Faculty & Staff Information | Access & Disability Services

The Office of Disability Services (“Disability Services”) provides appropriate and reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Not only are we a support service for OCC students, we are viewed as a compliance office and are responsible for ensuring that our college adheres to government regulations and avoids missteps that could result in hefty fines, legal ramifications and reputation damage. We serve as a resource to faculty and staff and work collaboratively to provide training opportunities, advisement, and consultation on equal access, compliance, delivery of equitable services, universal design, and other disability-related issues. The Office of Disability Services provides opportunities and resources that facilitate the development of self-advocacy, self-efficacy and adaptive skills in our students to overcome barriers that a disability may present in the educational environment.

Accommodations are modifications to conditions that would otherwise cause a student, because of a disability, to be at a disadvantage relative to students without a disability in their access to the college’s programs for students. Reasonable accommodations are approved for a student after the student has met with our staff and provided documentation of their permanent disability. Accommodations are intended as a means of leveling the playing field, not providing an advantage over other students or ensuring success. Reasonable accommodations provide equitable access to programs or facilities and, most importantly, do not fundamentally alter the essential nature of a course or academic program.

The goal is to ensure access. Course content and objectives cannot be modified.

The student will provide you with an OCC Accommodation Letter via email and/or in-person. The Accommodation Letter is a confidential document that provides a written statement of the academic accommodations to which a student registered with the Office of Disability Services is entitled. The letter describes in-class, non-academic and/or testing accommodations which are intended to equalize the opportunity of students in meeting essential program and/or course requirements. Accommodations listed on the Accommodation Letter are based on specific disability-related academic needs.

This also applies to student’s enrolled in early college or Jump Start program. A student’s high school IEP or 504 plan is NOT considered a valid letter of accommodations for college level coursework. If a student states they have accommodations but does not present you with the valid OCC Accommodation Letter please refer them to our office.

Examples of accommodations may include, but are not limited to, extended test time, a reduced distraction test location, accessible furniture, recording of lectures, a test reader and/or scribe, the use of computer for testing, preferential seating, ASL interpreter, and enlarged print. All accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis.

The accommodations that a student has been approved for by the Office of Disability Services are deemed reasonable. If there is a question regarding reasonableness of a specific accommodation for a specific student, please contact our office at your convenience to discuss. We can be reached at 732-255-0456 or via our general email accommodations@ocean.edu.

Students must request their Accommodation Letter each semester, and the letter will specify the term for which it is valid. Accommodations are not retroactive; they take effect only after the Accommodation Letter is shared with the faculty member

No, accommodations are not retroactive. Accommodations become active when the Accommodation Letter is presented to the faculty member.

No.

Do not ask students to disclose their disability or diagnosis to you. It is the student’s right to maintain that information as confidential, and we take our responsibility to protect their confidentiality seriously. The only way that you may be aware of the student’s disability/diagnosis is if it is voluntarily offered to you by the student. Section 504 and the ADA are very specific regarding confidentiality issues. The law permits dissemination of disability-related information on a “need-to-know” basis only. Therefore, when we alert faculty, we are permitted to disclose only the existence, not the nature, of a disability and what accommodations are necessary to equalize access to learning for that student. Asking intrusive questions of the student or discussing the student’s disability or medical condition with others, no matter how well-intentioned, is a violation of federal law.

Faculty are encouraged to speak to the Disability Services office should they have any concerns or questions regarding the appropriateness of reasonable accommodations. Under no circumstance can the Accommodation Letter be changed or disregarded without consulting Disability Services.

Students may choose when to use and/or not use their accommodations. For example, if a student has an accommodation for use of a reduced distraction testing environment but prefers to stay in the classroom for their test, they should be permitted to do so. They are not required to use the Testing Center! However, the student cannot change their mind part way through the test and decide that they need to use the Testing Center.

No, faculty are not responsible for taking separate notes for the student.

If a student has peer note-taking as an accommodation, it is likely that they will connect with a classmate in the course, or the student will use note taking software. This does not mean that the student does not have to take notes; the notes provided by a volunteer peer/student note-taker are supplemental only. Notes are only shared when the student is present in class; no notes should be shared if the student is absent.

If a peer note-taker is not immediately identified, Disability Services will typically ask the professor to make an announcement to the class (without including the name of the student who is need of notes) or help us identify a student who the professor recommends that we can reach out to individually. In addition, if the faculty has power-point presentations available to all students, this can assist the student if there is not a peer note-taker for the class. If a peer note-taker is still not found, Disability Services may offer the student an accommodation for recording lectures to give the student full access to the lecture material with the ability to complete the notes on their own outside of class.

Yes, students with disabilities can (and do) fail courses and sometimes receive low grades.

The laws mandate access to education, not guaranteed academic success. If a faculty member provides reasonable academic accommodations and the student does not meet the course requirements, then failing a student is proper and lawful.

Faculty should work closely with the Office of Disability Services to address disruptive behavior that may be related to a student’s disability. Faculty should understand that while they are required to provide reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities, they are not required to tolerate behavior that is substantially disruptive to their ability to teach and to other students’ ability to learn. Indeed, students with disabilities should be held to the same code of conduct as all other members of the campus community.

Contact us to discuss any questions or concerns using the information listed below:

• Location: Library (Bldg. 3) Room #016
• Main Office Line: 732-255-0456
• General Email: accommodations@ocean.edu

Contact us to discuss any questions or concerns using the information listed below:

• Location: Library (Bldg. 3) Room #016
• Main Office Line: 732-255-0456
• General Email: accommodations@ocean.edu