Vincennes University Disability Services
Vincennes University Disability Services
The office of Diverse Abilities and Accommodations at Vincennes University offers resources to all students with disabilities. Staff in the office of Diverse Abilities and Accommodations is committed to creating a “safe place” where students with disabilities feel respected and valued, and where they find meaningful support from caring professionals who encourage them to be independent and successful, as well as vital, contributing members of our community.
Our Mission:
Help students with diverse abilities participate more fully in educational programming, benefit from an accessible environment and achieve greater academic and personal success. The promotion of student independence and self-advocacy is instrumental to our mission and remains a major tenet of our philosophy for working with all our students.
Phone: 812-888-4501
Fax: 812-888-2087
Website: https://www.vinu.edu/web/diverse-abilities-and-accommodations
Email: Disabilityservices@vinu.edu
Jill Steele, MPA
Director of Diverse Abilities and Accommodations
Laura Pease, AS
Secretary
The resources offered through the office of Diverse Abilities and Accommodations help students overcome or compensate for obstacles related to a physical, emotional, learning or other disability. This includes:
Endorsement of reasonable classroom accommodations with faculty
• Assistance in obtaining alternative format textbooks (e-text) and assistive technology
• Arrangements for sign language interpreter and captioning services
• Referral to community agencies. Services are designed to assist all students with diverse abilities in navigating the accommodation process and learning self-advocacy skills for the college environment.
Staff also assists faculty by distributing information through group educational presentations and individual consultations, and by coordinating with them to ensure that the most appropriate accommodations are provided to students with diverse abilities.
Under the law, professors are responsible for ensuring students with disabilities receive reasonable and appropriate accommodations in their classes; however, as a student with a diverse ability you are responsible for initiating and maintaining communication with each of your professors and for following through with your assigned responsibilities in the process. The office of Diverse Abilities and Accommodations role is to assist the University in determining your eligibility for the specific college-level accommodations you are requesting, to advocate on your behalf with your professors, to assist you and your professors in setting up reasonable academic accommodations, and to locate the resources you need to be more successful in the college environment. The University never charges any additional costs to a qualified student for the provision of reasonable and appropriate accommodations for a diverse ability.
All currently enrolled Vincennes University students with disabilities, on any Vincennes University campus, are invited to register with the office of Diverse Abilities and Accommodations in order to receive the most appropriate accommodations in their classes. Please complete registration with the office of Diverse Abilities and Accommodations at the earliest date possible since reasonable accommodations that necessitate additional staff or funding, contractual arrangements through an outside vendor, or structural modification or purchase (such as adaptive or assistive technology) may require longer than sixty (60) days to be arranged. In rare instances, accommodation requests that are not made in a timely fashion may be delayed. Please be prepared to provide professional documentation/evidence of a disability and the need for specific accommodations.