An Equal Opportunity to Learn

Mission statement and policies for students at Centers

Buena Vista University (BVU) is committed to providing all students with appropriate opportunities to get maximum benefits and enjoyment from its academic, cultural, and recreational activities. BVU strives to develop appropriate and reasonable accommodations which do not lower academic standards, alter degree requirements, or reduce the quality of the BVU experience. The University endeavors to offer students with special needs equal opportunity to demonstrate their academic abilities.

BVU policy, in accordance with state and federal guidelines, calls for reasonable accommodation to be made for qualified students with disabilities on an individual basis. The policy recognizes the importance of self-advocacy by the adult learner to actively seek available assistance at the University, to make needs known, to complete a Student Accommodation Application, and to provide current documentation of his/her disabilities. The Director of the Center for Academic Excellence is available to assist students in the Student Accommodations Process. The Associate Dean of Faculty serves as the 504 Coordinator for the University . The BVU Center Director is a local resource person prepared to assist Center students in locating appropriate forms and/or making connections with other BVU personnel.

The law and its impact

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states that: "No otherwise qualified person with a disability in the United States...shall, solely by reason of...disability, be denied the benefits of, be excluded from participation in, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

Important facts to know

1. BVU does not provide medical and psychological testing needed to document a disability. Students may request names of agencies and people who perform the in-depth assessment required for documentation.
2. Plan ahead: Arrangements for accommodations take time. For example, textbooks on tape can be obtained through the Iowa Commission for the Blind/Recordings for the Blind. Arrangements need to be made eight weeks prior to the start of class. Scanning is available through the Kurzweil Screen Reader/Scanner. Arrangements need to be made in advance of the semester.
3. Contact your local Vocational Rehabilitation Office for services such as sign-language interpreters, note takers/scribes, etc.

Who qualifies?

Services are available to qualified BVU students with a documented disability including but not limited to the following:

• specific learning disabilities
• psychiatric or emotional disabilities
• chronic health problems
• visual, speech, or hearing limitations

Arranging accommodations

• The student should obtain a request for accommodation form either from the Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Director of Graduate Studies, or from the CAE website.
• The student must obtain current documentation from a professional. (see form for additional information)
• The student must submit the completed form and a copy of the documentation to: Donna Musel, CAE Director, BVU, 610 W 4th Street, Storm Lake, IA 50588 via US mail or fax. The fax number is 712.749.2038. If faxed, please put "Confidential – Donna Musel" on the cover page. The student should keep the original documentation for him- herself.
• The CAE Director and 504 Coordinator review the student's request.
• The CAE Director completes the paperwork and contacts the student over BVU email that either 1) more documentation is needed or 2) the form is complete.
• The CAE Director emails the completed form to the Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies (if for an online only student) or the Director of Graduate Studies (if for a grad student) via BVU email and will send a signed copy through the US mail. An email will/may be sent which would explain which accommodations will be granted.
• The Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies keeps a copy on file in a locked facility – (File must not be the student's regular file; this must be just for documenting disabilities according to ADA best practices).
• The student is responsible for contacting the Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies to request the number of copies of Student Accommodations Reports needed for the faculty for each term.
• The Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies forwards the copies electronically to the student or makes copies if a face-to-face opportunity between student and faculty is likely.
• The student is responsible for distributing copies to his/her faculty whether in person or electronically. The Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies is not allowed to give the paperwork to the faculty. Students may email the document(s) to the professor.
• The professor is responsible for signing the form and returning it to the student.
• If the professor has concerns about the accommodations, the professor and the student should discuss this. If they can not resolve the concerns, the student and/or the professor should contact the CAE Director at museld@bvu.edu. In the online world we recognize that this communication may be via electronic means or via telephone rather than in person.
• The student returns the paperwork to the Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies.
• The Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies files the paperwork in that student's locked file. A copy of those signed forms must also be mailed to the Director of the Center for Academic Excellence. The Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies is responsible for getting the forms to the Director of the CAE.

Once it is established the student has a documented disability, the following steps must be completed for each term:

• The student is responsible for requesting the copies for the professors.
• The Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies is responsible for making copies for the student. Providing forms electronically is an option.
• The student is responsible for getting the forms from the Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies and giving them to the faculty.
• The necessary faculty must sign and date the forms, returning them to the student, who returns them to the Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies.
• The forms get initialed by the Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies, dated, and filed in the student's file - after the faculty sign.
• The Professional and Online Studies Center Director, Associate Dean for Professional and Online Studies, or Director of Graduate Studies is responsible for sending copies to the Director of the CAE.
• Online students are responsible for their own personal assistive technology.
• Faculty should not grant accommodations without the proper documentation. Accommodations can begin when the faculty receive the Student Academic Accommodation Report. Accommodations are not retroactive.

504 Coordinator:

Dr. Mary Gill
Associate Dean of Faculty
Dixon-Eilers 107
712.749.2218
gill@bvu.edu

Center for Academic Excellence

Donna Musel - Director
Information Technology Center
712.749.1237
museld@bvu.edu