Supplemental Services
During their academic career, students with disabilities may find they are need of supplemental support. The coordinator is available to provide a variety of support to students as needed.
The range of services may include:
- Consultation with the coordinator regarding the transition into life at Skidmore
- Self-advocacy training
- Communication with faculty
- Referral for on and off campus support
- Liaison with the Counseling Center, Health Services and other offices as necessary
- Academic support
- Development of specific skills (study habits, test-taking strategies, time management, etc.)
- Coordinating services offered by the Office of Student Academic Services
- Consultation regarding the content of disability-related documentation
Tutoring
The Office of Student Academic Services (SAS) provides tutorial services that are available to all students enrolled at Skidmore College. The coordinator of student access services will help ensure students with disabilities have equal access to these services and students with disabilities are encouraged to utilize these services as needed.
Assistive Technology and Equipment
Skidmore College uses a variety of equipment and software that can be accessed on campus or loaned out to students. Students who borrow adaptive equipment and/or software assume responsibility for the items and agree to return borrowed items to the coordinator of student access services by the return date indicated at the time of the loan. Students must also agree to repair or replace items in the event of damage, loss or theft. A hold may be put on a student's academic records if items are not returned or restitution is not made in a timely manner. Eligible students should communicate with the coordinator regarding needs for the following:
- Adaptive furniture in housing and in the classroom
- Smart Pen loans
- Computers for testing
- Read and Write Gold text-to-speech software
- Glean note-taking software
Service Animals
Some individuals with disabilities use service animals to assist them in activities of daily living. The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including but not limited to guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair or fetching dropped items. Service animals are working animals, not pets. Service animals are permitted to accompany students with disabilities anywhere on campus and are not required to be certified by a state or local entity. Service animals must be appropriately licensed in accordance with local regulations and wear a valid vaccination tag.
Owners are responsible for appropriate care and management of service animals. In the event a service animal's behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others or the student handler fails to comply with the service animal agreement, the owner will be expected to remove the animal from campus.
Emotional Support Animals
For some individuals, emotional support animals (ESAs) have been proven effective to help reduce the effects of psychological disorders and function to help lower anxiety, cope with panic attacks, predict seizures and alleviate post-traumatic stress. ESAs, however, do not meet the definition of a service animal as described above and therefore are not specifically covered under the law. Requests for ESAs in campus housing are made through the Housing Accommodation Committee (HAC). The HAC will review applications and documentation submitted by students. If an ESA is approved, students will meet with a representative of Residential Life to review the ESA policy and agreement. In the event an emotional support animal's behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others or the student handler fails to comply with the ESA agreement, the owner will be expected to remove the animal from campus.