Student Disability Services (SDS)

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Florida Southern College welcomes all students seeking to further their education.

Accordingly, Florida Southern College prohibits discrimination against any qualified student with a disability. We invite students to visit Student Disability Services to discuss their use or need of accommodations and any barriers they anticipate or may be experiencing at FSC.

Mission

Florida Southern College values diversity and prioritizes equal access for all students, including those with disabilities. The Office of Student Disability Services collaborates with FSC students, faculty, and staff to promote access to, and engagement in, the full range of college experiences, which are designed to prepare students to make a positive and consequential impact on society. Student Disability Services delivers reasonable accommodations through interactive and dynamic relationships, addressing barriers to access and full participation, and creating equitable and inclusive environments for learning and community membership.

Vision

Student Disability Services at Florida Southern College is a campus leader in promoting accessible learning and living, interactive communications, and welcoming facilities. Student Disability Services facilitates student acquisition of the resources, tools, and technologies that provide full access to the complete educational experience. Student Disability Services shares the most timely evidence and guidelines on student disability support practices, and fosters conversations about student disability services and experiences, strengthening relationships among Student Disability Services, students, faculty, and staff. Consequently, Florida Southern College students with disabilities are fully engaged learners who thrive as global citizens.

Process Overview

The college engages in an interactive process with the student and, as appropriate, with professionals documenting the disability and the student’s family. If you have a disability and would like to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, written relevant documentation from a licensed physician, psychologist, or other qualified professional is ideal. A high school plan such as an IEP or 504 Plan may or may not be fully sufficient documentation, but can be helpful. Please submit this documentation to Student Disability Services. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Student Responsibilities

  • Identify themselves, provide documentation and request reasonable accommodations in a timely manner.
  • Once approved for accommodations, communicate with faculty about how the accommodations will be implemented in the classroom.
  • Submit Consent Form to Student Disability Services for every semester you request academic accommodations
  • Communicate with Student Disability Services in a timely manner should any issues with accommodations arise.

A completed consent waiver is required in order for the college to request or share accommodations of any type. The process for undergraduate and graduate student access and accommodation is the same.

Areas of Accommodations

Consent Waiver Documentation Checklist

Classroom and Academic Accommo­dations

If you are a person with documented disabilities, and wish to seek classroom or academic accommodations, please contact Student Disability Services to begin this process.

Medically Necessary Residential Accommo­dations

If you are a person with documented disabilities, and wish to seek medically necessary residential accommo­dations for the first time, your housing accommodation request must be submitted to Student Disability Services by March 1, which is near the time when students will have access to the Housing Accommodation form through Community Living. We will need to receive and review medical documentation and determine eligibility for residential accommodations by March 15 at noon for a student to have the best chances for residential accommodation availability. A student found eligible for residential accommodations after that date will be less likely for accommo­dation availability. Students who are found eligible by SDS will receive an email from CL with the link to request their housing.

Animals On Campus

The presence of an animal at Florida Southern College may impact numerous aspects of the community living experience for many residential students. Thus, student eligibility for an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) ideally takes place in tandem with the more global community placement process.

If you are a person with documented disabilities (typically mental health disabilities), and wish to seek an Emotional Support Animal as a residential accommodation for the first time, you must provide documentation of a documented disability, as well as the likely species of ESA to be sought. Please see our Animal Policy for information. Please contact Student Disability Services for more guidance.

Service Animals

The college appreciates the opportunity to prepare to welcome Service Animals. The college policy on the presence of Service Animals on campus and in the residence halls is aligned with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Service Animals may travel freely with their owner throughout most areas of campus and community living spaces although there may be individual exceptions in places where the presence of the animal may compromise a safe or sterile environment. The Service Animal must be controlled by leash or harness when in public, unless doing so would interfere with the Animal’s service to its Handler.

Animal Checklist

Students who require the assistance of a Service Animal in the classroom are invited to voluntarily notify Student Disability Services. Documentation is not required to have a Service Animal in the classroom. However, by registering a Service Animal in advance for classroom experiences, we will be able to alert professors to plan for Service Animal presence.

In the State of Florida (statute 413), a Service Animal in Training - when the Trainer is actively engaged in training - has the same public access rights as a fully trained Service Animal. To inquire further, contact Student Disability Services.

Documentation

Documentation must:

  • Reflect the current status of the student and her/his disability needs
  • Describe the functional limitations resulting from the disability
  • Describe how accommodations can improve student access to the full college experience

Florida Southern College has an attendance requirement and a requirement that students participate in Engaged Learning activities in the classroom. Once accommodations are approved, how they will be implemented in each class is determined in an interactive process between the professor and the student. Each faculty member has attendance and Engaged Learning requirements in the course syllabus and the student and faculty member should review these together and determine the degree of flexibility that can reasonably be offered in each class.

Grievance Procedure

Florida Southern College has in place an internal grievance procedure for prompt and equitable resolution of challenges to the accommodations provided.

Submit in Writing

Dr. Marcie Pospichal
Associate Vice President for Student Support
Florida Southern College
111 Lake Hollingsworth Drive
Lakeland, FL 33801-5698

Submit via Other Methods

By E-mail:
disabilityservices@flsouthern.edu

By Fax:
863.680.4195

By Telephone:
863.680.4197 (4197 if dialing from campus phone)

Zoom: By appointment

Report Accessibility Issues

Encountered accessibility issue on campus? Let us know, so we can fix it!

Report Issue

Wheelchair Accessibility Map

View Wheelchair accessibilityMap

Questions? Contact

Sandy Calvert , Ph.D.

Assistant Dean for Student Support
  • 863.616.6468

Marcie Pospichal

Associate Vice President for Student Support
  • 863.680.4197

Student Disability Services

863.680.4197

e-mail student disability services

Find us in the Rogers Building (R) Room 120