After you receive a letter of acceptance for admission to WVU Institute of Technology (WVU Tech) or the Community and Technical College at Tech (CTC at WVU Tech), you will then receive orientation materials that contain a form asking you to contact the Americans With Disabilities Act Office (Office of Disability Services) if you are a student with a disability who may have a need for accommodations based upon a documented disability. You may want to call the Disability Counselor to discuss the specific documentation requirements of your disability.
You are required to follow the policies described in the Guide to ADA Services in submitting documentation and requesting accommodations. Accommodations can be provided for placement tests during orientation if a student identifies himself or herself to the Disability Counselor, requests accommodations, and provides documentation of a disability. If you have a question about receiving accommodation on a placement test, please contact the Office of Disability Services. Please note if you complete the form within your orientation packet requesting accommodations during orientation, the accommodations for your placement tests will be arranged. When you arrive on campus for orientation or to begin classes make an appointment with the Office of Disability Services to register, review documentation status, and request accommodations as soon as possible.
If you have a learning disability or you have a disability and feel you may qualify for accommodations, you must make an appointment with the Office of Disability Services at (304) 442-3096. The Disability Counselor will speak to you about your concerns, describe the nature of the Office of Disability Services services, and explain the documentation and accommodation process. An Disability Counselor will also make suggestions as to how you may obtain the necessary documentation of your disability. Identification and documentation of a disability can take time. It is important to self-identify and to seek services as soon as possible.
Following approval of appropriate documentation by the Office of Disability Services you must meet each semester with your Disability Counselor. The two of you will develop accommodations related to your documented functional limitations associated with your disability for each class that you wish to have accommodations. As you request, you and the Disability Counselor will develop letters notifying each professor of authorized accommodations. You will deliver the letters to your professors. It is best to request an appointment with each instructor from whom you are requesting accommodation in order to deliver the authorization letter and to discuss which of the authorized accommodations you will need.
If you are already registered with the Office of Disability Services and have approved documentation, each semester that you are enrolled in classes you must make an appointment with your Disability Counselor, request accommodations and complete the release of information form. The release of information form is necessary for the Disability Counselor to write letters authorizing accommodations on your behalf. If necessary, the release provides your permission for the Disability Counselor to speak to your professor regarding specific implementation of accommodations.
Each semester you will meet with your Disability Counselor, who will write letters to each classroom instructor that you request. The letter will list disability-related accommodations which are supported by your documentation and which you have requested. Because you and the Disability Counselor may not know all of the academic demands of a particular class the letter of authorization will usually list all of the accommodations you may need and which documentation has been provided.
You must leave the authorization letters sealed in the envelope in which you receive them. In addition to delivering the letter to your instructor you must meet with the instructor and verbally request each authorized accommodation you need in that class.
If you realize later in the semester that you need additional authorized accommodations, you must again speak with your professor to have the accommodation activated. If you need an accommodation that is not authorized by the current letter, make an appointment to see the Disability Counselor. If supported by your documentation, an addendum to your letter can be written.
An instructor is not obliged to provide a disability-related accommodation unless you have presented a letter of authorization to the instructor from the Office of Disability Services. Documentation of your condition should only be presented to the Office of Disability Services, only the letter of accommodation should be provided to your professors.
If an accommodation for a particular class is not working, it is important to discuss the problem first with your instructor. If the problem cannot be resolved with the instructor, contact the Office of Disability Services as soon as possible.
You should contact the Office of Disability Services at (304) 981-6210 if you have any questions or concerns about your accommodations.
If an authorized accommodation that you have formally requested from the instructor is not being implemented properly, first speak to the instructor about the problems you are having.
If a problem with the accommodations is not resolved after speaking to the professor, immediately contact the Office of Disability Services at (304) 981-6210.
If you wish to file a complaint because you feel that you have not been appropriately accommodated you should contact Jennifer McIntosh, WVU Executive Officer for Social Justice at 304-293-5496 (voice), Fax 304-293-8279, or email Jennifer McIntosh at Jennifer.McIntosh@mail.wvu.edu
The Office of Disability Services does NOT have a role in determining individual course policies. Attendance policies for individual classes as stated on the course syllabus and West Virginia University Institute of Technology and The Community and Technical College at WVU Tech attendance policies as stated in the WVU Tech and the C&T at WVU Tech Undergraduate Catalogue apply to all students. The Office of Disability Services does not issue excuses for absences. If you have a medical or personal emergency please contact the Office of the Dean of Students at (304) 442-3158. The Office of the Dean of Students may be able to assist you in the notification of your instructors. It is best for you to be in direct communication with each of your instructors about your situation, although faculty are instructed not to accept medical or psychological documentation. In any case, a professor's policy in regard to absence is applicable.
Regardless of the type or severity of a disability, ALL West Virginia University Institute of Technology and the Community and Technical College at WVU Tech students must adhere to the policies, rules and regulations of the Board of Governors and the West Virginia University Tech Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities. Students must always follow all local, state and federal laws as well as the lawful direction and orders of administrators, faculty and staff of WVU Tech and the C&T at WVU Tech who are charged with the administration of institutional affairs. This information is published in the Student Handbook, Bearfacts.
331 Vining Library
Montgomery, WV 25136
(304) 981-6210