Accommodations

Overview

Through the interactive intake interview process, accommodations a student and a DRC Access Specialist determine are necessary for academic access may include academic modifications, adjustments and/or auxiliary aids and services.

The following links expand on each type of academic accommodation:

Academic Adjustments

Academic adjustments refer to changes in the academic environment or the way things are customarily done to ensure students with disabilities have equal educational opportunities to participate in the most integrated settings possible.  Provisions of academic adjustments by postsecondary institutions do not require institutions to lower academic and technical standards or substantially modify essential requirements. Students with disabilities and Disabilities Resource Center staff work together to implement academic adjustments.

Examples of Academic Adjustments at Santa Fe College:

  • Alternative Testing
  • Scribe for exams
  • Calculator use for exams
  • Early registration
  • Service animals
  • In-classroom breaks from prolonged sitting
  • Leaving and returning to classroom on occasion
  • Priority seating as necessary
  • Placement of adjustable tables and/or chairs in classrooms as necessary
  • Setting up accessible computer workstations
  • Use of adaptive software or devices during exams

Academic Modifications

Academic modifications refer to changes in academic requirements for students with disabilities. Modifications may be appropriate in some but not all cases. Before pursuing this course of action students should give thoughtful consideration to the long-term impact modifications may have on their future academic goals. 

Modifications versus Essential Academic Requirements

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act [Subpart E -- Postsecondary Education ยง104.44 Academic Adjustments (a) Academic Requirements] requires postsecondary educational institutions to make such modifications to their academic requirements as are necessary to ensure that such requirements do not discriminate, or have the effect of discriminating, on the basis of a disability, against a qualified disabled applicant or student. Academic requirements that the institution can demonstrate are essential to the program of instruction being pursued by such student or to any directly related licensing requirement will not be regarded as discriminatory, even if they have an adverse effect on people with disabilities. Modifications may include extending the length of time established for completing degree requirements, substituting specific courses and course work as a requisite for completing degree requirements, or adapting the way specific courses are conducted.

Modifications at SF

Santa Fe College has a process for considering requests from students with disabilities for reasonable substitution requirements for admission to the college or to a program, as well as for graduation from the college. To that end the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs appoints a Course Substitution Committee (CSC) to review all substitution requests by students with disabilities. As set forth in Procedure 7.2P, consideration of requests for course substitutions and/or exemptions will only occur in cases where the person's failure to meet a requirement is related to a disability and where the failure to meet the requirement does not constitute a fundamental alteration in the nature of the program.

  • All students who consider pursuing such remedies should first familiarize themselves with Procedure 7.2P Admission/Graduation Requirements: Disabled Students.
  • Postsecondary Vocational Certificate Education (PVCE) students seeking an exemption of the Basic Skills requirement should familiarize themselves with the Exemption Criteria.
  • All students seeking substitutions or PVCE exemptions should:
    • Contact the Disabilities Resource Center to self-identify as a student with a disability.
    • Provide appropriate documentation of their disability per Documentation Guidelines that apply.
    • Meet with a DRC Access Specialist for an intake interview.
    • Meet with the Course Substitution Committee DRC liaison to review the specific process, forms, and deadlines for making a request to the Course Substitution Committee.

Process and Deadlines

Students wanting a formal review of their course substitution request must meet with the Course Substitution Committee DRC liaison. The DRC liaison will explain the process, documents, and forms required. The Course Substitution Committee meets once a month. Students must submit all required materials to the Disabilities Resource Center by 3 p.m. on the 1st Wednesday of every month to have their request considered during that month's meeting.

Notifications and Appeals

Students will be notified of the Course Substitution Committee decision via eSantaFe notifications. Approvals will indicate the degree, program of study and the courses to be used for substitution of requirements. Denials will indicate the reason for the denial and the option to appeal that decision. The CSC DRC Liaison can meet with students who have been denied to review the appeal process. To appeal, submit the Course Substitution Appeal Form within 15 days of viewing the notification of denial.

Mathematics Course Substitution Options for Students with Disabilities

  • AST1002 Astronomy
  • BSC1001 Intro to Biology
  • BSC2050 Energy and Ecology
  • BSC2084 Human Anatomy & Physiology
  • ESC1000 Earth/Space Science
  • EVR1001 Intro Environmental Science
  • GLY2010 Physical Science
  • MAT1033 Intermediate Algebra
  • MAT1034 Intermediate Algebra Part 2
  • MGF1100 Math Readiness
  • MET2010 Meteorology
  • PHI1100 Informal Logic
  • PSC2121 General Physical Science
  • ZOO1503C Animal Behavior

Foreign Language Course Substitution Options for Students with Disabilities

  • ANT2410 Cultural Anthropology
  • EUH2000 Western Civilization 1
  • EUH2001 Western Civilization 2
  • GEO2420 Cultural Geography
  • HUM2410 Asian Humanities
  • HUM2420 African Humanities
  • HUM2210 Ancient World to Renaissance
  • HUM2230 Renaissance through Enlightenment
  • ISS2270 Multicultural Communications
  • LAH2020 Intro to History of Latin America
  • LIT2110 World Cultures in Literature 1
  • LIT2020 World Cultures in Literature 2
  • LIT2195 Intro to Literature of the African Peoples
  • REL2300 Contemporary World Religions
  • WOH2040 Contemporary World History

Aids and Services

Under Section 504 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, postsecondary institutions have an obligation to provide auxiliary aids and services that enable effective communication for qualified students with disabilities. Methods of communication involve speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The type of auxiliary aids or services students may require depends on the nature of their disability, the length and complexity of the communication, and the format of the communication. Visit the Federal government link Auxiliary Aids and Services for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities for additional information on these matters. The following are examples of auxiliary aids and services, some of which have links to specific information and/or policies concerning those aids and services. 

Examples of Auxiliary Aids and Services at SF

  • Audio recording or transcription/captioning in-class lectures and class discussions.
  • Notetakers refers to supplementing class notes or audio recording students with disabilities create with notes from another source.
  • Adaptive technologies refers to software or devices that compensate for functioning disabilities affect.
  • ASL Interpreters.
  • Alternate format textbooks.
  • Handouts in alternate formats.
  • Audiovisual presentations in alternate formats.

Exemption Criteria

Exemption Criteria for PVCE Basic Skills Requirement

Santa Fe College students who enroll in Postsecondary Vocational Certificate Education programs must satisfy the entry or exit basic skills examination requirement for their programs by achieving certain minimum scores on the Computerized Placement Test (CPT) and/or Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE). However, self-identifying students with disabilities can seek an exemption if they do not achieve necessary scores even after remediation. The following is the Florida rule governing such exemptions.

6A-10.040 Basic Skills Requirements for Postsecondary Vocational Certificate Education

  1. Students who are enrolled in a postsecondary vocational certificate program shall complete a basic skills examination within the first [6] weeks after admission into the program.
  2. Scale scores corresponding to the minimum basic skills grade levels in each vocational program description adopted under Rule 6A-6.0571, FAC, and published annually by the Commissioner in the document entitled, "Vocational Education Program Courses Standards" shall be used to determine basic skills levels required for completion of the vocational program.
  3. Students deemed to lack the required minimal level of basic skills as measured by one of the designated examinations shall be provided with instruction specifically designed to correct the deficiencies.
  4. After a student completes the remediation prescribed for basic skills deficiencies, the student shall be retested using an alternative form (if possible) of the same examination that was used for initial testing. No student shall be awarded a vocational certificate until the student achieves the minimum level of basic skills required for that program by the Department of Education. However, students with disabilities, as defined in Section 239.105, Florida Statutes, may be exempted from meeting the vocational basic skills required in subsection (2) of this rule.

Actions for Students with Disabilities Seeking Exemptions

  • Prospective students should obtain specific program requirements from appropriate program advisors.
  • Students seeking exemptions to the vocational basic skills requirement on the basis of disabilities must self-identify by registering with the Disabilities Resource Center.
  • Self-identifying students must submit disability verifying documentation to the Disabilities Resource Center.
  • Students with disabilities must meet with a DRC Access Specialist for an intake interview to address the matter of an exemption.

PERT/CPT Accommodations

Students completing Computerized placement test (CPTs) administered at SF, including the PERT, ALEKS, Accuplacer Next Gen are not timed and therefore automatically accommodate students who require extra time. Students who require other accommodations or test administration modification must make those arrangements with the Assessment Center and the Disabilities Resource Center prior to taking the test.

Note: In compliance with Section 504 and the ADA, the Disabilities Resource Center is not responsible for providing personal services (e.g., tutoring, personal attendants, typing, readers for personal use, transportation) or individually prescribed devices.