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University offers equal chances for applicants |
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Thursday, 08 February 2007 |
by LAUREN LAWSON
News Reporter
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three-part series on Appalachian’s disability initiatives.
Students who apply to Appalachian State University are given consideration based on more than their grades; however, their disabilities are never a factor.
 | Wehner
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“Students
with disabilities apply like any other student and get accepted based
on nothing more than what other students submit,” Suzanne T. Wehner,
director of the Office of Disability Services (ODS), said.
ODS’s job is to level the playing field for students with disorders so
they can meet academic requirements like their peers, Wehner said.
Some of the additional support provided by ODS includes an alternate
testing program, as well as recommendations for communication with
professors.
ODS suggests extended time for test taking or a “distraction reduced environment,” for many disabled students, Wehner said.
Appalachian’s Admission Office does not discriminate against applicants with disabilities.
“We look at each applicant as an individual … a student would not be
denied for their disability,” Paul N. Hiatt, director of admissions,
said.
“If a person has certain grades and SAT scores, they are accepted objectively off of the records we are provided,” he said.
The admissions application at Appalachian does not contain a section that asks for information on a student’s disability status.
“The acceptance packet that all students coming to Appalachian receive
contains a piece of paper that is a voluntary form for students with
disabilities to fill out and submit to us,” Wehner said.
Tabitha S. Burrell, a junior electronic media/broadcasting major, is
one of the registered visually-impaired students at Appalachian.
“It is the student’s choice to inform professor or teachers about any
disabilities they have that might require some assistance in class,”
Burrell.
“I tell all my professors because the visual disability that I have is
pretty unique, and I have problems seeing both close up and far away
and therefore have a hard time taking notes in certain classes,”
Burrell said.
Burrell does get help from people in her class who take notes from off
the board for her, but for a majority of her classes it is not an issue
since they are more verbal. She said she has had her tests read to her.
Burrell said she chose to come to Appalachian for the same reasons as other students.
“I love it here; I love the snow,” she said.
Another registered visually-impaired student Nikki M. Bare, a junior
social work major, said her application process was no different than
any other student’s.
“Once I was accepted, I met with Suzanne and Maranda at ODS, and my
visual impairment was taken into account before classes started, and we
talked about accommodation plans, especially about maintaining good
communication with professors and establishing one-on-one discussion,”
Bare said.
Bare, from birth, has had no vision in her left eye at all and limited right-eye vision, she said.
“I think Appalachian has done some good things on campus, such as
marking steps, putting up a good number of street lamps, recently
painting the curvature in front of Sanford Mall and the under road
tunnels are also very helpful,” Bare said. “Unfortunately there is a
lot of red tape and legislation to get through when trying to get
things changed.”
Burrell said it’s important to keep the yellow paint on the top and
bottom of stairs because this can hinder people with visual impairment
when it is worn off.
“Generally, a lot of stairs create problems, especially when there are no elevators at all,” she said.
Tracey L. Wright, assistant vice chancellor for Student Development,
works with the Diversity Educators program that sometimes partners with
ODS to do a speaker series as well as events where students can
participate in activities to experience what it would be like to have
different abilities.
“We want individuals who are part of our program to take away a deeper
understanding of the wonderful forms of diversity in society as well as
respect the commonalities that we share,” Wright said. “Individuals
should recognize social justice in order to maintain and preserve the
rights for all members of our society.”
While it’s important to recognize those students with challenges on
campus, it’s also important to remember that, “Students do not want to
be known for their disability,” Maranda R. Maxey, assistant director
for the office of disability services, said.
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