Policies and Procedures
All information about policies & procedures can be found in the Disability Services Handbook. Alternate formats (including paper verisons) are available upon request.
For information about the following Disability Services polices or procedures click on the link below:
Students requesting disability services are required to complete the following certification process:
1. Return the Disabilities Disclosure and Request for Accommodation. This step in only necessary if you are a new Meredith student. This form can be located in the Advising and Early Registration Handbook or may be obtained from Counseling Center/Disability Services. Once you complete the form, send it to:
Meredith College
Counseling Center / Disability Services
3800 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
2. Submit documentation of the disability from an appropriate licensed/certified professional. A letter or summary statement will not suffice. A complete evaluation is required, dated within three years of the request for disability services. Specific guidelines for each disability are available from the Counseling Center/Disability Services, 919.760.8427 and may be found on-line (Documentation Guidelines). Please note that if we receive this information during the summer, we can begin preparing for your needs even before you arrive on campus.
3. Complete an intake interview with Disability Services staff. An intake interview takes about one hour during which the student will provide information about how the disability impacts her life functioning. The intake also provides an opportunity for the student to become acquainted with support services that are offered through Disability Services. When possible, documentation should be submitted before the intake session. Students may make an appointment by calling 919.760.8427.
Once you have completed the steps for certification it is possible that your documentation may not be sufficient for full certification. In some cases, a provisional status is allowed which enables students to receive disability services for one semester while she pursues obtaining current and complete documentation. Your Disability Counselor will discuss this with you if you qualify for provisional status.
It is the student’s responsibility to:
- Meet the essential qualifications and institutional standards
- Disclose the disability in a timely manner to Disability Services staff
- Provide appropriate documentation
- Inform Disability Services staff of accommodation needs
- Talk with professors about classroom accommodations, as needed
- Inform the Disability Services staff of barriers to a successful education
- Follow through with appointments
For a complete list of the rights and responsibilities of students who are seeking certification with Disability Services, see the Rights and Responsibilities form.
Due to the sensitive and personal nature of Disability Services, all services are strictly confidential. This means that nothing that you share with your counselor is revealed to anyone outside of the Counseling Center without your written consent. We do not disclose names or other identifying information about our clients to any, including family or college officials, without consent.
For more information about confidentiality please visit the Confidentiality page.
Documentation Guidelines are available on-line and in the 201A Carroll Hall.
Disability Services works with each student on a case-by-case basis to determine and implement appropriate accommodations. In accordance with the ADA, accommodations will not be made to course or degree requirements that are considered to be essential. Some typical accommodations for various disabilities may include:
Learning Disabilities (ADHD, LD & TBI)
Testing accommodations
Books on tape
Assistive technology
Mobility Impairments
Scribes
Assistance with library research
Alternative testing arrangements
Textbooks on tape
Assistive technology
Hearing Impairments
Note takers
ASL interpreters and cued speech transliterators
Scripting or closed captions
Visual Impairments
Textbooks on tape
Lecture notes, handouts, tests on disk or in enlarged format
Computer Zoom text and a scanner with OCR software
Alternative testing arrangements
Braille service
Chronic Health Conditions
Note takers for excused classes
Flexible attendance requirements (with medical verification)
Alternative testing arrangements
Schedule modification
Psychological Disorders
Time extensions
Alternative testing arrangements
Schedule modification
For students who need testing accommodations, a need may arise when the professor of the course will not be able to provide those accommodations (i.e. extra time, separate setting, alternate format) within the department. In such cases, the student and professor may request test proctoring from Disability Services. Disability Services staff will arrange for the student to take their test in an environment that is appropriate for their accommodations. Test Proctoring Forms are available on the Disability Services web site or from 201A Carroll Hall.
Test Proctoring Forms should be submitted to Disability Services (201A Carroll Hall) in writing from the instructor five business days in advance of the test date. Changes and updates may be accepted with less notice, but cannot be guaranteed. All test/exams that will be proctored by Disability Services must be scheduled between Monday and Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm.
DS provides accommodations for tests, but not testing materials. Please do not bring non-testing materials to the DS office, including but not limited to, cell phones, pagers, PDA’s, pocket books, or book bags. If you do bring these items, DS will hold them, but will not be held responsible.
Students testing at DS will not have immediate access to their instructor. Any anticipated need to contact an instructor during an exam should be discussed ahead of time between student and the instructor. It is helpful for DS to know how to contact instructor in case the need should arise during test time.
Course substitutions, including the foreign language requirement, are determined on a case-by-case basis. Additional documentation may be necessary. For more information about requesting a course substitution please make an appointment with a Disability Counselor.
RESIDENCE HOUSING ACCOMMODATIONS
Students requesting residence housing accommodations must be certified with Disability Services. Meredith College provides support services and reasonable accommodations to students with medical and/or psychological disabilities pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. In order to ensure the provision of reasonable and appropriate accommodations and services for students with disabilities, students requesting housing accommodations must complete the following steps:
- Meet with a Disability Counselor. Call 919-760-8427 to schedule an appointment. (During your meeting you will complete an intake interview which will take about an hour.
- Submit documentation of your disability directly to Disability Services (located in 201A Carroll Hall). While it is not required, you may prefer to submit documentation prior to your appointment so that the Disability Counselor will have time review it before your intake. This documentation should be on letterhead and include the following information:
- Specification of diagnosis;
- Date of diagnosis;
- Identification of the instruments and procedures used to make the diagnosis;
- Accounting of the “major life activities” impacted by the student’s impairment and level of severity;
- Description of the student’s functional limitations in a college residential setting (i.e. how does the impairment significantly limit a major life activity in a residential setting); and
- Recommendations regarding effective accommodations to equalize the student’s educational opportunities at the post-secondary level.
- Signature of qualified evaluator who is trained to make the diagnosis and recommendations
Both of the previous steps must be completed by March 1st if you are a returning student and by June 20th if you are a new student. This is to allow time for your request to be reviewed by a committee who will make a recommendation that is reasonable and appropriate based upon the intake interview and documentation. The information you provide may be shared with appropriate staff, including but not limited to Residence Life and Facility Services, at Meredith College to the extent required to evaluate the request and make a recommendation. It is important to note that not all requests are determined appropriate or reasonable accommodations under ADA and Section 504. Requests submitted after this date will be reviewed but may not be able to be granted.
Please do not hesitate to contact Disability Services by email or by phone at 919-760-8427 if you have any questions or if you require more information.
Some students who are served by Disability Services require that they register for classes before the rest of the student body. Priority Registration eligibility is based on disability related criteria only. In order to receive priority registration, students must meet at least one of the following disability related criteria:
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Requires pre-arranged support services, such as pre-recorded audio, large print, Braille materials, readers or interpreters that are necessary for accommodation,
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Imposes geographical constraints due to mobility speed and/or endurance,
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Imposes physical or cognitive restrictions due to fatigue, medication side-effects, sustained concentration verified by the physician or medical reports,
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Necessitates preferential seating, selection of professors with certain speech patterns or teaching styles due to communication/learning issues as verified by the Coordinator of Disability Services on a semester by semester basis, and/or
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Requires extensive therapy or other medical treatment/ intervention, which impacts scheduling flexibility significantly (such as chemotherapy, renal dialysis, etc.).
Various forms of assistive technology are available from Disability Services. To determine what technology will best meet your needs, please schedule an appointment with a Disability Counselor.
Disability Services mostly provides AT software in the form of Reading Technology or text to speech software to our students. Disability Services offers many options for students who want or require their texts in an audio format. Please click here to learn more about Reading Technology options. This software is useful for students with and without disabilities as it proves to enhance comprehension of any print material required for class. This concept is referred to as Universal Design.
If a student would like to request reading technology for use in their academic course work, they must complete the scanning agreement form and a reading technology request form.
Disability Services is home to the Learning Technology Lab (LTL) in 213 Carroll Hall, a small computer lab that houses Reading Technology. There are currently six computers and the lab is available for use by the entire Meredith community. It is currently open 7 days per week.
Disability Services is also running a Reading Techology Pilot program. In this pilot, participants will be introduced and trained to use screen reading (or text to speech) software. The Pilot is a fantastic way to learn about software that can enhance your reading, writing, comprehension, productivity and overall learning skills. For more information please contact Jill Triana at trianaj@meredith.edu or click here.
Meredith College does not provide the following:
- Comprehensive diagnostic evaluation for determining disabilities
- Special classes for students with disabilities
- Tutorial services other than the Learning Center
- A reduced standard for academic performance
- Exemption from graduation requirements (substitutions will be considered on case-by-case basis)
Copies of the Grievance Procedure are also available on the Forms page as well as in the Disability Services office in 201 Carroll Hall.
Students are strongly encouraged to pursue every means possible to resolve a grievance informally before filing a formal request with the Disabilities Panel.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) protects individuals with disabilities against discrimination in such areas as employment, housing, public accommodations, education, transportation, communication, health services, and access to public services.
The ADA provides a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities, to bring persons with disabilities into the economic and social mainstream, and to provide enforceable standards to addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities.
Please note that the burden of proof rests with the student filing the grievance to prove that she has been subject to unfair treatment and/or injustice, which has adversely affected the student’s status, rights, or privileges at the College. All grievances must be filed within ninety (90) days of the alleged injustice.
Students are responsible for following the grievance procedure below if they are unable to resolve the situation informally.
1. Students are responsible for contacting a Disability Counselor in the Counseling Center / Disability Services if reasonable accommodations are not implemented in an effective or timely way. The Counselor(s) will work with college personnel and students with disabilities to resolve disagreements regarding recommended accommodations.
2. If the issue cannot be resolved or the student is not satisfied with the outcome, the student can submit a formal written grievance to the Dean of Students following the current guidelines. These guidelines are published at the end of this document and on the Counseling Center / Disability Services web site at http://www.meredith.edu/students/counsel/disability/grievance.htm. Alternative formats of these procedures are available upon request in the Counseling Center / Disability Services.
3. The Dean of Students will work with the student to select 3-4 members of the Disability Service Panel to serve on the Disability Grievance Subcommittee to hear the grievance. The Disability Grievance Subcommittee and the Dean of Students will select a member to serve as the Chair of the Subcommittee.
4. After the Disability Grievance Subcommittee has reviewed the formal written grievance, the student will be asked to meet in order to present her case and answer questions. The student may elect to have the Dean of Students present as a neutral party. The subcommittee will then conduct any follow up and/or research that is necessary in making a decision about the case. Subsequently, the subcommittee will make a recommendation to the Dean of Students who will then communicate the outcome to the student.
5. If the grievance is not resolved, the student will have an opportunity to appeal the subcommittee’s decision through the appropriate Vice President. The Dean of students will assist the student in determining the appropriate Vice President based on the grievance issue.
Grievance Format:
On separate sheets of paper, please provide information relating to the areas noted below. The student should include all information she wishes to have considered by the Panel, including written witness statements, academic papers, projects outlines, etc. It is also useful to provide a copy of the course syllabus where appropriate. Incomplete grievances will either be sent back to the student with a request for more information, or denied
without further review.
The grievance should be formatted as follows:
- Date of act or decision you are challenging.
- Briefly describe the alleged act or decision.
- Explain the basis for your challenge. These are limited to:
- Academic grievances - give the course/department/college regulation or policy which you feel has been violated by the act or decision. Be sure to include a copy of the course syllabus and an explanation of the course requirements, grading criteria, etc…as appropriate.
- Non-academic grievances -state the college regulation or policy, individual right which you believe has been violated.
- For both academic and non-academic grievances, clearly and concisely state why you believe the act or decision being challenged is contrary to the policy, regulation, or right you have cited.
- Provide the chronology in narrative form of all pertinent events leading up to the act or decision being challenged. Include names and dates wherever relevant.
- Attempted Informal Resolution of Grievance:
- Describe your discussion(s) regarding the complaint with the person/office against whom the grievance is being filed. Include date(s) of discussion(s).
- Describe your discussion(s) regarding the complaint with the chairperson/supervisor. Include date(s) of discussion(s).
- Describe any other informal attempts to resolve the conflict.
- State explicitly what outcome/action/remedy you are seeking via this grievance petition.
- Provide any additional information that you believe is relevant to your grievance. Written statements from witnesses may be included. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of those persons who have explicitly agreed to speak to the Disability Grievance Subcommittee on your behalf should also be included.
- Include all documents and information you wish to have considered.
