Disability Services

Room A-134 · ext. 2144 · Coordinator: Grace Timmen, M.Ed.

The College does not discriminate on the basis of disability and provides reasonable accommodation under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As a public institution, the College is covered by Title II rather than Title III.

Requesting accommodation

Request through the form at /student-life/disability-services/request, or by contacting the Coordinator directly. Accommodation is not retroactive; it begins when approved. Students are encouraged to request before the term begins, particularly for programs with shop, barn, clinical, or field components, where implementation may require equipment or scheduling arranged in advance.

Documentation guidelines are published, but the College accepts a range of evidence, including a prior IEP or 504 plan, a letter from a treating provider, and the student’s own account of their functional limitations. Where documentation is incomplete, the Coordinator will begin an interactive process rather than deny the request. The College does not charge for evaluation and does not require a specific diagnosis to be disclosed to instructors.

Instructors receive a letter stating the approved accommodations. They do not receive the diagnosis, the documentation, or the reason. An instructor who believes an approved accommodation cannot be implemented in their course must contact the Coordinator and may not decline it directly to the student.

Accommodation in shop, barn, clinical, and field settings

This is where most of the Coordinator’s work occurs, and where accommodation is least standardized. The College’s position is that a technical program’s essential requirements are the competencies an employer requires, not the manner in which the College has customarily taught them.

Essential requirements are determined by program faculty in consultation with the advisory committee, are published in the program handbook, and are reviewed when an accommodation request tests them. A requirement that exists because of how a course has always been scheduled is not an essential requirement.

Accommodations implemented in recent terms have included: extended time on bench and shop practicals where the occupation is not time-governed; modified handling protocols in Herpetological Handling developed with the Division Chair and the consulting veterinarian; alternative positioning and seating in the Cosmetology clinic; assistive listening in the Shop Building; reader and scribe support for the Ohio licensure examinations, arranged with the relevant state board rather than by the College; schedule adjustment for early-morning barn assignments; and reassignment of practicum placement where a site could not accommodate.

Personal protective equipment. Where a student’s accommodation interacts with required PPE — respirator fit, hearing protection, eye protection over prosthetics or orthoses, ASTM footwear — the Coordinator works with Environmental Health and Safety. Safety requirements are not waived. The question is always whether a compliant alternative exists, and it usually does.

Licensure. The College’s accommodation does not bind a state licensing board, an examination vendor, or an employer. Students in licensure programs are advised to inquire early about testing accommodation, which is requested from the board and not from the College. Career Services assists with these requests.

Service animals

Service animals are addressed by Policy 6.40, Service Animals and Animals on Campus. A student seeking accommodation related to an emotional support or comfort animal, which is not a service animal under the policy, should contact Disability Services.

Physical access

The Corliss Pike building is a 1971 department store adapted for College use. Accessible entrances, restrooms, elevator, and route information are published on the campus map. The original escalators are not in service and are not an accessible route. Known limitations, and the schedule for their remediation, are published at /about/accessibility:

• Barn Complex B: the arena viewing platform is reached by stair only. An accessible ground-level viewing position is available; a platform lift is in the FY2028 capital request.
• Sub-Level Range: accessible by elevator; two firing points are height-adjustable.
• Wing E preparation laboratory: accessible; one workstation is height-adjustable.
• Aviation and Heavy Equipment Annex: Hangar 2 is accessible; the equipment yard is unpaved in part.
• Mock Structure: deliberately non-compliant by instructional design. Students whose accommodation is affected complete the equivalent practicum at an alternate site arranged by the Division.

Grievance

A student who believes an accommodation was wrongly denied or improperly implemented may file with the Section 504/ADA Coordinator (Bernadette Ollsvig, Room A-118, ext. 2240), who is a different person than the Disability Services Coordinator by design. Determination is issued within 20 business days. A student may file with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights at any time, and is not required to use the College’s process first.

Employees

Employee accommodation requests go to Human Resources, ext. 2240, not to Disability Services.