Procedures for Receiving Services

Students contacting the Office of Disability Services (ODS) for the first time are given an appointment for an interview with a staff member.  The initial session includes: 

An interview to determine if the student has been tested for learning problems. 

A.    If yes, and documentation is within 3 years (or if the student was tested at age 18 or older): 

1.      Provide student with Board of Regents (BOR) criteria and request a copy of documentation. 

2.      Students bring documentation to the ODS. 

3.      ODS submits the documentation to the Regents Center for Learning Disorders (RCLD) at Georgia Southern University. 

4.      If documentation meets BOR criteria, an Accommodation Letter is written by the RCLD establishing accommodations. 

5.      All requests for University System accommodations (foreign language or math substitutions, additional semesters in Learning Support, and special accommodations for the Regents Exam) must be submitted to the Regents Center for Learning Disorders at Georgia Southern University. 

B.     If yes, but not within 3 years, or if the student has never been tested: 

The student is assisted in the process of obtaining appropriate documentation.  The student is provided with standards established by the BOR for outside evaluations and provided with information on obtaining testing from the RCLD at Georgia Southern. 

The student must then choose either “Outside Documentation” or “RCLD testing”: 

1.      OUTSIDE DOCUMENTATION: When outside documentation is chosen, the student compiles the materials and presents them to the Office of Disability Services at SGSC.  The ODS & RCLD then complete steps 3, 4, and 5 of the previous Section A. 

2.      RCLD TESTING: When testing from the Regents Center for Learning Disorders is chosen, the student completes a pre-testing packet for the RCLD.  This packet is submitted to the ODS at SGSC, which then forwards it to the RCLD for evaluation. 

The RCLD makes all decisions regarding accommodations and refers them by letter to the ODS at SGSC, which then initiates services. 

C.    Each semester, students must request and obtain an Accommodation Letter from the ODS for each instructor. The student must come to the ODS to obtain this letter and present it to the instructor in a timely manner. Students are strongly encouraged to obtain the accommodation letters and present them to their instructors within the first week of each semester.