Webster University

Through the Academic Resource Center, Webster offers a variety of special services, technologies, and policies to accomodate students with disabilities. Read more about these services here.

Mission Statement

The Academic Resource Center is committed to providing otherwise qualified students with documented disabilities with the accommodations they need to have access to information and opportunity for success in mainstream university programs equal to that enjoyed by students without disabilities.

Policies

Procedures

Classroom and Testing Accomodations, and Auxillary Aids

• Classroom Accomodations
• Testing Accomodations
• Assistive Technologies

Policies

Nondiscrimination
Webster University considers student admission, financial aid, program, and activity applications without regard to nondisqualifying disabilities. To that end, all Webster School admission letters will include a statement informing students that, to receive accommodations, auxiliary aids, or waivers, students who meet the "nondisqualifying disability" definition set out in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilites Act of 1990 (ADA) must file a request for services with the director of the Academic Resource Center or, in the case of students at extended sites, with the site director.

Documentation
Webster does not provide the extensive medical and psychological testing required for the diagnosis of disabling conditions; therefore, students must obtain their disability documentation from outside sources. This documentation must be no more than five years old; in the case of freshmen who have received accommodations in high school, this generally involves a transition evaluation conducted by their high school district.

Obtaining Accommodations
At the Webster Groves Campus, Webster University charges the Academic Resource Center (ARC) with helping admitted students with documented disabilities to acquire the accommodations, auxiliary aids, and modifications required to afford them access to information and opportunity for success in mainstream Webster programs equal to that enjoyed by Webster students without such disabilities. The ARC is also charged with monitoring and overseeing the delivery of services to admitted students with disabilities at the Webster Groves Campus.

At other Webster University campuses, the Academic Resource Center Director acts as a consultant to site directors or their designees as they help admitted students with disabilities acquire the accommodations, auxiliary aids, and modifications required to afford them access to information and opportunity for success in mainstream site programs equal to that enjoyed by site students without such disabilities. The site directors or their designees monitor and oversee the delivery of services.

Students with disabilities of a temporary nature, such as a broken leg, may also apply to the Academic Resource Center for accommodations.

Decisions regarding waivers of classes are made by Departmental Chairs and Deans of the governing School or College.

Performance of Students with Disabilities
Neither academic nor behavioral standards will be lowered for students with disabilities. Teaching and testing strategies, however, will be modified to meet their academic needs and instructors will be given strategies for dealing with specific student behaviors that occur with particular disabilities (e.g., Tourette's and Asberger Syndromes, or Bipolar Disorder).

Accessibility Strategy
Applicable Disability Law permits campuses to fulfill their accessibility obligations in one of two ways -- rendering all buildings accessible or scheduling classes of those students needing accessible classrooms only in accessible buildings. Webster University uses the second option. 

Procedures

Obtaining Accommodations, Auxiliary Aids and Modifications

1.   Student Request and Documentation

To be considered for special services, students must first file a request with the Academic Resource Center or extended campus director and provide written documentation of their disability.

Documentation from a qualified professional is required. Because the requirements for documentation vary, sample forms for the more common categories of disability are made available here. These include: 

• Learning Disability (LD) 
• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
• Psychiatric/ Psychological (EMOTIONAL)
• Physical/Health Impairment
• Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)
• Visual Impairment/Blindness
• Hearing Impairment/Deafness
• Chemical Dependency

2.   Eligibility Evaluation

Decisions about student needs for accommodations (e.g., notetaker, reader, extended time) and auxiliary aids (e.g. Sign Interpreters or Real Time Captioning) are made through joint student-ARC staff consultation and are based on program requirements, student classroom performance, and student documentation data. Decisions about class waivers must be submitted to the chair of the student's major department and are subject to the department's designation of the specific class or skill as an essential or a non-essential element of that major.

3.   Faculty Notification

When directed by the student, the Academic Resource Center (ARC) sends notification forms to the student's advisor and instructors listing the specific accommodations and auxiliary aids to which the student is entitled.

4.   Effectiveness Evaluation

Throughout a student's career at Webster University, the student, academic advisor, and instructors evaluate the effectiveness of the accommodations and auxiliary aids provided. Those deemed ineffective and outgrown are replaced or dropped.

Grievance Procedures

Whenever a student is dissatisfied with the accommodations, aids or waivers provided that student may file a grievance with the Director of the Academic Resource Center or the site director.   This grievance should be filed as soon as possible after a specific incident, or within a reasonable amount of time after the services are put in place. 

Informal Grievance

If the student is not satisfied with the resolution worked out by the Director of the AcademicResource Center or extended campus director, he or she may obtain an Informal Grievance Form in theAcademic Resource Center and file an informal grievance with a department chair or a higher level administrator. Grievance forms will be held in confidential files in the Academic Resource Center and in the appropriate administrator's office. The appropriate administrator or designee will render a decision   within 10 working days.   If the decision is not acceptable to the student, he or she may initiate a Formal Grievance Process.

Formal Grievance

The Formal Grievance Procedure has two steps:

1. Step One of the Formal Grievance Procedure consists of a decision by the appropriate administrator which is rendered within 10 days of receipt of the formal grievance form. If the student is satisfied with this decision, the process ends here. If not, it proceeds to Step Two.

2. Step Two of the Formal Grievance Process ensues if the resolution of Step One is not satisfactory to the student. If this occurs, the issue will be submitted to an appointed Hearing Committee designated by Webster's ADA Officer .   A working appeal will be presented during this meeting and submitted to the President within 10 days. The President or authorized representative will render a written decision and reasons for the decision within five (5) days following receipt of the appeal.The President's decision shall be final. 

Accommodations and Auxiliary Aids

Classroom Accomodations
Testing Accomodations
Assistive Technologies

Classroom Accommodations:

A notetaker is a classmate who volunteers to provide a set of notes to a student with a disability. The student with a disability may either purchase non-carbon (NCR) paper from the bookstore and provide this to the notetaker, or photocopy the student’s notes in the ARC.

Students with disabilities are encouraged to continue to try to take notes as a supplement to the notetaker’s copy. In addition, the student with a disability may want to meet with faculty to discuss whether the notes are adequate.

If the student with a disability has difficulty obtaining a voluntary notetaker, faculty may be asked to help find one. If this proves unfruitful, the student with a disability needs to contact the ARC.

Tape Recording Lectures are available to students with disabilities who wish to use this as a form of notetaking. The lectures recorded will only be used as reference during the class and should be destroyed after the class has ended. These tapes are to be used for academic purposes only. Abuse of this service should be reported to the ARC.

Alternative Chairs/Tables (ie. larger, no arms, adjustable) will be placed in assigned rooms designated by the ARC upon request.

Wheelchair / Accessible Rooms are available. Entire classes may need to be moved to these rooms in order to provide equal access to students with disabilities. An instance where this may occur would concern a student with a mobility impairment who could not walk steps to a classroom not accessed by an elevator.

Interpreter/Real-time Captioning is provided to students who are deaf or hard of hearing. The ARC will alert faculty as soon as possible if this service will be used.

Textbooks in Alternate Format (tape, Braille) are available to students with various disabilities. As much notice as possible for this service needs to be given, as it can take months to completely transform a textbook into another format. If a student requests this service, the ARC will alert you of the need to know which textbook(s) and/or reading materials you will be using.

Testing Accommodations:

Arrangements for these services should be made in advance and follow the general Testing Center Procedures.

Extended Time is offered to those whose documentation substantiates that this service would allow demonstration of their ability, rather than exasperate their disability. In general, students will receive double time of that given to the rest of the class. However, exceptions will be made on a case by case basis.

Distraction Reduced Environment is available for those who benefit from fewer distractions or stimuli from the environment. Students will be placed in a separate room while they test, so they may concentrate better.

Readers are available for those students who have difficulties reading printed materials. Each word is read as it is written, without emphasis on any particular word.

Writers/Scribes are available for students who need assistance with handwriting. As the student speaks each word, the writer/scribe writes that information down exactly. Every word, sentence, and punctuation mark written is determined by the student being tested not the writer/scribe.

Alternate Format is available. Examples of alternate formats would be: tests broken into sections on separate pages, oral, uses enlarged print, and Braille. Alternate format is a testing service made on a case by case basis. In addition, as the content of the materials being tested reflects the technical standards of the industry, each test may be decided upon on a case by case basis. An example of such would be oral testing rather than written format.

Computers may be used for a variety of purposes such as for essay or long written answers, and penmanship. This service may be made on a case by case basis.

Assistive Technologies:

Dragon Naturally Speaking/Dictate v 3.5.2 is designed to assist those with physical disabilities which may affect writing; and cognitive disabilities, such as Learning Disability, Attention Deficit Disorder or an Acquired Brain Injury, which may affect processing, speed, or concentration. It may also be appropriate for some Visual Impairments and Psychiatric/Psychological/Emotional Disorders.

This PC software allows a patron to operate Windows with a set of vocal commands. The advantage of this software is that it "learns" to understand an individual’s voice as he/she speaks naturally. The software can be used to run applications and other software, or to type documents without drastically deviating from standard computer commands.

Patrons familiar with Windows operations should be able to learn the verbal commands easily. Mouse and keyboard commands can be issued with Dragon’s verbal equivalents. Ten to twelve hours of training is needed before being able to use Dragon proficiently.

JAWS v4.01 (Job Access With Success) is designed to assist those with visual impairments, and some cases of attention deficit disorder or learning disabilities.

This software uses a speech synthesizer or sound card to read the computer screen to patrons. It also may be used to read Web pages through Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Very little training is needed to use this technology. It should take between 15-30 minutes to become familiar with how JAWS operates.

pwWebspeak is designed to assist those with visual impairments, and some cases of attention deficit disorder or learning disabilities.

This product reads the text of web sites and produces a simplified version of the screen display for patrons with low vision. This software is known to work well with Web pages using tables, and also works well with Netscape. Patrons can use this product to listen to e-mail, Web pages, and full-text articles available online. It may be operated with the Dragon Naturally Speaking vocal commands or operated manually with the mouse and keyboard.

Training for pwWebspeak generally takes 30 to 60 minutes. This training basically consists of learning how the technology works, as it is already set up.

Arkenstone Reader is designed to assist those with physical disabilities, which may affect turning pages; and cognitive disabilities, such as Learning Disability, Attention Deficit Disorder or an Acquired Brain Injury, which may affect processing, speed, or concentration. It may also be appropriate for some Visual Impairments and Psychiatric/Psychological/Emotional Disorders.

The Arkenstone Reader consists of a scanner, monitor, and speech synthesis software. Books or papers are placed on the scanner, scanned, and translated into speech. Patrons listen to the book or article with headphones as the text is displayed on the monitor. The software can also be adapted to translate the text into Braille, as well as record the text onto a floppy disk or cassette tape.

Training time for the Arkenstone usually takes around 30 minutes. This training consists of learning how the machine operates, and inputting simple commands displayed on a chart for ease of use.

CCTV (Closed Captioned Television) is designed to assist those with certain visual impairments. This technology may not be suitable for all visual impairments, as it depends upon magnification needs.

The CCTV has a zoom lens similar to that of a 35 mm camera. This lens allows for printed materials to become enlarged and then projected on a television screen. Training for the CCTV is less than 30 minutes. Once the patron learns how the lenses focus, this technology is quite simple to use.

Zoom Text v7.0 is designed to assist those with certain visual impairments. This technology may not be suitable for all visual impairments, as it depends upon magnification needs.

Zoom Text enlarges text by 16 times. At the library, Zoom Text has been set up to work with Arkenstone. At the ARC, Zoom Text is available on a computer in the Writing Center to assist those utilizing printed materials on the computer, such as composing papers or reading online articles.

Training time for Zoom Text should take around 30 minutes. Patrons basically learn how to change the font to the size they need. Training is basic and simple.