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 Student Services Office

ADA Student Guide

The University of Houston-Victoria has established procedures for making reasonable accommodations for qualified students who have a disability. Students receive assistance from the Student Services Office located on the Victoria

campus and the Coordinator of Student Activities and Services on the Sugar Land campus.

The Student Services Office verifies the disability and ensures that appropriate documentation is on file. The Office of Student Services will also determine reasonable accommodations that students can expect faculty to make in the classroom.

Student Services Office in Victoria
(361) 570-4287 or 570-4137 or toll free at (877) 970-4848, extension 287 or 137

Confidentiality

Federal and state law requires that information regarding your disability remains confidential. Every effort will be made to preserve your privacy and to treat you with the same dignity and courtesy accorded all other students in the classroom.

University Policy on Accommodations with Disabilities

In accordance with Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and American with Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Houston-Victoria endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for qualified persons with disabilities to participate in all educational programs and activities. Whenever a reasonable accommodation is necessary for access or participation in University courses or services, the faculty and/or departments responsible for the courses or service will work with the Student Services Office, along with federal and state agencies to ensure that reasonable accommodations are made.

The University assumes no responsibility for personal assistance necessary for independent living or for specialized medical care. Students requiring personal attendants or mobility assistants must employ such persons at their own expense before completion of registration. Students requiring specialized medical care should be prepared to bear the expense of this care through a general hospital or a private physician/clinic of their choice.

Procedures for Academic Accommodations

If you are taking courses from the University of Houston-Victoria, you may receive accommodations through established University guidelines. Accommodations apply only to course procedures and processes, not to course content.

1. Identify yourself to the Coordinator of Student Services and provide documentation of the disability. This step must be completed prior to any accommodations being made in the classroom.
2. Talk with your instructor(s) early in the semester or preferably before the semester to discuss your disability.
3. Meet with the Coordinator of Student Services in Victoria or the Coordinator of Student Activities and Services in Sugar Land to discuss and decide upon reasonable accommodations.
4. Review and sign the Student Accommodation Form. This form will contain all accommodations that have been deemed reasonable and necessary. You and your instructor(s) will sign this form verifying that everyone understands the accommodations that will be made.
5. Contact the Student Services Office during the semester if any other accommodations seem necessary.
6. Notify the Student Services Office immediately if you withdraw from a course(s).
7. Contact the coordinator of Student Services each semester to continue receiving accommodations.

Appropriate Disability Documentation

If you request an accommodation, you need to voluntarily provide documentation of your disability to the Student Services Office. Student Services will use appropriate sources of documentation including information from appropriate medical personnel (e.g., ophthalmologists, optometrists, physicians), mental health professionals (e.g. psychologists, psychiatrists), or state agencies (e.g., Texas Commission for the Blind, Texas Rehabilitation Commission).

Emergency Evacuation Procedures

In the event of an emergency situation requiring evacuation from the building, the safe exit of every individual will be a priority. As first choice, the wheelchair occupant or other persons with a disability may attempt to use the elevator, although in a fire, elevators will be inoperable. These students should then move to the nearest marked exit. If further help is needed, the student may request assistance from the faculty member.

Rehabilitation Act/ADA Terminology

Person with a Disability - someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. A person is considered to be a person with a disability if he/she has the disability, has a record of the disability, or is regarded as having the disability.

Qualified Individual with a Disability - an individual with a disability, who can perform the "essential functions" of the student with or without reasonable accommodation. In the case of program accessibility, a qualified individual with a disability is one who can meet the essential eligibility requirements of the program or service. with our without reasonable modifications to the entity's rules, policies or practices, or with or without provision of auxiliary aids and services.

Covered Disability - a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

Reasonable Accommodations - the modification of or adjustment to a job, work environment, or the way things are usually done that enables a qualified individual with a disability to enjoy the opportunity to attain the same level of performance, or to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of a student, as the average student without disability.

Reasonable Alteration - the alteration of an entity's policies, practices, or procedures that enables a qualified individual with a disability to enjoy equal benefits and privileges of the program, service, or activity, as the average similarly-situated individual without a disability and that does not result in a fundamental alteration of the program, service, or activity.

Exclusions from the Definition of "Qualified Individual with a Disability"

Temporary Impairments - physical or mental impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities may not be covered disabilities depending upon the duration of the impairment and the extent to which they actually limit a major life activity of the affected individuals. An individual with a minor temporary impairment of short duration is generally not a qualified individual with a disability. Each individual situation will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Substance Abuse - while drug addiction is an impairment, a person engaging in the current and illegal use of controlled substances is not a qualified person with a disability.

Excluded Conditions - homosexuality, bisexuality, transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia, exhibitionism, voyeurism, gender identity disorders, compulsive gambling, kleptomania, pyromania, and psychoactive substance abuse disorders are specifically excluded from the definition of disability. An individual with any of the above conditions is not a qualified individual with a disability.

Direct Threat - a significant threat to the health or safety of the individual or others cannot be eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level by modification of policies, practices or procedures; through the provision of auxiliary aids or services; or by reasonable accommodation. An individual who poses a direct threat to the health or safety of the individual or others is not a qualified individual with a disability.