Vision
The Office of Accessibility Services seeks to facilitate a respectful, equitable college campus, inclusive of students with disabilities.
Mission
The Office of Accessibility Services is committed to providing expertise and guidance toward the development of inclusive environments which allow students with disabilities to access all institutional opportunities. We engage in disability education, advance the concepts of Universal Design, and promote disability as a component of diversity.
Enduring Values
The Office of Accessibility Services aligns itself with the following CAS Standards, when adopting its values: “The values and practices of DRS (OAS) should advance the philosophy that human variation is natural and vital in the development of dynamic communities; inclusion and equal participation are matters of social justice; accessible and usable design is a shared responsibility essential for equity and full participation; and disability is a sociopolitical construct that includes people with a variety of conditions who share common experiences.” (CAS Standards 2019).
A "student with a disability" is defined as one "who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person’s major life activities, has a record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such impairment". A "qualified" student is one who meets the requisite academic and technical standards required for admission to the college.
Academic adjustments may include:
- physical accessibility arrangements;
- sign language interpretation for deaf students;
- assistive technology devices;
- audio taped lectures; Note: Digital recorders are considered personal devices.
- peer note takers/readers/scribes; Note: These services may be provided through the use of technology
- alternatives to print materials, e.g., textbooks in digital format; Note: Reformatted textbooks are not udio books. Text reading software, which is free on most computer operating systems, is required to reformat the printed text to speech;
- reduced course load/full time status;
- course substitutions if appropriate;
- testing accommodations such as extra test time, a reduced distraction environment, alternative formats for exams and learning materials.
Academic adjustments DO NOT include:
- personal assistants, individual personal tutors or personal assistive technology,
- academic adjustments that are unduly expensive, substantially disruptive, pose a hazard to others or would fundamentally alter the nature of a program, or
- waivers or modifications to the Code of Conduct.
Columbia-Greene Community College is not required to provide requested or preferred academic adjustments. In our quest to create an equitable environment which leads to successful learning, OAS is committed to the consideration of reasonable, appropriate, and effective adjustments.
All academic adjustment requests are reviewed on a case-by-case, course-by-course basis in consideration of each student’s academic needs and the fundamental learning objectives of each course. Academic adjustment requests are approved or denied based on what is reasonable for both.
To receive services, students are required to identify themselves to the Office of Accessibility Services in a timely manner and provide documentation of the disability from a qualified professional in the area of the disability.
Location of the OAS
The OAS is located in room 101A of the Main Building. Please see our page on the college website for information about office hours. Telephone: 518.697.6437.
NVRA
The Office of Accessibility Services is a National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) voter registration site. Assistance is provided, upon request, to any student with a disability that wishes to complete a Voter Registration Form. The form can also be found on-line at: http://www.elections.ny.gov/NVRA.html