Policies and Procedures

The Director of Equity and Access will serve as the Disability Services Coordinator and will be responsible for addressing the needs of qualifying students with disabilities.  The name and contact information for such Coordinator shall be published in the Student Handbook, College Catalog, on the College website, on all course syllabi, and other appropriate locations accessible to students.

In order to receive accommodations, students are required to notify the Director of Equity and Access of their pending enrollment and follow the appropriate steps to request accommodations.

Procedures for formally requesting accommodations due to a disability.

1. The student will begin an interactive process with the college by completing the Disability Accommodation Request Form. The form is found under Apply for Services on the Disability Support Services (DSS) webpage of the Kaskaskia College’s main website. Choosing Accessibility at the bottom of any Kaskaskia College webpage will redirect to the DSS page and subsequent form as well.
2. The Disability Accommodation Request form will ask the student to identify what their disability is and the needed accommodation that will provide equitable access to the campus, its programs, courses, and methods of assessment. Students will have an opportunity to upload documentation to substantiate their request.
3. Students may receive assistance in completing the form, including help with converting print copies of documentation into digital format from staff at the college, including, but not limited to, the DSS office.
4. To convert print copies of documentation into a digital format, college personnel may scan a student’s document and email it to the student’s college email account. If the student request, the documentation may also be sent to the Director of Equity and Access. The student will still need to complete the application for the documentation to be reviewed and formally accepted.
5. The form will be housed in Maxient and routed to the Director of Equity and Access in the DSS office for review. Most request will be reviewed in 1-3 business days. Students will be notified by email if the review process will exceed 3 business days.
6. The Director will reach out to the student via the student’s college email to either notify the student that the request is granted or to further engage in the interactive process if the request cannot be granted with the information received. 
7. If a request is incomplete, such as insufficient documentation of a disability is uploaded with the request, the Director will reach out to the student to notify that the request is incomplete and list what items are needed to complete the request. Once all items are received, the Director will engage in an interactive process with the student in order to determine if the request can be granted. The interactive process will allow the student to have an in-person, phone, or video meeting as needed.
8. Once a request is granted, the student’s disability will be coded into the Student Information System, using the ICCB 4-digit coding. The start date will be the date the accommodation was reviewed, approved, and coded. Approved accommodations will be coded and assigned to specific disabilities if the student is requesting accommodations for multiple disabilities.
9. Prior to the start of each semester, the DSS office will review the student’s schedule and send out accommodation notifications stating granted accommodations via email to the student, faculty members teaching their courses, Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) as a site for testing accommodations, and the appropriate education center where a student may be taking courses. If a student has a change in their schedule after the notice is sent, it is the student’s responsibility to notify the DSS office of the change.
10. The DSS office will send out notifications for students who maintain continuous enrollment at the college in subsequent semesters until such time a student graduates or discontinues enrollment. If a student has a semester, other than the summer semester, in which they are not enrolled, it is the student’s responsibility to notify the DSS office that they would like to continue utilizing previously granted accommodations or they may complete a new request for accommodations. If a graduating high school student completes a request that is granted, but then does not enroll the fall semester after a spring graduation or the spring semester after a fall graduation, the student will need to complete a new request upon enrollment to be on the automated notification list.
11. If through the interactive process it is determined the student does not have a disability or the accommodation requested is not reasonable or does not provide equitable access the request will not be granted. In such cases, the Director will work with the student to identify other resources as appropriate to meet the student’s needs and document in the note’s section of the Maxient request as to why the accommodation is not being granted before closing the request.
12. In cases where an accommodation is not granted, the student will reserve the right to appeal the decision to the Vice President of Student Services. The student will also reserve the right to make a new request and submit any new information at any time.13. In the event that any student with a disability feels that he/she has been discriminated against or has generally been treated unfavorably due to his/her disability, the individual should file a written complaint pursuant to Policy/Procedure 5.1004 – Student Complaints.

Approval History:  July 17, 2008; November 2, 2020; March 14, 2024