ACCESS

Registration, Forms and Testing

To request curricular/co-curricular accommodations through Accessible Campus Community & Equitable Student Support (ACCESS), you will need to fill out a Student Intake Form. The Student Intake Form will provide information that is needed to help determine the appropriate curricular/co-curricular accommodations. Log in with your SIUE username and password to open the student portal. It is important that this form is filled out as completely as possible. Be sure to provide copies of your documentation. If you have questions, please contact 618-650-3726 or [email protected].

New Students

• Welcome and Information - The welcome packet will help you better understand the services offered by the ACCESS office
• Outline of Documentation - The most useful documentation not only specifies a diagnosis, but also provides scored testing done to establish the diagnosis and functional impacts on higher education. This not only gives you as the individual a better understanding of what functional impacts you are mitigating, but enables us as an office to craft the most comprehensive accommodation package possible. Please review this document with your qualified professional to determine what documentation is needed by ACCESS staff prior to approving services. We accept many different forms of documentation which includes but is not limited to: 
  
  • An Individualized Education program (IEP) - please note we may ask for supplemental documentation if the IEP indicates you were ineligible for services under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).
  • a 504 Plan - A document describing services or accommodations provided pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act of 1973
  • A plan or record of service from a private school, local education agency, state educational agency or other institution of higher education provided in accordance with the ADA.
    • A plan or record of disability from another institution of higher education.
  • A record or evaluation from a relevant licensed professional finding that an individual has a disability
  • Documentation of disability due to military service in the uniformed services.
• Consent for Release of Confidential Information - Please complete this form in the event you need us to release copies of your documentation to another institution or organization.
• Request Accommodation - Please look into this document to know about steps to request your accommodation.
• DHS: Rehabilitation Services: Apply Online - If you live in Illinois and have a disability, the Division of Rehabilitation Services may be able to help you find a job or live at home independently.
  • DHS: Rehabilitation Services eligibility criteria - for determining eligibility and rehabilitation needs.
• Accessing Accommodate - Enclosed you'll find our PowerPoint module on how to use our online system, Accommodate, to schedule exams, submit semester requests, request appointments and more!
• Emotional Support Animal (ESA) form - This form will allow your physician to answer all necessary questions regarding your accommodation request for an ESA. If you have additional questions regarding ESA's visit our Frequently Asked Questions page. For further questions regarding this form, please arrange to speak to an ACCESS staff member.
• FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) form - this document is for any eligible students to consent to the disclosure of educational records to their parent(s) or guardian.

Diagnosis Related Resources

The following documents were compiled and created to provide contact information for campus offices, community agencies, and organizations, as well as helpful articles and directories for individuals to refer to in relation to their specific diagnosis. Please feel free to utilize these resources as often as needed.

• ADHD ( Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Resources
• Anxiety Resources
• Autism Resources
• Depression Resources
• Dyslexia Resources
• PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) Resources

ACCESS Success Coaches

ACCESS offers ACCESS Success Coaching (ASC) in a mission to implement retention efforts for students with disabilities identified as "academically at-risk";  and assisting in the application of reasonable curricular and co-curricular accommodations. In addition to conducting research on assistive technology for ACCESS, ASCs also assist identified students with skills development in time management, executive functioning and learning styles; and identifying overall strategies for success.

Identified students will connect with the ASCs via referral and by appointment through ACCESS.

Interpreter Services

Through ACCESS, SIUE provides qualified ASL interpreters to help students in class by interpreting what their faculty and fellow students say. Deaf students are strongly urged to register early and submit their semester requests to ACCESS as soon as possible to start the process for receiving services for each semester. 

Interpreters also are available for faculty conferences, advising sessions, and at faculty-student conferences. Most major campus events have interpreters, generally at one corner of the stage, or captioning equipment. For smaller events such as a club meeting, students need to contact ACCESS for information about how such meetings can be covered. The SIUE graduation ceremony also features interpreters or captionists. But other events may not automatically plan for interpreters, so students need to contact ACCESS or the organization sponsoring an event to ensure that interpreters or captioning equipment will be available.

International Students

ACCESS for International Students - Please look at this document to understand how ACCESS might be able to help while attending SIUE. 

Veteran Students

ACCESS welcomes our military-connected students to the SIUE and values your experiences and perspectives that you bring to our community. In partnership with the Office of Military and Veteran Services, we are here to support students by providing reasonable accommodations which meet your individual needs. There are laws in place that protect veteran students who may experience medical or mental health diagnoses such as traumatic brain injuries (TBI), hearing or vision loss, chronic pain or other physical or non-apparent diagnoses.

Even if you have not been determined to have a disability through the military or VA, you may still be eligible to receive services through ACCESS and we encourage you to speak with us to see what accommodations may be available based upon the functional impacts experienced and how it may create barriers to your educational pursuits. To begin the process, please apply today and fill out our application to the best of your ability. Once received, a member of the ACCESS staff will reach out for further dialogue regarding your concerns and ways in which we can help.

What if I don't have any documentation?

There are several resources available identified by Vance and Miller (2009) as being helpful for veteran students to gain access to their medical records and other documentation that could be requested by a postsecondary educational institution:

• Standard Form SF-180, Request Pertaining to Military Records - This form provides a student with the opportunity to obtain missing records. A student veteran may submit this form to The National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records, 9700 Page Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63132-5100.
• Recent student veterans can request their records.
• VA Form 105345a (May 2005). The form is the individuals’ request for a copy of their own health information. It allows a veteran to request his or her medical records. This form should be submitted to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Records Management Center, P.O. Box 5020, St. Louis, Missouri 63115-5020.
• ACCESS Accommodation Request - again, the best first step is registering with ACCESS. Every university has their own university-specific disability self-disclosure process. Ours is accessible 24/7 from any electronic or smart device connected to the internet. Once your request is received, a member of the ACCESS staff will reach out to schedule a follow up appointment to discuss your accommodation needs.

For more information, we also encourage you to visit the following links:

• ADA: Know Your Rights, Returning Service Members with Disabilities
• Accommodating Service Members and Veterans with PTSD (askjan.org)
• Office of Military and Veteran Services

Testing

Students who schedule tests through the Student Accommodate Portal will receive a confirmation once their test has been scheduled. Approved test times, dates, class information and accommodations are entered into our system and sent as a notification and reminder to both the student and the professor.

In order for ACCESS to effectively facilitate scheduling your exams, you must provide ACCESS with three working/business days’ advanced notice when scheduling your quizzes, exams, and finals with accommodations at ACCESS. Please review the following chart to better understand your scheduling deadlines:

To ensure the easiest experience, you should submit your test booking request through Accommodate no later than 72-hours prior to when your class will be taking this quiz or exam. If you submit your request within the 72-hour window BUT before 4:30 p.m., please select the earliest times available on the day of the exam, select “No” when asked “Is this the same time your class is taking the exam?” and provide a note stating what time you will actually be at ACCESS.

To know more details about test scheduling please look into the Test Scheduling documentation provided.

72-Hour Policy

Our policy dictates the time span within which tests must be scheduled.

“If I receive testing accommodations arranged through ACCESS, I will schedule examinations with this office not later than three business days (72 business hours) before the examination date. If I have extenuating circumstances, I will notify ACCESS as soon as possible.”

This policy will be strictly enforced. Tests must be scheduled 72-hours ahead of the test time—not after business hours via phone and not on the day of the exam or the day before. If you are coming to schedule an exam in person and it is beyond the 72-hour period, we advise you to schedule the rest of your tests in advance at this time. If you have not scheduled your test in advance and within our 72-business-hour window, the only option is to take the test in class with the professor.

Our regular business hours are Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Any scheduled exams received on Saturday or Sunday will be treated as if they were received on Monday, which would be the first business day they would be reviewed.

All tests scheduled online through the Student Accommodate Portal will be followed by an email confirmation/receipt as proof of you scheduling the exam. These confirmations will only be sent to your SIUE email address. The confirmation will also be sent to your instructor as an FYI and request for the exam. When you schedule your exam, please let the staff member scheduling the test know the necessary information about your test and accommodation needs.

If you have any further questions, comments or concerns associated with this policy, please schedule an appointment to speak with an ACCESS staff member.

Disability Grievance Policy & Procedure

The Grievance Procedure is established to meet the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which states in part, that "No qualified individual with a disability shall, by reason of such disability, be excluded from participation in or be denied the benefits of the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, or be subject to discrimination by any such entity." (42 U.S.C., Section 12102 et. seq.) This procedure may be used by persons who believe they have been subject to discrimination. Those persons may file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability in employment practices and policies or the provision of services, activities, programs, or benefits by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Click the following link for more information on the SIUE Americans with Disabilities Act Grievance Procedures.

If you believe that your grievance involves a violation of state or federal law, you should immediately contact the Office of Equal Opportunity, Access & Title IX Coordination. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of using ACCESS' procedures or you wish to pursue an alternative approach, you may also contact the Office of Equal Opportunity, Access & Title IX Coordination. You can learn about the OEO complaint process from the document "How to File a Discrimination Complaint with the Office for Civil Rights" which you can obtain by visiting the U.S. Department of Education online. 

Course Substitution Policy & Procedure

All students must be able to meet the academic and technical standards required for admission or participation in their chosen program of study. Students with disabilities, therefore, are not excused from course prerequisites, GPA requirements, or degree requirements. However, in some limited circumstances, substitution of course requirements on the basis of a documented disability may be appropriate. Such substitutions are granted only when it is clear that the student’s disability makes completion of the requirement(s) almost impossible and when the course in question is not a fundamental element of the curriculum. Note that course waivers are not granted. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has consistently upheld the right of an institution to safeguard the integrity of its academic programs. A course substitution simply means that the credit hours for the course are met through an alternate course. A course substitution does not alter or reduce the number of credits needed for degree completion.

Students should understand that Accessible Campus Community & Equitable Student Support (ACCESS) provides consultations to the academic units based solely on students’ needs and the impact disabilities may have on specific courses. Academic units determine whether or not a particular course or assignment is fundamental to degree programs. Consideration of a course substitution is done on a case-by-case basis and requires the following actions by the student with a disability:

• The student must request a course substitution as part of their ACCESS semester request for accommodations. The student’s documentation must contain specific and reasonably current information that supports the request and be provided by qualified experts.
• Based on the proposed substitution, one of the following appropriate steps are required
  1. If the request involves a proposed substitution to a program/major requirement, the student must write a letter to the appropriate academic dean. The academic dean will consult with program faculty in the appropriate department as part of their assessment of the student’s request.
  2. If the request involves a proposed substitution/adjustment to either a General Education requirement or a University graduation requirement, the student shall write a letter to the Associate Provost. The Associate Provost will consult with the appropriate committees and offices as part of their assessment of the student’s request.

This letter should include:

• The student’s name, address, student ID number and major;
• The name of the course where the substitution is requested;
• An explanation of the disability and its impact;
• A rationale for the substitution request;
• A history of any previous attempts to complete the course in question;
• Any past history of course substitutions granted by previously attended colleges or universities (this does not obligate ACCESS or Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to reach a similar conclusion);
• A statement that the appropriate documentation verifying the disability is on file with ACCESS

The academic dean may collaborate with ACCESS regarding the advisability of the course substitution request based on the available documentation. Be advised that the student requesting a course substitution may be asked to submit additional disability documentation if what is on file with ACCESS is deemed inadequate to make a determination. ACCESS will also need permission to release medical information they deem necessary for understanding the academic impact of the disability to individuals in those academics units who will review the request

Once the academic dean has made a decision, the student will be notified in writing of the result within 30 working days. A student with a disability who is denied a course substitution may appeal that decision to the Associate Provost.  Approved substitutions will be processed by the Office of the Registrar and documented within the student’s academic record following receipt of the approved Student Petition form.