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Disability (Accommodations) Services

Our Commitment

Ozark Christian College is committed to full compliance with all laws regarding equal opportunity for students with disabilities. Students, the faculty and administration all play a role in ensuring that reasonable and appropriate accommodations are provided in a timely and effective manner. The following is an outline of the process followed at OCC when a student requests services or accommodations in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Requesting Accommodation

Click here to complete the OCC Student Request for Accommodations form.

Documentation Requirements

Confidentiality

Student Guidelines

Denial of Accomodation

Student Appeal

Reasonable Modification

A reasonable accommodation in the student setting is a modification or adjustment to a class or program that will enable a qualified person with a disability to participate in the program or class or to enjoy the rights and privileges offered by the college. Modifications that impose an undue burden or pose a health or safely risk are not considered reasonable. The college is required to make modifications only to known and validated disabilities. The college requires the student to give reasonable notice of the request for modifications. The school or department must take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that qualified individuals with disabilities are not excluded, treated differently or segregated because of the absence of auxiliary aids or services. 

Individual Analysis

The modification offered must be appropriate to the needs of the individual, thus, in each instance, an individualized analysis must occur. The OCC Academics Office can devise a modification plan for the student.

Course Load Modifications

The college is not required to eliminate academic requirements essential to the program of instruction or related to licensing requirements. However, reasonable modifications must be provided for qualified students with verified disabilities. Modifications for completion of degree requirements may include the following:

Examinations

Exam modifications may include the following:

Auxiliary Aids and Services

This term refers to equipment or service providers that augment communication. Examples are sign language interpreters, note takers, readers, computer aided transcription devices, assistive listening devices, telecommunications devices for deaf persons (TDDs), and Braille materials. The college pays for the cost of the auxiliary aid or service. If provision of a particular auxiliary aid or service would result in a fundamental alteration of the program or in an undue burden, i.e., significant difficulty or expense, the college will attempt to provide an alternative auxiliary aid or service. The college does not need to provide attendants, individually prescribed devices, readers for personal use or study, or other devices or services of a personal nature. The college will give careful consideration to the requests of the affected disabled individuals, but is not required to give the disabled person the auxiliary aid of his or her choice. 

When Reasonable Modification Is Not Required

Fundamental Program Alteration

A college is not required to provide any aid or service or make any modification that would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of the program. For example, where a course requirement is essential to the program of instruction taken by the student, the college is not required to waive the requirement. In evaluating whether the requested program modifications would require substantial program alteration or would fundamentally alter academic standards or programs, the academic dean should consider the underlying academic reasons for the program components, the academic standards institutionalized in the program, how the challenged components are consistent with the program standards, and how the requested accommodations would be inconsistent with the academic goals and standards of the program.

Undue Burden

A college need not make modifications or provide auxiliary aids or services if it constitutes an undue burden. In determining whether or not an undue burden exists, the factors to be considered are the nature and cost of the action needed in the context of the overall financial resources of the college.

Direct Threat to Health or Safety

The college is not required to permit an individual to participate in or benefit from a college program or service when that individual poses a direct threat to health or safety. Direct threat means a significant risk to health or safety that cannot be eliminated by modification of policies, practices, or procedures, or by the provision of auxiliary aids or services. In determining whether an individual poses a direct threat to health or safety, the college must make an individualized assessment, based on reasonable judgment that relies on current medical knowledge or the best available objective evidence, to ascertain:

This standard applies to all individuals, not just disabled individuals.  

If further information is needed, please feel free to contact Lisa Witte in the Academics Office, 417.626.1222.

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