to be sure of the presence of a disability and to have a better understanding of how the disability may affect the student’s ability to work in a college setting. With that information provided it is appropriate to give the concerned student the accommodations to make sure that they have access to all the courses, services, programs and activities as everyone else in the College.
Etown also aids prospective students, parents and other campus visitors with a way to adjust to the transition from high school to college. They also help parents/visitors to take part in some of the activities provided with accommodation, allowing them to enjoy the events to the fullest.
For more information about Disability Services Resources visit their website: https://www.etown.edu/offices/disability/resources.aspx#:~:text=Students%20requesting%20academic%20accommodations%20should,Disability%20Documentation%20to%20Disability%20Services or contact disabilityservices@etown.edu
