Disability Support Services

Moravian College seeks to provide an accessible and hospitable learning and working environment for all, while ensuring full compliance with federal and state regulations. Our community welcomes and encourages persons with disabilities to participate in our programs and activities as faculty, staff, students, and as visitors to the College. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided for an event on our campus, please contact the event sponsor at least two weeks in advance of the event.

Moravian College adheres to the principles and mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

A disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, even when using mitigating measures, such as glasses, medication, prostheses, or hearing aids. Major life activities are functions such as breathing, caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, learning, exercising cognitive abilities, sitting, standing, lifting, reaching, and working. The College will provide reasonable accommodation, upon request, to students whose conditions meet the legal definition of a disability under the ADA and who are considered otherwise qualified.

Students with disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, neurological disorders, health, physical, mobility, hearing, visual, mental health/psychiatric) should contact the assistant director of learning services for disability support for further assistance and information.

Special classroom set-ups, alternate testing, physical plant (campus) alterations, and other accommodations for students with documented disabilities are available on a case-by-case basis. It is the responsibility of students with disabilities to self-identify and request accommodation through the appropriate office.

Students must provide documentation of a disability and the rationale for the requested accommodation from a professional with expertise in the condition. The documentation must include a specific diagnosis and a thorough report. Required documentation for learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder must include the results of a comprehensive psychoeducational assessment (including all subtest scores) that evaluates the intellectual functioning, achievement, and information-processing domains of cognitive functioning. All evaluations should be based on adult-normed measures. The diagnosis should be based on DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. In addition, documentation for ADHD should include evidence of early as well as current impairment, a diagnostic interview with third-party input (teachers, parents), and an interpretive summary that explains how the disability is a substantial limitation to learning. Testing should be recent (administered within three years prior to enrollment) for learning disabilities and ADHD. The College reserves the right to request updated verification of the functional impact of fluctuating conditions in order to assess the need for ongoing accommodation.

It is the responsibility of the student to request accommodation well in advance of the need in order to give the College a reasonable amount of time to evaluate the documentation and implement the request. Classroom accommodation requiring notification to faculty must be requested for each semester for which it is needed.

A student who disagrees with an action or decision of a disability support provider, faculty member, or college administrator, may file a grievance with the assistant dean for academic advising, who serves as the College's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator for students. The grievance must be submitted in writing. The ADA coordinator will review the student's complaint and investigate the action or decision in question. The ADA coordinator will issue a written decision within two weeks of receiving the grievance.

The student may appeal the ADA coordinator's decision to the president of the College. An appeal must be submitted in writing. The president will respond to the appeal in writing within two weeks.

If a period longer than two weeks is needed for either the ADA coordinator or the president of the College to complete an investigation and render a decision, the student will be notified of this in writing and given a specific time-frame for a decision to be made.

A detailed copy of the complete ADA Grievance Procedure may be obtained in the Student Affairs Office at 1301 Main Street (610 861-1503) or on the College website.

Please see Disability Support Services in the Campus Offices and Services section elsewhere in this handbook for further information, and check the College's website for periodic updates concerning services for students with disabilities.