Access & Disability Resources

Access and Disability Resources (ADR) ensures students with disabilities have equal access to all Saint Paul College programs, services, and activities. Our office partners with students, faculty, and staff to help reduce barriers.

We work with students to create individualized accommodations and build self-advocacy skills. Deciding what accommodations are reasonable is an interactive process determined between you and the ADR team during an intake. We supports an inclusive learning environment.

ADR can provide:

Personalized academic accommodations
Consultations related to student accessibility
ASL interpreting and CART services
Assistive technology rentals & support
Alternative textbooks
Captioning
Testing with accommodations

ADR cannot provide:

Diagnostic testing
Fundamentally alter academic programing
Compromise academic integrity
Change the core skills required to complete a program
Lower academic course standards or difficulty

ADR does not seek out students with disabilities. Accommodations are provided when a student requests them. For this reason, it’s important to contact us if you need support.

If you are faculty or staff and want to refer a student to ADR, please fill out this form.

For immediate assistance scheduling an ASL Interpreter, please contact: interpreting@saintpaul.edu.

Please contact our office to learn more about our services or initiate an intake process: adr@saintpaul.edu

Access and Disability Resource Office
Room: 1405
Phone: 651.350.3008
Email: ADR@saintpaul.edu

Hours
Monday: 9:00am – 4:30pm
Tuesday: 9:00am – 4:30pm
Wednesday: 9:00am – 4:30pm
Thursday: 9:00am – 4:30pm
Friday: 10:00am – 3:30pm

The Accommodation Process

There are several steps that must be taken to ensure reasonable accommodations are appropriately issued.

Students must schedule an intake with one of our support specialists. During this intake we will discuss struggles you may have and accommodations you may benefit from.
Email documentation of your disability to our office (hyperlink adr@saintpaul.edu).
If reasonable accommodations are approved, we will give you an Accommodation Letter. It is your responsibility to share this letter with your professors and initiate a conversation with them.

Examples of Acceptable Documentation of your disability:

High school IEP, evaluation, or 504/508 plan
Diagnostic assessment report
Letter from a healthcare provider (such as a therapist, counselor, or chiropractor)
Completed Disability Documentation Form (available by email or in person)
Letter from a county worker, vocational rehabilitation counselor, or social worker

Documentation Should Include

Your name, Saint Paul College Tech ID or StarID, and date of birth
Diagnosis and name of the evaluator
Current functional limitations or symptoms that affect your learning

It is important that students with disabilities who need support contact ADR each semester to set up or renew accommodations.

Testing with Accommodations

Testing accommodations requires steps to be completed by both the student and their professor. This process must be done for each test.

After completing an intake and ensuring testing with accommodations is an accommodation, you may initiate a test by filling out a Testing with Accommodation Form. You can access this form by emailing the ADR office or stopping by for a paper copy.

The Testing with Accommodation Form must be filled out completely by both the student and instructor. Upon completion, ADR will help schedule your test in the Testing Center or ADR’s private testing space.

Common testing accommodations are:

A private quiet testing space
1.5x to complete test
2x to complete test

Acquiring Alternative Textbook

After completing an intake and ensuring alternative textbooks as an accommodation, send ADR an email with the ISBN and receipt of purchase for the textbook needed. ADR will complete the next steps and follow up directly with the alternative text.

The college abides by copyright law eligibility, meaning that only students with a verified disability and proof of purchase are eligible for alternative texts.

Requesting ASL or CART Services

After completing an intake, ensure that ASL Interpretation or CART services are an approved accommodation. Confirm your course schedule with the ADR team and communicate which courses need these services. Requesting ASL or CART services must be done each semester.

Please reach out to the ADR team prior to each semester to confirm your accessibility need and course schedule.

Appeal Process

If an accommodation that you wanted was denied for any reason, you may appeal the decision. The appeal process starts with good faith conversations and escalates to a formal grievance procedure. These options provide students a transparent, fair, and accessible way to appeal decisions related to disability accommodations.

If your intake specialist denied an accommodation you requested you may make an informal complaint to the Director of ADR via email or in-person. The Director of ADR will have a good faith conversation about the accommodation request. During this conversation you can share more about the struggles you identified and the accommodations you may benefit from.

If you feel this conversation is unsatisfactory and your accommodation request is still denied, you may file a formal complaint with the Dean of Student Success.

If a faculty member denied your approved accommodation please contact ADR. We will work together to ensure that reasonable accommodations are implemented.

Occasionally ADR must work with faculty to ensure accommodations do not alter course programming, change the core skills required to complete a program, or lower academic standards.

If an instructor believes the accommodation should be denied, they will need to fill out a Faculty Denial of Approved Accommodation form. This form is available from the ADR office. The Director of ADR will review the denial and partner with the instructor to find alternative reasonable accommodations.

To file a complaint of grievance about this process, outside of ADR, please use the Student Concern, Complaint, and Grievance Process available to all students.

Faculty Support

ADR is a student facing office, but we are here to help. If you are seeking support implementing an accommodation, please email us: adr@saintpaul.edu.

Faculty may choose to implement inclusive classroom practices that help remove barriers that often exclude students with disabilities from full participation. The following should be adapted to all teaching practices:

Never deny accommodation requests without consulting ADR.
Include an accessibility statement on all syllabi.
Post class notes and PowerPoint slides online.
Identify course readings early to allow time for the creation of accessible materials.
Select only captioned videos; contact ADR early to get support captioning uncaptioned materials.
If present, ensure ASL Interpreters and CART captioners have appropriate placement in the classroom.
Ensure class activities, including field trips, are accessible.

More information about digital accessibility and Equity by Design connect with the Academic Effectiveness and Innovation office https://www.saintpaul.edu/employees/aei/

If you believe an accommodation should be denied, you will need to fill out a Faculty Denial of Approved Accommodation form. This form is available from the ADR office. The Director of ADR will review the denial and partner with the you to find alternative reasonable accommodations.

If you suspect a student could benefit from an accommodation, please fill out our Access and Disability Resources Referral form.