Office of Student Disability Services

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.

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.

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. Please see our Service Animal Policy for information. To inquire further, contact Student Disability Services.

Emotional Support Animal

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 ESA Policy for information. Please contact Student Disability Services for more guidance.

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.

Submit in Writing

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