Americans with Disability Act (ADA)

Americans with Disability Act (ADA) 

Wallace Community College Selma is committed to the achievement of maximum human potential. In keeping with this, the College fully supports and complies with THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA). The College endeavors to provide students, employees, and the community an opportunity for success with as few deterrents as possible. The College strives to create a welcoming environment and will work in good faith to meet the needs of all populations. The office of the College’s ADA Coordinator (Ms. Octiavia Mason) is located in the Student Success Center. The ADA Coordinator’s telephone number is (334) 876-9277. 

The following procedures are in place at the College to assist anyone with needs for accommodation and/or with general concerns covered by the ADA: 

1. Disabled Students 
   1. It is the responsibility of the student to notify the ADA coordinator of his or her need for accommodation (this should be done prior to or upon enrollment at the College) and to provide documentation of the disability. The documentation should address each specific accommodation and should be dated within three years of the enrollment date. Once documentation is filed in the ADA Coordinator’s Office, the student’s instructors will be notified of the requested accommodations. 
   2. It is the student’s responsibility to notify the ADA Coordinator of enrollment in his/her initial and successive semesters by bringing a copy of his/her schedule to the ADA Office. 
   3. Prospective students are encouraged to contact the ADA Coordinator if assistance is required in applying for college admission or during the registration process. 
   4. In general, documentation for ADA accommodations is NOT retroactive. All assignments and test scores received before documentation will apply. 
2. Criteria for Disability Documentation
   The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 state that qualified students with disabilities who meet the technical and academic standards at Alabama College System institutions are entitled to reasonable accommodations. Under these laws, a disability is defined as any physical or mental condition which substantially limits a major life activity, a history of such a condition, or the perception of such a condition. Alabama College System institutions do NOT provide disability documentation for students. It is the student’s responsibility to provide appropriate documentation to the College office responsible for handling the request and to request accommodations. 
3. Providing Services for Students with Disabilities
   Services and reasonable accommodations are provided pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The Alabama College System is committed to working with individuals with disabilities. It is a goal of the Alabama College System to ensure that students with disabilities have the programmatic and architectural accesses needed for integration into campus life. 

All applications must meet the academic and technical standards requisite to admission or participation in programs and/or activities at Alabama College System institutions. Alabama College System institutions will not reduce standards in the grading and/or evaluation of students. Academic requirements determined by Wallace Community College Selma (WCCS) to be essential or fundamental will not be modified. Alabama College System institutions strive to eliminate barriers to learning or participation in other institutional activities and provide the following services for students and faculty: 

3. • Screening of disability documentation 
   • Determination of appropriate accommodations 
   • Communication with faculty and/or staff regarding student needs 
   • Referral to other available campus and/or community resources 

Providing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities requires an individual assessment of need and is a problem-solving process. Specific accommodations depend upon the nature and requirements of a particular course or activity and the skills and functional abilities of a particular student. 

Wallace Community College offers adaptive technology (equipment and software that assists students with reading, writing and listening) and alternative-format textbooks. Alternative-format textbooks include audio books, scanned textbooks, as well as assistance with text-to-speech solutions which are also available for students with documented disabilities. Students may also bring voice recorders to capture the audio of lectures which they can later upload to a computer and use to review what was said in class. In addition, these students may utilize Peer Note-Taker and may receive extended time for in-class assignments and examinations. Other forms of support may include; tape, braille, enlarged text, use of scribes, readers.