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Wheaton College     Norton, Massachusetts
Academic Advising > General Accommodations

Procedures for Securing General Accommodations

1. A student should provide current, comprehensive documentation of a disability to the Assistant Dean, Martha Bledsoe, in the Advising Center. This documentation is used to establish eligibility for accommodations.

  • This information is maintained in a confidential file in the office of the Assistant Dean.


    2. Students requesting accommodations for the first time must meet with Dean Bledsoe to discuss and to complete an accommodations request form.

  • Students who have requested and received accommodations in prior semesters at Wheaton and plan to continue using the same accommodations do not need to meet with Dean Bledsoe each semester. They should complete the accommodation request form and return it to Dean Bledsoe in a timely manner.
  • If the student is requesting new accommodations, they will be required to meet with Dean Bledsoe before accommodation letters will be written.


    3. Dean Bledsoe will compose letters to the student's faculty informing them of the student's disability and detailing the requested accommodations. However, the letter will NOT be sent to the faculty member. The purpose of having the student take primary responsibility for securing accommodations with their professor actively moves them to increased self advocacy. This places the responsibility in the hands of the student and ensures the student of when precisely the faculty was notified.

  • Dean Bledsoe will make every effort to write accommodation letters one week from the requested date.


    4. The student is expected to make an appointment with his/her faculty at the beginning of the semester to discuss his/her learning difference and his/her accommodation requests. The student should be prepared to discuss his/her strengths, weaknesses, and the type of accommodations that will be necessary.

  • Dean Bledsoe will assist students who want help preparing for these discussions with their faculty.


    5. If a student chooses not to meet with his/her faculty in the beginning of the semester but later decides that he/she wants to use accommodations, the student is expected to request accommodations from his/her faculty, with a letter from Dean Bledsoe, at least one week prior to exams. To assure an accommodation can be provided with less than one week's notice is unacceptable. Without timely notification, neither faculty nor the college is required to provide any accommodations.


    6. It is the student's responsibility to check with his/her faculty member before each exam to make sure arrangements for accommodations are in place.

  • There are different procedures for requesting accommodations for final exams. These procedures will be sent to you at least three weeks before finals begin.

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