Starting The Process
Understanding the Student Accessibility Welcome Meeting:
Dear Student,
Thank you for choosing 杏吧直播app, and we are excited to welcome you to campus. As the Director of Student Accessibility Services, I wanted to share with you the importance and purpose of the SAS Welcome Meeting.
As a new student seeking college accommodations, once you have submitted the completed SAS Intake Form and, in most cases, provide all required supporting documentation the Director or the Accessibility Specialist will ask to meet with you by phone, in-person, or virtually. The Welcome Meeting is an opportunity to discuss your needs and learn more about you.
The college accommodation process is very much individualized to meet the needs of each student. This process includes an interactive self-report meeting or the welcome/intake meeting, and, in most cases, requires supporting documentation. Determining appropriate disability-related accommodations is understanding the impact of the diagnosis on the individual, we learn this information by connecting with each student and listening to their needs.
Determining reasonable and appropriate accommodations at the college level requires understanding the law and the ability to listen to students as they share “how the diagnosis impacts a major life activity.” The SAS team will utilize a standard verbal questionnaire to manage this process during the welcome meeting. The welcome meeting will include questions about the type of diagnosis, the impact or barrier created because of the diagnosis, and a review of your individual needs based on how the diagnosis impacts you, the student.
There are no right or wrong answers to the questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed to understand the relationship to the diagnosis and the potential accommodations that may reduce barriers. The questionnaire is a standard document used by the SAS office to understand the individual needs of the students. This process may feel slightly intrusive as we are asking about your diagnosis, the date of diagnosis, and how you manage the diagnosis to name a few questions, however, the information is confidential and used to support disability-related accommodations. The completed welcome meeting, the completed SAS Intake form, and the supporting documentation support the accommodation review process. Accommodation requests are not immediately approved, but careful consideration is given to understanding the student's needs and determining reasonable and appropriate accommodations.
I am happy to answer any questions you may have related to the Welcome Meeting and the Accommodation Review process as we use a similar process to review updates to SAS-approved accommodation requests.
If you have questions or would like to discuss scheduling a Welcome Meeting, please call 413-782-1258.
We look forward to being a part of your success team.
Sincerely,
Tynisha Henderson-Mitchell
Director, Student Accessibility Services