Disability Services:
The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act mandated equal opportunity for students to participate in or benefit from the services offered by a place of public accommodation.  This mandate is now inclusive of private colleges and universities.  A qualified individual under ADA must have a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities.  Major life activities involve caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning (which includes any type of diagnosed learning disability), and working.  Moreover, a qualified disabled student must meet the academic and technical standards requisite for admission or participation in an educational program or activity.

Student Responsibilities:
Students who feel that he/she is a qualified person under the ADA ruling may take the following steps to benefit from the academic flexibility available to you.

1. Fill out the “Disability Accommodation Application”. If you have difficulty with the form, please contact us through the admissions director at [email protected].
2. Bring the completed form as well as the formal documentation of the disability to Manuel Maravilla in the office.
3. Formal documentation includes:
   • A letter, dated within the last three years, from a doctor on official letterhead stating the specific disability with which you are diagnosed.
   • If you have recently graduated high school, a copy of your most recent IEP (within the last three years) will be accepted, as well.
4. Meet with Joanna Felts, Vice President of Academics to discuss appropriate accommodations for your specific needs.
5. Repeat this process in the summer months prior to each academic year if your disability is a long-term disability.

Office of Academic Affairs
It will be the responsibility of the Office of Academic Affairs to be the starting point for anyone wishing to file the Disability Accommodation Application.

This office will help students who are qualified under the ADA guidelines to recognize which services offered will be most helpful to them.  This office will also be responsible to provide links to your professors and make them aware of the accommodations you will need.

If the student’s disability affects areas outside of Academics, the Office of Academic Affairs will provide direction about how to reach out to the appropriate entities to work on the proper accommodations for that need.

Please understand that is not the responsibility of the Office of Academic Affairs to provide any testing or assessments for the qualifying disability.  If it is necessary for the student to be assessed or tested for any disability, it is the student’s responsibility to obtain that testing information from an outside source, such as a qualified educational specialist or therapist or a licensed psychologist.

Reasonable Accommodations
We provide for the following reasonable needs of the student with disabilities.

• Allowance for the presence of a note-taker in the class.
• Allowance for the presence of a recording device in the class.
• Allowance for a scribe for tests.
• Oral recitation of responses to test questions.
• Access to Bookshare, accessible electronic books for individuals with qualifying disabilities.
• Additional time for in-class assignments and tests. (Time and a half up to double time depending on the circumstances and the agreement reached with instructors ahead of time.)  This accommodation may include taking tests in the library or Taylor Hall at specific times to allow for quiet and plenty of time for the additional time agreed upon.
• A service animal will be accommodated on campus, as well. Specific instructions regarding this need can be seen below.

Reasonable Accommodations Technical Needs
It is not the responsibility of California Christian College or the Office of Academic Affairs to provide the technical devices needed for these accommodations.  In other words, if the student is in need of a recording device for the classroom, the student must provide the device.

The college does have computers for loan to the students and these are available for loan to all students, regardless of disability status.

Service Animals
ADA approved service animals will be allowed on campus, in the buildings, classrooms, meeting rooms, and library when the animal is accompanied by an individual with a documented disability.  This individual must indicate that the service animal is properly trained to provide, and does provide, a specific service for him/her directly related to their disability.

Owners are responsible for the any damage or injuries caused by their service animal and must take the proper precautions to prevent such problems.  The cost of and responsibilities for the well-being of the service animal are the sole responsibility of the owner at all times.

Requirements

• The service animal must be on a leash.
• The animal must respond to voice or hand commands and the owner must be in full control of the animal at all times.
• As much as possible, the animal must be as unobtrusive as possible in the learning environment.
• The service animal must wear some type of commonly recognized identification symbolizing their use as a service animal.
• The service animal must not be allowed to sniff people or personal belongings of those in the learning environment.
• Cleaning up after the animal is the sole responsibility of the owner. If the person who owns the animal and uses the animal as a service animal is not capable of cleaning up after the animal, the owner must hire someone whose responsibility it is to clean up after the animal.
• Always carry equipment to clean up animal feces whenever the animal is on Harmony Church/California Christian College Property. All feces must be disposed of in a zippered bag in an outside trashcan.