The primary mission of Student Accessibility Services (SAS) is to ensure that all students with disabilities have equal access to educational opportunities at Converse University. SAS promotes self-determination and self-advocacy of students with disabilities throughout the university community.
We envision a Converse University that has programs, services, and environments that are accessible to all, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.
In compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended in 2008, Converse recognizes a student with a disability as anyone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. It is the policy of Converse to provide reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with disabilities.
Contact
Sami Singleton, Case Manager for Accessibility Services
Complete our online application below.
Provide medical documentation to support the need for accommodations. Documentation must be scanned via email or hand delivered by the student to our office. Documentation must be current and may need to be updated each year. Applications received without documentation may be deleted.
Once steps 2 and 3 have been completed someone will reach out to you from our department to set up a Welcome Meeting. A Welcome Meeting with the student is an important part of our process, and is required. Eligibility for accommodations is determined by several factors which will be discussed at the Welcome meeting, and accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to give us a call at 864-596-9027 or email us at sami.singleton@converse.edu. Thank you!
Common accommodations include: extended time on tests, distraction reduced testing environment, preferential seating, accessible classroom location, audio record classroom lectures, alternative format textbooks, enlarged print for tests and other coursework, copies of power points/notes/lectures etc. provided by professor, use of adaptive equipment in class, ASL Interpreting or CART
**Please note that it is extremely rare to qualify for off campus housing due to a medical accommodation.**
Our office’s primary mission is to determine if your request for disability-related accommodations is appropriate. An important piece in making this determination is documentation that you provide to us.
Disability documentation for the purpose of providing accommodations must both establish disability and provide adequate information on the functional impact of your disability so that effective accommodations can be identified.
The documentation needs to provide our office with a basic understanding of your disability and enough information to anticipate how the current impact of your disability is expected to interact with Converse University's requirements.
Documentation that is submitted to our office must:
Please use the Verification of Physical/Motor Disabilities handout to assist your healthcare professional with providing information necessary to satisfy the documentation guidelines.
ADD/ADHD
Requirements for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Documentation
Evaluations for ADHD should follow the Learning Disabilities Guidelines below and also provide the following information:
Learning Disabilities
Requirements for Documentation:
1. All reports should be current (no more that three years old), on letterhead, typed, dated, signed, and otherwise legible.
2. Acceptable psychoeducational documentation will include:
3. A licensed psychologist or appropriately credentialed psychoeducational professional should provide the current psychoeducational evaluation.
4. In order to make an informed decision about the student’s learning disorder and need for accommodation, the report should include the following:
Please fill out the Verification of an Emotional Support Animal form and email to sami.singleton@converse.edu Updated vaccination records and proof of flea/tick prevention must be emailed once approved.
Please note that letters purchased online and online ESA certifications typically do not provide the information needed by SAS to deem an ESA accommodation request reasonable.
Applications should be submitted 6 weeks before the start of school. Applications submitted after the school year has started may not be approved due to housing availability.
Additional Information:Students will generally only be approved for one ESA. Evaluating ESA requests takes time. Decisions regarding ESA requests can only be reached after appropriate documentation for the disability has been received and evaluated and a meeting/interview with the student has taken place. Students should allow at least 2 weeks to complete this process once they have met with an SAS staff member and should not obtain any animal until final approval is given.
To be completed by a Qualified Licensed Provider: Converse University provides testing and classroom accommodations for students with a verified and substantially limiting disability. A student’s documentation must demonstrate the existence of a condition covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA: 1990). The ADA defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limited one or more major life activities. Documentation of such impairment must be derived from a licensed provider who is not a relative of the student. Students must provide this document to their provider to be completed and and returned to Disability Services.
To be completed by a Qualified Licensed Provider: A licensed clinical psychologist, clinical neuropsychologist, psychiatrist, or other appropriately trained medical professional with expertise in the field of adult psychological disorders must conduct a complete psychological assessment. Students must provide this document to their provider to be completed and and returned to Disability Services.
To be completed by a Qualified License Provider: A learning disabilities assessment, which reflects the current impact of identified impairments on academic performance must be done by a licensed professional who is qualified to administer and interpret intelligence and achievement tests, and a diagnostic report based upon the assessment. This assessment must be done by a trained and certified and/or licensed psychologist, learning disabilities specialist, VR staff psychologist, school psychologist, or educational therapist. Students must provide this document to their provider to be completed and and returned to Disability Services.
A full assessment for ADHD must be conducted by a licensed clinical psychologist, clinical neuropsychologist, psychiatrist, Vocational Rehabilitation psychologist or school psychologist with expertise in the differential diagnosis of adult psychological disorders.